Interview Timeline
00:05 What is Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS)
“Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is a very fragmented arena, not just in terms of planning a trip, but also on the payment side”, says Paulo Ferreira dos Santos, Founder & CEO of Ubirider.
Ubirider was founded in Porto, Portugal in July 2018 with a vision to “reduce the fragmentation of mobility”, according to its CEO.
The company offers a platform for Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C). The front end allows people to plan trips everywhere in the world from any place to any place. In some places, the platform also allows customers to pay for all of that.
“We don’t believe that it is possible to change or transform mobility by just working for the riders or just working for the providers. We believe that it is necessary to generate equal value for both.” Paulo Ferreira dos Santos, Founder & CEO, Ubirider
Recently, the company announced a partnership with Mastercard to integrate payments in Ubirider’s Pick Hub.
Learn about Ubirider’s solutions in Mobility-as-a-Service
“Ubirider has built Pick as an independent digital platform which combines traditional and modern ways of transportation to smartly connect and help both travellers and transport operators.
The mobile app Pick by Ubirider (Android, iOS) allows users to plan door-to-door travel, pay and ride to all destinations, everywhere, using the best transport combination.
Through the Pick Hub web interface, transport operators benefit from a new, independent and transparent channel to manage ridership and fare collection in real-time, without additional infrastructure”.
We spoke to Paulo Ferreira dos Santos, Founder & CEO of Ubirider on:
- Why Ubirider’s data-sharing business model is crucial for growth
- How Ubirider’s customer-centricity becomes a USP
- The role of seamless payments to advance multi-modal transport
- Expansion plans in Portugal, the UK, funding & more
Ubirider’s focus on data, UX and payments are key to success in multi-modal mobility, says Auto2x
“Ubirider is differentiating itself in MaaS by bringing together three essential pieces of the puzzle of smart, multi-modal mobility services”, says Auto2x.
“First, they follow a holistic approach in multi-modal transport that includes customers and operators.
Second, anonymized data-sharing with transport operators enables the development of efficient mobility services.
Third, a partnership with a global contactless payment provider helps build a seamless experience for users”.
“Ubirider’s vision is to reduce the fragmentation of the movement of people,” says, Paulo Ferreira dos Santos
“To do so, we try to build three levels of interoperability of information.
The first level is the interoperability of information when someone is planning a trip. Our service can connect you to the different transportation modes so you can go from door to door.
The second level is the interoperability of payments between different transport modes. For example, if I’m going to take a train and then a taxi, I don’t want to deal with two different ticket systems and make two different payments because it is complex. I want a service that gives me the option to pay and receive my invoice in my email.
The third level is service update, through a single channel, which is also complicated. For example, there is a heat wave and the trains are communicating updates about service disruption.
But each one is communicating information in different channels, e.g. their social media, therefore you need to go to their Twitter or their websites to get the updates. Instead, I want to be informed about any update in a single point of contact. We are building these three levels of interoperability everywhere”.
Another aspect highlighted by Ubirider’s CEO is their customer centricity. “We don’t believe that it is possible to change or transform mobility by just working for the riders or just working for the providers. We believe that it is necessary to generate equal value for both.”, says Ubirider CEO.
Contents
- About UBiRIDER and its vision in MAAS
- To respond to increasing urbanisation, cities need more efficient multi-modal transport
- Ubirider’s Mobility-as-a-Service solutions for customers & businesses
- The company’s vision is to reduce the fragmentation of the movement of people
- Key differentiation: data sharing & UX
- Data sharing as a key enable of growth
- Positioning & key deals
- The importance of Ubirider’s 3 key partnerships for its future
- How seamless contactless payments can accelerate the adoption of MaaS
- Market expansion & key milestones
- Why the UK presents strong potential for the company
- Spain and Colombia are interesting opportunities for expansion
- Upcoming funding round
