It’s the younger generation that we can look to for hints as to what our mobility needs will look like in the future. I only need to look so far as my daughter, who has recently entered adulthood. When she thinks about how to get from A to B, there is rarely a private vehicle involved. In fact, owning a car isn’t even on the list. Younger people from Millennials through to Gen Z have very different travel preferences to older generations and demand more from technology to help them navigate their world.
When RACV approached Intelematics to rebuild their mobility app, ‘arevo’, it was this audience that we had to design it for. The appeal for Victorians is to quickly and conveniently plan and book journeys across multiple modes of transport – all from a single journey planner. The app also allows RACV to increase user engagement through in-app special offers and discounts from retail stores. To better understand the changing face of mobility, let’s look at some of the trends impacting this space.
Mobility is changing
From a big picture point of view, the Australian government is keen to reduce our reliance on vehicles. According to the ABS, there are currently 19.8 million registered automotive vehicles in Australia. Although the pandemic provided temporary relief for our roads, Australia will not meet the reduced emissions targets it promised to achieve under the 2016 Paris Agreement. Despite younger generations increasingly choosing public and other forms of shared transport. Busy roads also make it increasingly difficult for freight to flow easily. A lot of thinking and investment has gone into solving this problem resulting in trialling newer forms of shared micro-mobility solutions such as cycling and e-scooters.
Apps such as arevo help users to easily plan trips in an urban area across different micro-mobility options. Industry commentators agree that whilst technology can encourage different forms of transport, broader government investment is also required. Additional bike lanes are a start; concrete separator barriers between cycle paths and car lanes will provide cyclists with greater safety and encourage people to cycle.
Mobility in action – the development of arevo
Encouraging and linking multiple modes of transport into one journey planner for all Victorians was a complex but exciting project for the Intelematics team and our client RACV. During the nine-month development phase, Intelematics took the lead on building the “brains” behind the route-planning engine that powers arevo. This engine processes a wide range of complex travel data from third-party sources and uses common sense and context for route planning in real-time. The design allows users to personalise travel preferences too – from walking and cycling through to cars and public transport.
Other features built into the app include:
Easy access to view live public transport departure times and disruptions
A new dashboard with petrol prices and parking availability
Special offers and discounts from a range of Victorian businesses
The project itself was complex and required the translation of complicated business requirements into a functional solution for users. Here are some lessons our team learnt along the way:
Lesson 1 – Mobility is complex. Niche expertise is needed to develop a successful solution
Our team brought decades of experience to the table for RACV in areas such as mobility, travel data and maps. That niche expertise in developing mobility solutions and the provision of real-time data is the difference between delivering a user experience that hits the mark and one that falls flat.
Lesson 2 – Automation is key to reducing the manual load
Having a strong testing capability and drawing upon systems that are largely automated meant our solution was faster to market. Automation also significantly improves the quality of output and reduces defects. Intelematics’ ongoing management of the arevo app will ensure it is always secure, available and performing well.
Lesson 3 – Lean, agile development enables apps to be easily updated
Mobility is evolving quickly, so it’s important that any solution can respond to changes in technology and the growing customer base. The use of modern lean-agile techniques for application development means that it’s easier to update and upgrade an app over time.
Lesson 4 – There’s a huge opportunity to integrate mobility apps with CRM
RACV understands that one of the keys to developing customer ‘stickiness’ is to build CRM capability such as offers and discounts into arevo. Integrating this capability into RACV’s backend CRM system allows RACV to better engage with this younger demographic in the future.
These valuable lessons ensure we will continue to evolve and enhance the arevo app into the future. Victorians’ travel needs may be changing, but together with RACV, we are up for the challenge.
Article was written by Neil Kingston former Intelematics employee and contributor of the Intelematics Thought Leaders Club.
We build the very best in mobility technology to improve how the world gets around. From mobility for individuals to game-changing tools for business and governments – our best-in-class data and services are recognised by industry leading brands the world over.
