Yes, sustainable mobility is possible. Alejandro Castanera, September 2019

One of the great challenges that humanity must face given the great impact it has on our environment is undoubtedly mobility. It is a great challenge because it affects us all equally and involves so many factors that it is tremendously difficult to reconcile. But it’s not impossible.

Lately there is a lot of talk about sustainability around mobility, which is usually linked to pollution. We do very well to care about the quality of our air, but there are other factors that play a fundamental role in the quality of life of people and that we usually omit. We are talking about noise pollution, the collapse of public roads, unnecessary deaths on the road, the anxiety and discomfort caused by traffic jams, changes in the migratory patterns of animals due to planes and boats or the construction of highways, and so a long list of problems directly associated with something as basic as our movement from one place to another.

But is mobility the generator of these evils, or is it we, humans, who have turned something as natural as mobility into one of the main problems of our time? I believe that, as always, it is us.

From the outset, we have become accustomed to moving around the world without taking into account anything other than our right to do so, or our right to dispose of any product or service at any time, wherever it comes from. The democratization of the private car, the emergence of low cost airlines or the construction of titanic cruise ships, added to the extreme consumerism we have reached, have led us to a totally unsustainable situation. And it’s not the fault of mobility as a concept, or even of the available formats, it’s the fault of our inability to use it with a little head.

We live far from where we work, we take the children even further, we go on vacation to the other side of the world (and we intend to do it in the shortest possible time and as many times as we can), we take the car alone to make a journey that we could do by public transport or even walking, and we complain when the administrations carry out restrictions on the use of certain vehicles. It’s ridiculous!

It is clear that it does not only depend on oneself. There are many personal, professional and even governmental factors that prevent us from using logic or efficiency in our use of mobility. We can’t always work close to home nor can we avoid taking the car on a rainy day to take the kids to school. Nor should we give up visiting Australia at least once in our lives or going to see our relatives who live in another country. But what we can and must do is, as far as possible, reduce the impact we generate when moving in our day to day. It only takes, in my humble opinion, a little sacrifice and common sense.

Luckily the world is becoming aware of this situation and both individuals, companies and administrations are putting the batteries to solve a scenario that not only affects environmental quality, but directly attacks the well-being in the cities of the world.

A good path we are taking is, for example, that of electric vehicles. A good solution, which I am sure will not be the definitive one, which can significantly improve the quality of life in the increasingly overcrowded modern cities. Like all new technology, there are still issues to be solved and improved, but I think it’s the right way.

But it is not only about changing the energy model (gasoline vs electricity) but also the type of vehicle. And is that, what is the use of changing the car from gasoline / diesel for the electric? They occupy the same space, cause the same stress in the mornings, generate the same number of accidents and are substantially more expensive than gasoline (although studies show that it is economically worth making the change). Of course, they are silent and do not dirty the air in cities. It is a breakthrough, but I am afraid that is not enough to achieve sustainable mobility as such.

The optimal solution is to walk, use the bike or public transport. That would be ideal for real sustainable mobility. The problem is that another concept comes into play: convenience. Therein lies the key to the success of any new mobility system, it has to be convenient for the citizen to be willing to take the step. Aspects such as speed, safety, ease of use or range, define the convenience of urban mobility, and without it it will be difficult to succeed.

This line of thought is what has led brands such as NIU, the world’s leading electric scooter company distributed by Motos Bordoy in Spain, to propose a type of mobility based on efficiency, sustainability and convenience of use. All this combined with a connectivity that allows the user to know everything related to their daily displacements and, thus, gain awareness of their impact when moving. This strategy has led them to sell more than 810,000 units in just 5 years and they are a benchmark in the process of transforming mobility in cities, either for individuals offering them products with great design and motosharing solutions, as well as for companies in any sector that seek significant cost savings and compliance with European regulations that are falling.

Personally I believe that sustainable mobility is possible, I am a great advocate and that is why I dedicate myself to what I do, but we must become aware of what it means. I think the electric scooter is a great solution for the inhabitants of big cities and for the companies that operate in them. And it complies with the 3 points that, in my opinion, define sustainable mobility in a city: 0 pollution (noise and air), release of space and convenience of use (it is agile, fast and safe). I also believe and trust in the electric car as an indispensable step for a decarbonisation of mobility, but I believe that its access to the city should be much more limited to correct the rest of the problems they generate as a method of personal mobility in urban centres.

I would like to end by going back to the more macro aspects of mobility, where we can also contribute to an overall improvement. It is not necessary to make it an obsession, but neither is the discourse of “I as an individual can do little”. I disagree. Yes you can, and you can do a lot. We can use the train instead of the plane, buy proximity products or allow our employees more hours of work from home. Again, it’s a matter of common sense.

I am convinced, especially for the account that brings us, that these lines and the debates they can generate, will no longer make sense in the not too distant future, because we will have reached a technological moment in which the mobility of the human being and “his things” has such a minimal impact on our environment that we can focus our efforts on solving other issues. But until then, we have to make decisions, and we have to do it now.

Alejandro Castanera
Brand Manager NIU Spain

Company Member of the Private Company and Climate Foundation