The year of the app: five transport predictions for 2023

Peter O’Driscoll, Managing Director, RingGo

In 2009 Apple trademarked the phrase “There’s an app for that” to showcase the growth of app availability on its iOS app marketplace. Since then, the app boom has revolutionised lifestyles and, over the space of a decade, apps have become commonplace and vital for daily functions, with downloadable technology on smartphones intrinsic to leisure, business, retail, and transport services.

Drilling down into transport, we can see that sweeping changes in app culture are impacting the way we travel. Traditionally transport has been commodity-based: you purchase a car to go from A to B. Now apps enable the servitisation of mobility, with solutions facilitating everything from e-mobility and ride-sharing, to practical features such as mapping, locating charging points, and paying for parking, all underpinned by data networks and simplified user experience.

Looking further ahead to 2027, Gartner predicts more than 50% of the global population will be daily active users of multiple super apps. These are platforms ‘like a Swiss army knife’ that house a variety of services in one ecosystem, deploying modular micro-apps for a personalised experience. With super apps, tapping on one icon will manage multiple aspects of your day, and the acceleration towards this new era of app technology demonstrates how deep the impact of apps has been so far.

With apps in mind, I am looking at the next 12 months to predict the ways transport will change for the better, the ways automation and technology will improve lives, and how apps will play an integral role in radically shifting the needle toward enhanced mobility.

• Smartphone technology will be engineered with all demographics in mind

Despite preconceptions of ageism, technology-enabled solutions are used by all types of drivers, with demographics across the nation taking advantage of technology’s benefits to convenience. Focusing specifically on the elderly, 9 in 10 (86%) UK pensioners believe smartphones make their lives significantly better according to OnePoll.

Almost two-thirds (64%) believed their depiction in media was either negative or ambivalent, while almost half (45%) have been made to feel frustrated (37%), silly (29%), or angry (27%) by younger people patronising their ability to use their phone. With this in mind, in 2023 I predict that more companies will take an inclusive approach when it comes to engineering technology for smartphones. This will involve ensuring that solutions cater to their needs with three user experience points in mind: accessibility, functionality, and mobility.

When planning journeys from A to B, and rounding off a route by paying for parking, drivers in the UK can expect to see improvements to practical usage and integration of technology in their daily lives.

• There will be more competition in the market and app choice for motorists

The opening of the market to competition outside of the confines of the traditional single-supplier model will begin to gather momentum, and this will mean a wider choice of preferred apps for motorists. In 2022, Open Market pilots in Manchester City Council and Oxfordshire County Council, using the DfT-funded National Parking Platform, showed that it is possible to have multiple providers competing at the same location, bringing more choice and reliability to consumers and councils alike. And now, new entrants that provide services outside of the parking ecosystem will come into play. 

With motorists free to use their app of choice this will reduce costs to the motorist and increase digitisation. Evidence from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP), who made the move to multiple cashless parking providers in 2021, shows that digital penetration grew by more than 250% over 2 years with the introduction of multiple phone parking providers so app parking now accounts for more than 55% of all parking transactions.  This is a trend that I expect to see grow, as more authorities adopt the Open Market construct.

• 3G sunsetting will increase reliance on app-based transport services

The unprecedented growth of 5G, outpacing 3G and 4G uptake, represents the quickest generational rollout for the mobile industry. As 5G is setting new standards of hyperfast connectivity and its star is rising, 3G is fading into obsolescence, which will cause trickle-down effects that mark significant changes in the way we park.

Network providers will be retiring band services, and as this happens hardware will be affected. In parking, chip and pin services for payment reliant on 3G modem hardware will stop working. 3G sunsetting presents challenges for physical payment methods, and potentially costly upgrades to machines to stay connected. Many people are still unaware of these changes, as 79% of people have no idea that the 3G network is being phased out, according to a 2020 survey.

App-based solutions will remain unaffected by network alterations, as these services rely on device connectivity to mobile networks across 4G, 5G, or IVR for those paying via phone call. Apps circumvent these challenges and I predict they will be more attractive to Councils and operators in 2023.

• Digitalisation positively impacting transport strategy for Councils and operators

The main dimension of the impact of digitalisation is around the end-user experience, but the advent of technological solutions also provides useful back-end data. For Councils and operators, with increased digitalisation comes more data points and information about vehicle types, emissions, and dwell times. Armed with this information authorities can use this data to make informed decisions around environmental policies and wider parking controls to make our cities more liveable and more manageable.

Trends in the transport industry are part of a moving picture, and how much is changed in this space is dependent on investment and strategy. Forward-thinking Councils and operators have already seen the benefits of harnessing technology advancements, as well as data-driven insights from Mobility-as-a-Service providers.

Progression of a data strategy is planned for the Government, as over 90% of senior civil servants will be upskilled on digital and data essentials, with learning embedded into performance and development standards, as part of the ‘Transforming for a digital future‘ policy. In 2023, on a local level, I hope to see continued progression of digitalisation ambitions, which will have noticeable and important impacts on the ground level, for the drivers who can take advantage of new transport developments.

• There will be a shift from manual to automatic services in transport

Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen some great examples of automatic solutions for transport in the UK, with automatic number plate recognition technology playing a part in optimising parking payments. As adoption continues, more drivers will be able to benefit from touch-free solutions.

When travelling into a town or city centre, it’s often the process that motorists would locate a space, and pay for parking via an app. Should the motorist need more time, they can potentially top up their parking session via extending on the app. Collaboration between parking providers and operators means that camera technology can completely automate the process and charges are calculated separate to manual management.

Automatic payment facilitates touch-free entry and exit to parking facilities, and solutions are being trialled in the UK currently. The parking transaction starts and ends completely autonomously, bypassing pay machines. In 2023 we will see an expansion of these high-quality technology solutions for drivers, allowing for new and exciting levels of convenience for urban travellers.

Looking at the horizon

In 2023 I believe we’ll see great strides made toward Mobility-as-a-Service models for motorists, with digital channels enabling better flow in transport. There will be more elements of disposability when moving from A to B, and transport service providers will look at becoming holistic one-stop shops. The popularity of the likes of Uber and Lime attests to the fact that mindsets are already shifting towards service-based transport.

Within the microcosm of parking, providers are linking up mobility services for motorists using apps, and there will be scope to manage a journey in its entirety from one point of contact; mapping, location, payment, and charging services can be housed in one space. We’re also seeing app-based services create actionable data streams for Councils and operators to improve transport management in local areas. These benefits are ticks in the pro column for choosing apps, as they herald an age for more liveable towns and cities.