For the third consecutive year, Urban Connect hosted a Corporate Mobility conference in Zürich, titled “The Future of Corporate Mobility”. This year it was organised in partnership with SBB, Post Company Cars, Polestar, Riese & Müller, Stromer, Swisscharge, Zaptec, Mobility, 42hacks, and Swisscom.

The event gathered leading mobility experts and corporate executives for an opportunity to connect, share insights, and hear from renowned speakers and representatives of McKinsey, SBB, Post, ZHAW, Roche, and many more. With this event and under the motto “Change Mobility, Change the World”, Urban Connect aims to spark meaningful dialogue among key mobility stakeholders on tackling commuting emissions, rush-hour congestion, and corporate fleet inefficiencies.

Addressing the transportation challenges in Switzerland

Switzerland’s mobility landscape is characterized by the reliance on private cars. The number and size of private vehicles on roads is growing while their average occupancy rates are decreasing. This contributes to unprecedented traffic levels across the nation.

Over 50% of Switzerland’s commute trips are made by car, which dominates even in short-distance commutes between 2km and 5km [1]. The strong preference for cars stems from the accessibility challenges posed by urban public transportation systems [2].

To address such challenges, experts in the event discussed the importance of innovative solutions with three key implications:

1. An easily accessible mobility mix of alternative options is crucial to substitute auto-traffic;
2. Shared mobility is essential and should be deployed in a delightful, emotional way;
3. The employee interventions need to be perceived as fair, to avoid identity politics and maximize adoption potential (e.g. car drivers vs. cyclists).

The potential of multi-modal shared mobility

One of the examples of innovative alternatives to daily car use are shared, premium corporate e-bike fleets, provided by Riese & Müller and Stromer. With Stromer’s users averaging 18km each day, e-bikes are an effective alternative solution to cars for the average Swiss commute of 13.7km.

The potential of car-sharing was illustrated by the successful Urban Connect’s service implementation at Roche which found that a substantial amount of employees had foregone car ownership and even sold their vehicles thanks to easy access to shared e-cars for their incidental needs.

Mobility budgets

Another key topic was mobility budgets, introduced as the next-generation employee benefit. This initiative aims to steer employee behaviour towards lower-carbon transport options, offering a way to deploy a fair and customizable incentive system and at the same time saving costs and increasing employer attractiveness.

The future of corporate mobility

“The future of corporate mobility is shifting from ownership to access! Moving away from owned fleets, many of Switzerland’s most progressive companies are offering their employees access to an ecosystem of low-carbon, shared mobility options – ranging from shared e-bikes, e-scooters, intelligently connected e-cars, public transport ticketing, and even digital corporate parking solutions. Such solutions help companies comply with new statutory climate goals and solve today’s mobility challenges in Switzerland.”

says Dr. Robert Ruttmann, Co-Founder and CEO of Urban Connect

Urban Connect offers a complete multi-modal mobility platform designed to integrate all aspects of corporate mobility needs – including fleet management, analytics, shared mobility, public transport ticketing, and mobility budgets. All supported by an advanced digital application for users and decision-makers.