With more than 5,500 vehicles in more than 15 cities on three continents, Ubiq (formerly Parkbob) is one of the most successful start-ups that started their journey from Vienna.

Urbanisation and the climate crisis are presenting cities with new challenges. In order to protect the environment sustainably and at the same time meet the mobility needs of residents, cities must develop innovative and sustainable mobility concepts. Digitisation helps immensely here and valuable to set up smart city solutions.

“Urban mobility offers many opportunities to reduce the burden on the environment and establish a better standard of living in cities. At Ubiq, we believe that innovative solutions can only be both sustainable and profitable through a data-driven approach. We are confident that with our products and our services we can play a crucial role in shaping the future of mobility,” explains Christian Adelsberger, CEO and Founder of Ubiq.

Shared Mobility: 7 out of 10 customers can’t find a vehicle when they need it Shared mobility is becoming increasingly popular. The change in consumer behaviour towards sustainable and convenient solutions additionally accelerates the penetration of this mobility concept. Nevertheless, 60-80% of the market demand is not met and thus about 7 out of 10 customers do not find a vehicle when they need it. This is largely due to the fact that vehicles are often not available where they are actually needed. For example, when they are parked for longer periods on the periphery, where demand is nowhere near as high as in the center.

It is precisely this gap between supply and demand that Ubiq aims to close. With the help of data and forecasting models, it is possible to predict how, where and when demand will be. For example, historical data is used for this, but app opening dates, weather, holidays, special events and parking regulations are also taken into account in the forecasting models. Ubiq’s artificially intelligent platform uses the demand forecasts and, on a vehicle-specific basis, makes recommendations for repositioning vehicles, as well as recommendations for electric vehicle charging times.

Knowing where demand is highest offers benefits for customers and operators: on the one hand, vehicles
are more readily available for users, and on the other, operators’ fleets are better utilised, saving vehicles and increasing revenue by around 20%. For optimising the utilisation potential of shared mobility vehicles: StreetCrowd. The Ubiq platform provides shared fleet operators with insights into demand in their city and vehicle task recommendations on how to improve fleet availability and utilisation. However, for these insights and recommendations to have an impact on revenue, the recommended vehicle tasks must be performed by a service team. That’s where Ubiq’s StreetCrowd comes in.

The StreetCrowd platform matches the recommended vehicle tasks with the CROWD of the StreetCrowd platform. Who exactly is the CROWD? Anyone and everyone, including the customers of the shared fleet operators. By completing recommended vehicle tasks, such as moving, charging, and pulling from charging stations, the CROWD contributes to a sustainable ecosystem in their neighbourhood while receiving additional income from Ubiq. Because CROWD is decentralised, meaning users can be found anywhere and at any time in a city, the StreetCrowd platform enables shared fleet operators to achieve unrivalled efficiency and scalability.