To Dock, Or Not To Dock, Is Not Really A Question
Amidst the sky-rocketing population and congestion, scooter-sharing has emerged as one of the most promising solutions for India to grow responsibly. In fact, Bangalore is the world leader in scooter-sharing as per a report by Unu, a German electric scooter manufacturer.
The docked versus dockless debate has been ongoing ever since shared micromobility gained popularity a few years ago. Based on my experience in steering a shared mobility service in some of the most congested cities in India, the docked model is comparatively feasible and efficient than dockless in the long run. Here are three reasons why:
Systemic Maintenance:
In the docked model, the scooters are bound to return to the docks regularly, which enables the mobility provider to keep track of the servicing and maintenance of the vehicles. Given the Covid-19 scenario, constant sanitization is a must, which is possible only when the scooters return to the dock after each trip. For instance, our scooters undergo a 4-step sanitization once they are dropped off at the stations, ensuring the safety of the next customer.
It’s a no-brainer that shared scooters need to be serviced more frequently than personal vehicles, given they are used more often and handled by different types of customers. A docked model, coupled with the latest IoT technology, can help mobility players be on top of their game as they can easily detect vehicle vitals like fuel consumption and the distance traveled and conduct meticulous maintenance checks once the vehicles are back at the dock.
Seamless Asset Management:
The customer psyche is a tricky thing. There is a sense of recklessness associated with the dockless model as the scooters can be dropped off anywhere—the customer has zero accountability. This heightens the chances of vandalism and theft, eventually depleting the fleet and resulting in huge losses.
In the case of docked models, the customers cannot start or stop the trip without reaching the docks, thus reducing the chances of vehicle damage or abandonment. Though this may seem like an inconvenience, it really isn’t. Positioning dock stations at the most accessible points of the cities like metro and bus stations and malls can ensure last-mile connectivity. With our shared mobility market predicted to grow at a CAGR of 56.8% by 2025, increasing the number of dock stations within each city will ensure accessibility to the customers and the longevity of fleets to the mobility provider.
Saved Energy, Time and Money
Be it electric or internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, the docked model helps minimize the environmental impacts caused by the free flow of scooters that need to be rounded up, recharged/refueled, and redistributed back in the city. This negates the purpose of shared mobility helping reduce the congestion and carbon footprint. Docking stations also ensure that the city spaces are not obstructed with abandoned scooters strewn about on the pavements and alleys.
Conclusion
Sticking to the docked model is one of the factors that kept Vogo anchored over the last 5 years. When the pandemic hit the mobility sectors hard, we also experimented with 100% franchise docked models in Hyderabad. This helped us spread hyper-locally and proved to be both cost-effective and profitable.
The future of mobility is going to be shared and electric and dock stations could play a pivotal role in streamlining the deployment and charging of EVs on a national level. With more mobility players regularising the docked model and investing heavily into IoT, we can revamp our mobility system to be more robust, convenient and sustainable.
