The race to shared mobility is not just in the future; it is now.

It is no secret that most workers have asked themselves and their employers why they must spend hours sitting in unending traffic jams at peak times to spend a day in front of a screen.

Yet, organizations across the globe have also insisted that an indefinite separation from the office is not an option.

But as people, particularly millennials, have adapted to the flexibility, with many demanding it as a condition of employment, companies are forced to meet them halfway and shift work culture to retain talent.

There is a more significant point here. As this social shift continues, traditional commuting will continue to be unsustainable and incompatible with the future we desire.

Intense congestion on multilane highways is not just stressing our well-being and impacting our quality of life. It is forcing a major cultural shift among the working population.

The current transportation model has caused and is creating a significant imbalance in our environments.

Nine out of 10 people in Saudi Arabia currently use a privately-owned vehicle to go to work or school, leading to reduced air quality, significant traffic congestion and decreased urban livability.

As the climate crisis tops the global agenda and the region prepares to host the upcoming UN climate change conference in the UAE in 2023, there is an urgent need to rethink, redefine and fundamentally transform our current mobility patterns.

The need for shared mobility

Gulf cities originally built around car dependency now need to race to honor their net-zero pledges. We need solutions that allow people to move from point A to point B in the most efficient, cost-effective and environmentally responsible ways possible.

While private transport makes up about 30 percent of all mobility in major global cities such as London, Singapore and Stockholm, the Gulf Cooperation Council average is staggering, particularly with Riyadh having the highest private vehicle share of 95 percent.

With the population of Riyadh forecast to nearly double this decade from 7.2 million to 15 million by 2030, shared mobility alternatives can be instrumental in achieving better air quality and healthier work-life lifestyles

Nicholas Watson

According to the International Energy Agency, urban cities account for 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and road transport 12 percent of them.

Moreover, we must also justify the strain on our wallets each time we get into our gas-guzzling autos.

With the population of Riyadh forecast to nearly double this decade from 7.2 million to 15 million by 2030, shared mobility alternatives can be instrumental in achieving better air quality and healthier work-life lifestyles. It can also increase accessibility for underserved populations while helping individuals and businesses cut costs.

The average percentage ratio of car-sharing vehicles to passenger cars in Riyadh is currently 0.02 percent compared to a global average of 0.5 percent in major cities.

Riyadh is the 40th largest city economy worldwide and gearing to become the 10th by 2030. Moreover, over two-thirds of the Kingdom’s population is under the age of 35. This demographic scenario presents a significant opportunity for shared mobility providers.

It is why brands in the UAE choose to expand to the Kingdom. New operations can cater to the increasing demand from residents, tourists, students and startups in the Kingdom while supporting Saudi’s Vision 2030 for greener mobility.

Business model in sustainability

In the current car rental models, traditional car rental agencies own the vehicle asset through cash purchase or financing. They then rent the vehicles daily, monthly, or yearly to individuals or corporates. Finally, they follow the old-school practice of physical handover, deposits, and heavy administrative charges for ancillary upgrades.

On the other hand, aggregators serve as middle agencies between a renter and the incumbent. Their business model is to reach customers and offer a more efficient interface for renting or leasing a car. This model works well when not too many aggregators are attempting to secure the same leads. In addition, some aggregators are fleet operators who can offer a better rental to a customer.

However, car sharing disrupts the incumbent models by removing human interaction and absorbing more risk on behalf of the customer by not taking deposits. Such a model can vary in length of rental from one minute up to days and weeks.

Anything more significant than 30 days is typically considered a subscription rental where the customer has no deposits but is committing to a vehicle for a month or longer, which is an improvement on incumbent business models.

According to a 2021 Strategy& report, reduced infrastructure spending, better road safety, higher productivity, lower emissions and more energy efficiency — all hallmarks of a sustainable mobility landscape —could add up to a staggering $400 billion economic benefit for Gulf economies by 2040.

Looking forward, we also see the industry eventually colliding with driverless cars, where customers will need to decide if they want to be driven by a machine, person or themselves.

At this point, mobility as we know it will have fundamentally changed and multimodal integration amongst all the players in the ecosystem will be crucial.

There will be a place for everyone in the ecosystem, not just one behemoth player, to work together and be part of a bigger solution and turn the threat of our current ways of mobility into significant drivers of opportunities, sustainability and well-being.

Mobility is a critical economic driver, and there is no better time to promote this shift than now to enable the accelerated change that our cities need.

• Nicholas Watson is the co-founder and CEO of Udrive.