inOut : review of the digital mobilities event  2/2 

From 14 to 18 March 2018, Rennes and the greater Rennes area became the capital and playing field for new mobilities. At the Couvent des Jacobins Conference Centre and throughout the city of Rennes, 900 sector professionals and nearly 20,000 members of the public gathered to debate the future of mobilities, watch demonstrations and take part in full-scale trials. Second part of our review of the event given over to creating the mobility for tomorrow.

15 March, 14:30. A crossroads of interdisciplinary expertise: the [IN]door event - a place for reshaping the world of mobility. Potential players in the making in the transport and digital technology sectors, students from INSA Rennes learned some valuable lessons at the workshops and roundtables in which they took part, lessons they may well apply in the near future. For Morgane, public transport was 'perhaps the most important area to develop in respect of autonomous vehicles'. As for Alexandre, he was enthusiastic about the predictive power of mobility data, 'so detailed it could directly predict customer needs', while Trinity was of the opinion that 'the right to travel anonymously is important in a democracy' and users must have the right to monitor data collected by transport operators. Finally, in the light of European trials in Mobility as a Service (MaaS) - a mix of individual and joint mobility services made available to the user via a single payment and information interface – Jules had identified three key development areas: creating synergy between public and private transport players, establishing a sustainable economic model and creating MaaS offerings adapted to territorial diversity in Europe.

15 March, 16:00. Between sessions, participants had a chance to discover the latest mobility innovations in the Cowork[IN] area. These included the autonomous robot that assists the postman on his round by Groupe La Poste, the Thing'in platform by Orange, which makes it possible to index and locate connected objects for travel behaviour analysis for example, and the STAR mobile app, lunched for the first time by the transport operator for the metropolis of Rennes, which in real time allows users to find the best mode of transport along with nearby services such as restaurants, shops and medical facilities - Network[IN] to Cowork[IN] being just a short step. This was seen from a collaborative project between SNCF and the start-up Imagina which meant that using a beacon system and even without Internet connection, inOut attendees could be guided by smartphone from Rennes railway station to the Couvent des Jacobins – an example of technology that makes it possible to improve visitor experience anywhere.

16 March, 10:00. Far from the consensus that innovation is always a good thing, inOut was designed as a place where debate and differences of opinion benefit mobilities of the future, and where economic and technological challenges are never separate from ethical and societal considerations. Proof of this came in the appearance of Richard Stallman, pioneer of the free software movement and advocate of passenger anonymity. For the programmer, 'with mobility, one of the greatest dangers: one of the greatest temptations, is to monitor travellers' movement and trace their activities (...). This is actually what certain transport applications that monitor passengers before and after their journey do.' In this context, he defended the idea of vehicles that do not identify their passengers, along with the idea of public transport systems that provide an option for users to remain anonymous. He advocated the use of free software, the aim of which as he summarised in three words, is to promote freedom, equality and fraternity.

16 March, 12:30. The part of the inOut event dedicated to sector professionals closed with a look at the general public's perception of new mobilities. The first public debate in France on the onset of driverless vehicles was organised on 27 January 2018 in five cities including Rennes, and the initial conclusions obtained were presented by Forum Vies Mobiles and the consulting firm Missions Publiques. The results were less clear-cut than those obtained in other surveys on the topic, with 63 percent of the 361 participants viewing the arrival of the autonomous vehicles as a good thing, and nearly 1 out of 2 members of the public ready to move away from using a private vehicle and change the way they travel. This readiness is, however, subject to certain conditions; the general public attaching great importance to the reliability, safety and comfort of this service. A further condition is equal opportunities, as the public would like to see these new modes of transport made accessible to everyone and in all areas. Users are therefore expecting a great deal from public authorities in respect of their duties to anticipate, regulate and provide for social equality. Early 2019, a follow-up debate is to be held across Europe in 25 cities and 10 countries; an opportunity to test this 'readiness to accept but under certain conditions' at European-level.

16 March, 14:00. A link between the parts of the inOut event dedicated to sector professionals and the general public, the public forum organised with Enedis in the nave of the Couvent des Jacobins provided an opportunity to debate the future of electric mobility. In a room accommodating an audience made up of the general public, 85 percent of whom had never used an electric vehicle, experts went over the major issues connected with electromobility, from installing charging stations to converting public transport vehicle fleets, including improving battery performance in electric vehicles. With interactive tools provided by Klaxoon, members of the general public answered quizzes and put their questions to speakers. Among the main obstacles they associate with the development of electromobility are the cost of acquiring an electric vehicle and its autonomy. In response to concerns raised, Matthieu Rubion of Enedis explained that while in France the average daily distance covered by car is 32km, the actual range of electric vehicles is around 300km. He also invited the audience to consider the overall cost: electric vehicles being less expensive to maintain than conventional vehicles and eligible for government incentives. At the end of the forum, using Klaxoon members of the public were asked to define electric mobility in one word. Terms used included: zen, clean air, smart city, future and silence. Sounds great, eh?

16 March, 16:00. Rennes residents were able to try out electric mobility at the very start of the [OUT]door event when, for the first time in Rennes, Bluebuses by the Bolloré Group, all-electric and manufactured in Finistère, were rolled out on the city's roads. Over the weekend, 3,000 users tested buses that were then introduced on the roads in May 2018 for a two-year trial in the city of Rennes. More than 2,000 users also discovered the driverless shuttle by EasyMile/Transdev, which offers a new way to cover what is commonly referred to as the first or last mile.

16 March, 18:00. On Esplanade Charles de Gaulle, the inOut village was inaugurated by Emmanuel Couet, president of Rennes Métropole, and Nathalie Appéré, mayoress of Rennes. Throughout the weekend, the village was a place where residents were able to test new mobility solutions that included riding in hydrogen vehicles with Engie, road safety awareness and testing new urban mobility devices (e-scooters, self-balancing scooters) with Allianz, underground train driving simulation with Siemens, and discovering the world of rail transport with SNCF. New developments introduced by the Brittany Region for the area's future, along with mobility innovations supported by iD4CAR and Images & Réseaux competitiveness clusters were also presented, and we took the opportunity to interview Sébastien, Janine and Ismaël who told us about their mobility discoveries and favourites

17 March, 16:00. While things were in full swing at the inOut village, mobilities took to the entire city of Rennes. On Mail François Mitterrand, the bike repair shop La Petite Rennes gave residents the opportunity to try GoldSprint, a virtual reality bike race, while budding racing drivers tested Photor, a race involving remote-controlled cars equipped with pinhole cameras for taking photos. At Place de la Mairie, passersby stormed the extreme sports simulators and looked around cahuts: mobile, eco-friendly connected micro-houses.

18 March, 14.00. When it comes to inventing the mobility of tomorrow, the public can always be counted on to come up with ideas. A presentation of projects created during Métromix, a Rennes-based event for the prototyping of connected mobility objects and services, included Facitrajet which, once they've scanned their travel card, allows users to give their destination then have their route calculated and printed out on paper, presented in a simplified format and adapted to their level of vision. Another project covered was Buzic, which enables public transport users to suggest song titles or vote for titles put forward by other users and set the musical ambience of their journey.

For its part, together with design students Ti Lab, the regional laboratory for public innovation, presented mobility services designed for and by young people. And finally, children had a go at being apprentice engineers, as they took up an invitation from the association Bug to imagine their vehicle of the future using the design and print software 3D Tinkercad.

From inOut 2018 to inOut 2019

18 March, 18:00. The first edition of inOut2018 came to a close. Over five days, sector professionals and the public had deciphered, debated and explored the future of mobilities. 

So what now? The next edition is due to take place from 28 to 31 March 2019, so make a note in your diaries! In the meantime, inOut is not set to lose momentum and will continue to support trials in fields as diverse as parking and intelligent public lighting, the connected bus, carpooling and car sharing, piloting electric vehicle recharging points or collaboration around mobility data. Throughout the year, we will keep you informed about the progress of these projects contributing to creating mobility solutions that are more affordable, more eco-friendly, more accessible, more personalised and more convivial. Stay connected!