Finnish startup targeting car addiction

Helsinki

THE idea is simple: a transport service that's so good, you'll never need a car again. It's what Finnish startup MaaS Global Oy has been working towards since 2015. It has developed a mobile app, Whim, that's already being used in several European cities and in Tokyo. In Helsinki, 12 per cent of users already say it's prompted them to give up their cars, with as many saying they plan to.

MaaS Global, whose investors include BP, Mitsubishi Corp and Toyota Financial Services, says its app can fix urban congestion and reduce pollution.

In the US, transport accounts for nearly 30 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions, more than any other industry. "Realistically, if we want to tackle transport's CO2 emissions, we have to come up with a way to preserve our freedom of movement in the same way that owning a car does," said CEO Sampo Hietanen.

Whim, which just merged with Wondo, a Spanish rival founded by infrastructure company Ferrovial, offers users the option of planning and paying for a trip via a single app. It provides access to a range of services such as electric scooters, city bikes, public transport and even fixed-price taxis over short distances. The services vary from city to city, with as many as 300,000 people using Whim around the world.

Both Whim and Wondo work as route planners, suggesting the best way to get from A to B, and offer the option of buying tickets or booking vehicles within their apps.

On top of pay-as-you-go plans, Whim has monthly subscriptions - much like Netflix for entertainment.

But recent studies in the UK and the Netherlands suggest that people are very attached to their cars, and that such services tend to appeal mostly to commuters who already use public transport.

Whim is now available in Helsinki, Vienna, Antwerp, in the Birmingham region in the UK and in the greater Tokyo area. On June 1, it launches in Switzerland, the first time a MaaS service will span an entire country. Wondo operates in Madrid with plans to expand in Spain and Portugal, Mr Hietanen said. BLOOMBERG