Existing transportation networks, supported by the power of industry collaboration, will drive the future of Mobility as a Service (MaaS). That is the key message delivered by Enterprise Holdings which manages the world’s largest and most diverse privately-owned fleet at last week’s Joint Annual Meeting of the ITE Midwestern District (MWITE) and Missouri Valley Section (MOVITE).
The ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers) holds these regional meetings every year to provide transportation professionals across the Midwest with the knowledge and skills to serve the needs of their communities and help shape the future of transportation. This year’s theme was “Gateway to the Future: A New Horizon of Transportation,” and Friday’s keynote speaker was Mike Mangan, Vice President of Commute with Enterprise (vanpooling). Other prominent speakers included Brandye Hendrickson, Deputy Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration; Lyda Krewson, Mayor of the City of St. Louis; and Bruce Belmore, International ITE President.
Public Transportation, Private Enterprise
Enterprise Holdings owns National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car as well as its flagship Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand. In addition to Commute with Enterprise, other Enterprise-branded business lines include: Enterprise CarShare and CarClub; Enterprise Fleet Management (leasing); Enterprise Car Sales; Enterprise Truck Rental and Flex-E-Rent; Exotic Car Collection by Enterprise (luxury); and Zimride by Enterprise.
As a result, Enterprise Holdings has been in an ideal position for decades to partner with transit authorities and other government agencies at the federal, state and local levels to improve mobility and enhance fleet management proving that private industry can be an important partner in the urban mobility, sustainable transportation and public transit arenas.
“The transportation industry is currently experiencing a dramatic paradigm shift, as technology inspires new models for moving around within communities. Today, commuters have more mobility choices than ever, from traditional taxis and bus lines to vanpooling and bike sharing,” said Mangan. “How we connect these options can create convenient and seamless multimodal experiences over a common platform, and that’s the central idea behind the Mobility as a Service, or MaaS, movement.”
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Mangan placed heavy emphasis on the need for continued collaboration throughout the industry. Strategic transportation providers– including car rental operators like Enterprise have both an opportunity and an obligation to help businesses, government agencies and communities of all sizes reach their own mobility and sustainability goals. To that end, Mangan has recently contributed two articles to the ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers) Journal:
- “The Value of Vanpooling as a Strategic, Cost-effective, and Sustainable Transportation Option”
- “Public Transportation, Private Enterprise”
During the Joint MWITE/MOVITE Meeting, Mangan noted, “The quickening pace of innovation we’re seeing around the world makes me incredibly optimistic. Not only about meeting basic mobility needs, but also about the possibilities for addressing lingering urban and rural mobility challenges. With its global reach and wide range of convenient transportation options, the car rental industry is uniquely positioned to help provide the infrastructure for tomorrow’s MaaS paradigm.”
Mangan also discussed the various ways that connected vehicles, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and autonomous cars will transform the transportation landscape and how Enterprise is responding to these emerging technologies.
“Looking to the future, technology will continue to expand people’s mobility options even more. A connected fleet will put drivers in control and get people where they need to go faster. AI and machine learning will help us better predict where we need to allocate our fleet and when, while also allowing us to anticipate customer needs. And the key to marketplace success for autonomous is smart, large-scale fleet management and logistics, something rental car companies do every day.”
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ITE Student Leadership Summit
Mangan also served as the keynote speaker at the 2019 St. Louis ITE Midwestern and Great Lakes District Student Leadership Summit held June 17-19, where the Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand served as the event’s official sponsor.
Students enrolled in the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Washington University in St. Louis Joint Undergraduate Engineering Program organized the St. Louis Summit to help shape and inspire the next generation of transportation engineers through leadership training, professional development and networking opportunities. In addition, students from more than a dozen universities across the Midwest attended, and the event also featured local public transportation experts and industry thought leaders from the two universities as well as from the Missouri Department of Transportation.
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