EDITOR ' S QUESTION
The heavy traffic found in urbanised areas today encourages cities to seek sustainable solutions . The COVID-19 experience showed that decreased traffic directly increases quality of life for the residents of the city . It provides other advantages , such as more space , less pollution and no need to look for costly parking . An increasing number of cities are now deciding to limit the number of cars , mainly in their centre , to encourage the use of micro mobility options such as bikes and scooters to travel . These vehicles are electric and therefore do not pollute , and they don ’ t require the same amount of parking space as cars . Cities like Paris , Oslo , Copenhagen and more are converting roads to bike lanes .
However , this trend has some drawbacks . In order to provide a usable service , there is a need for a large number of vehicles . The vehicles are distributed all over . Scooters don ’ t have docking ports and therefore users leave them anywhere , and they start to become a nuisance .
To enable such a service , cities need to provide charging stations which will be wireless and therefore will not require human intervention .
Scooters also require logistical care . Every day there is a need to redistribute the scooters to a starting location and recharge them . Two-wheeled vehicles are also simply not used by many people , including elderly persons , small children , people with disabilities and people carrying goods . There is also a major safety issue when it comes to scooter use .
Given these drawbacks , many cities – for example Paris – have decided to ban shared scooters from the city .
A complementary solution to the current micro mobility offerings is a low-speed , small , four-wheeled vehicle , which ideally would be autonomous . Fewer vehicles are needed as they can move autonomously from one place to another . They are safe and can carry elderly people , children , the disabled and people carrying goods , and they are safe , because they drive at low speed . In addition , the vehicles can be sent autonomously to recharge , reducing the need for expensive logistics arrangements .
To enable such a service , cities need to provide charging stations which will be wireless and therefore will not require human intervention . Such vehicles can also be used for last mile transportation between public transport hubs and homes or offices , using dedicated roads such as bike lanes . With low infrastructure investment , safe and efficient transportation can serve the majority of the residents of cities today . �
AVINOAM BARAK
CEO OF CARTEAV
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