Crowdfunding is nothing new and has been around for years, what first started with Fans financing their favorite bands US Tour has turned into a multibillion dollar industry. Now you can get practically anything crowdfunded if you find enough backers.
A group of young scientists, based in Switzerland, is turning to the world to fund their Revolution of Public Transport. SEEMO (Sustainable, Efficient and Electric Mobility) is their vision on how to reduce traffic, consequently emissions and hence costs.
Putting it in their own words
SEEMO coordinates a fleet of electric vehicles, which are used to satisfy the travel needs of its users. New travel requests are dynamically integrated into existing routes using the latest optimization technologies. In this way it is possible to offer a transportation service which is not only environmental friendly and sustainable, but at the same time also flexible and efficient. These features are of great importance, but missing in most of the conventional public transportation services.
The idea is something like Über for public transport – Book, Pickup, Travel and Arrive.
Of course all with the help of an app and a city council and a transportation company and an appropriate infrastructure. It is an ambitious idea but something that is going in the right direction, despite the possible hurdles.
Most probably by the time they have everything worked out, self-driving (electric) cars will be licenced to our cities and their idea of getting picked up at home (by a self-driving electric bus) won’t sound so farfetched after all. If I was the betting type, I would bet that Über’s days are counted and SEEMO and its likes are the future.
Just in case that you are an environmental revolutionaire, a public transport visionaire or just think it is an idea worth supporting, here is their Indiegogo page.
