Shared mobility technolog firm, Vulog has added Los Angeles to its growing list of major markets, rolling out its AiMA (Artificial Intelligence Mobility Applied) platform in the city by the end of the year.
Vulog’s AiMA platform provides all the technology required to launch a new mobility service, including advanced fleet management tools, consumer-facing mobile applications, and in-vehicle connected technology linking to the Internet of Things (IoT). The company has recently released a major update to its AiMA platform, making it the first technology provider in the sector to fully support Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) operations with a complete multimodal and multi-city capability. In Los Angeles, the Hyundai Motor Group’s newly established MoceanLab venture has just selected the AiMA platform to power their citywide carshare service. The newly-launched Mocean Carshare pilot program will become a part of the city’s own carsharing permit pilot program that is being offered by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA METRO).
Vulog forecasts it will launch AiMA in 20 to 30 new markets in 2020, continuing to add to the list of major automotive companies making use of its tools to power large mobility projects. Vulog provides the SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) technology backbone for 30 shared mobility schemes on five continents. The AiMA platform integrates and connects various critical functions that enable free-floating, round-trip, peer-to-peer car-sharing, ride-hailing and hybrid services, as well as autonomous mobility pilot schemes, to operate smoothly. From vehicle scheduling and fleet management to payment processing and parking registration services, Vulog’s real-time data-driven technology stack provides the framework and business intelligence to launch a seamless service within three months.
The AiMA platform is currently used in over 30 cities by multiple automotive companies’ shared mobility services, including WeShare (Volkswagen), Wible (Kia Motors), Free2Move (Groupe PSA), Aimo (Sumitomo Corporation), and Evo (British Columbia Automobile Association). The Vulog platform’s new MaaS capability is now powering schemes in Belgium and Sweden that are Europe’s first multimodal and multi-city shared mobility services. Vulog research revealed that the average shared-mobility user had seven different apps on their phone in order to move around, and they needed to sign up to a different service when travelling in other cities.
Since the summer, customers in the Belgian cities of Brussels and Antwerp have been able to access shared electric mopeds, kick-scooters and cars through the Poppy scheme. Stockholm’s Aimo has also become a multimodal service, with 200 electric kick-scooters recently added to its 300-strong fleet of electric Renault Zoe EVs. Both operations successfully tested the updated AiMA platform and saw user activity increase over the trial period by up to 34%.
“Mocean Carshare’s launch in Los Angeles is a terrific opportunity for Southern Californians to explore new types of mobility,” said Vulog’s CEO, Gregory Ducongé. “With this technology, users in Los Angeles will be able to quickly and seamlessly locate, book and unlock nearby vehicles with their smartphones. Given LA’s position as a hub for mobility innovation, its traffic congestion and population density, the city presents tremendous opportunities for a platform company like us to innovate and launch transformative technologies.”
