Closing the loop
On improving human-dependent highly operationally complex businesses
We are currently spending some time in one of my favorite places in France: Annecy. The city has made a concerted effort to protect its beautiful lake and surroundings by supporting a number of environmental initiatives over the past several years.
One of them, Velonecy, is similar to Citibike, New York City’s bike-sharing system. I am not a heavy Citibike user, nor am I familiar with the ins and out of the logistics and operations behind it. From a consumer standpoint, Velonecy’s economics simply seem unbeatable. As you might expect, Velonecy is heavily subsidized by city government. The first thirty minutes are free (with the second 30-minute tranche only costing €1.50). After one hour, the price increases significantly in order to establish and protect the bikes’ intended use case as an (sub)urban, micro-mobility solution.
As I was returning my bike to one of the 80 docking stations this morning, I struck up a conversation with one of the maintenance operators who happened to be swapping batteries out of his truck when I arrived. I learned that the operational complexities of the business are just as daunting as you might imagine. And it most certainly requires humans completing a set of recurring tasks. The maintenance crew primarily consists of a temporary workforce that ebbs and flows with the seasons. I am eager to research and learn more about the unit economics and true net environmental benefits of these types of solutions.
In the meantime, I am curious to hear from anyone working on solutions unlocking the potential of technology to the benefit of humans performing maintenance services that can be optimized for the best route based on varying geographic and seasonal supply/demand dynamics (but that simply cannot be automated). Would this help make initiatives like Velonecy profitable without subsidies? Please email me here and/or fill out this form. I look forward to hearing from you!