The market for sustainable transport is saturated by private cars. Providing new transport services currently involves a transition period during which they co-exist with the cars they are intended to replace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Costs are increased during this transition, creating a barrier to change. 350 million cars in Europe cost over 1.4 trillion euros per year, making it impossible for the market to respond in a balanced way to any new services. By forming Transport Groups, users and providers can establish supply and demand online, before changes are made on the ground. They can then 'trade-in' their combined private cars for a combination of alternatives that meet the same needs. This avoids paying for both private cars and sustainable alternatives at the same time. Transport Groups are Decentralise Autonomous Organisations (DAO) that allow users and providers to co-own and govern the development of new transport services in a sustainable, shared and circular economy 

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Carbon Rebound
Development of a shared, circular economy is driven by the rapidly growing, global need to increase efficiency of asset use and reduce carbon emissions. Transport Groups increase efficiency by sharing assets. They avoid the Carbon Rebound effect by users becoming stakeholders in their own shared transport, collectively investing future savings to develop new services that make those savings possible. Capital costs are combined with operational costs in a single, dynamic, pay-per-use rate, which is controlled by a smart contract on a decentralised network. 

Web3 for passenger transport

• Transport Groups crowdfund supply and demand for new transport services online, before they are provided on the ground

• Money trapped by private cars is released by shifting financial responsibility for new services, from providers to users

• Car commuters buy tokens, and collectively invest in new services, instead of owning private cars. Profits from a new service can be distributed to token holders or tokens can be sold as voluntary carbon credits once a reduction in car ownership has been validated.

Customers of Transport Groups are transport providers, who want to ensure new services will be viable, and employers who want to avoid workplace parking levies being imposed. End users are car commuters who either convert to alternatives, or continue to drive and carbon offset their cars.

Transport Groups are divided into 3 Parts, each making different use of smart contracts on a decentralised blockchain. Part 1 holds the money from road use charging in escrow, Part 2 crowdfunds supply and demand, and Part 3 manages variable pay-per-use rates for new services.

Part 1. Carbon offsetting cars
Linking new services with the cars they substitute makes it possible to validate carbon reductions and create new revenue streams for developing transport. Instead of solutions such as Low Emission Zones or *Workplace Parking Levies, car commuters buy tokens which they link to the development of a specific Transport Group, one that will enable them to own fewer cars. Funds are held by a smart contract, on behalf of the Transport Group, until supply and demand for its new services has been established (Part 2). Data from car use before this transition and from the use of alternatives, after the transition, is used to validate the reduction in carbon emissions. Tokens can then be sold as carbon credits to the voluntary carbon market. Car commuters participate by either changing to sustainable alternatives or continuing to drive and buying tokens to offset their cars. Employers can collaborate to meet ESG commitments using data and communication links to identify, prompt and incentivise potentially compatible users in a targeted way. ​​

* The Workplace Parking Levy in Nottingham costs employers £550 per place per year, in Sydney it is $2,950

Part 2. Crowdfunding supply and demand
Conventional Mobility as a Service (MaaS) platforms only integrate existing transport supply. The alternative here involves providers and users establishing both supply and demand to form Transport Groups, small DAOs. This enables manufacturers, operators and end users to co-own and govern the development of new services. Transport Groups are crowdfunded online, before changes to car ownership and transport provision are made on the ground. This avoids increasing costs when new services would normally have to coexist with the private cars of targeted users. It allows the viability of one new service to be conditional on the viability of another new service. Using a decentralised solution overcomes problems of complexity, lack of knowledge and illiquidity of cars, which have previously made it impossible to affect a modal shift.

Part 3. Shifting financial responsibility
In the crowdfunding process of Part 2, members of a Transport Group commit to dynamic pay-per-use rates that cover the cost of new services. They collectively ‘trade-in’ their combined cars for combined alternatives that meet the same needs. As with trading-in a single car, this ensures there is no time during which they are both paid for at the same time. It shifts financial responsibility for developing new services from providers to users. A smart contract manages variable pay-per-use rates, using data sent by an oracle network from real world events, such as transport being used or provided. Controlling pay-per-use rates also allows a Transport Group to issue tokens and raise its initial funding from the future savings made by owning fewer cars.

Transport Groups pilot
Piloting a simple use case could involve car commuters to a business park converting to a combination of folding e-bikes, rail and carshare. Normally, for the cyclist who leaves their car at home, this would increase costs by over £2000 per year. Forming Transport Groups avoids new services co-existing with their private cars. Employers can use data and communication links to prompt potentially compatible users, and introduce small workplace parking charges for the remaining private car commuters, who buy tokens to either offset their cars or sell to the voluntary carbon market.

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Please don't hesitate to get in touch, the economic, social and environmental need to develop sustainable transport is urgent. The problems addressed here undermine all other efforts to provide alternatives to private cars.

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