Encouraging Environmentally Friendly Neighborhoods via Taxi Pooling
In the heart of Japan, innovation is shaping the future of mobility. The Japan Mobility Show, a unique platform bringing together car enthusiasts, business professionals, families, and technology innovators, recently concluded its 2023 event. The show's vision, "A unique opportunity to explore mobility’s future," is a testament to its commitment to advancing society's movement.
One startup that aligns with this vision is NearMe. Founded by Takahara, who was inspired by inefficiencies in last-mile transport at Rakuten, NearMe focuses on creating sustainable communities through freedom of mobility. Their core offering, the AI-driven taxi-sharing service called Airport Shuttle, has already grown to over 700,000 users.
Takahara views mobility as 'freedom of movement on demand', encompassing both private vehicles and shared services like NearMe's. This vision is reflected in NearMe's goal to create a society where more people can move freely and continue to live in their chosen communities.
The Airport Shuttle offers an affordable door-to-door transport solution between home and the airport, priced three to five times lower than chartering a vehicle for oneself. NearMe's unique system uses AI to match users and optimize routes based on reservations, aiming to increase transportation volume by improving the quality of existing taxis through sharing.
NearMe's Golf Shuttle service connects users to golf courses around Tokyo and Chiba, making leisure activities more accessible. To enhance the user experience, NearMe is working with Toyota Boshoku to optimize HiAce interiors for shared rides.
The Japan Mobility Show encourages startups like NearMe to participate through business contest programs, aiming to spur business creation and technological breakthroughs in areas such as electrification, autonomous driving, and smart mobility solutions. Toyota and other major companies are also actively partnering with startups to scale innovations and work towards a more prosperous, sustainable, and inclusive mobility ecosystem.
The endeavour is to make the show a national event that inspires excitement about new forms of mobility, from traditional vehicles to future concepts, and to establish Japan as a leader in shaping the next decade’s mobility landscape. NearMe's win at the Pitch Contest Grand Prix at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 is a significant step towards achieving this goal.
As the mobility landscape evolves, companies like NearMe are at the forefront, pushing boundaries and redefining how we move. The trade-off for lower prices in shared rides, such as an increase in stops en route, may add stress, but the vision of a more sustainable and inclusive mobility society is undoubtedly worth the journey.
- In aligning with the Japan Mobility Show's vision, NearMe, a startup focused on data-and-cloud-computing and technology, is using finance to create a society where people can move freely through their innovative, AI-driven taxi-sharing services in industries like transportation, aiming to make mobility more affordable and sustainable.
- At the Japan Mobility Show, NearMe showcased their commitment to revolutionizing mobility, presenting solutions in areas such as electrification and autonomous driving, which could potentially reshape the transportation industry and position Japan as a global leader in data-and-cloud-computing and technology within the next decade.
