Growing demand for community-based transportation - by Joe Moye and Dan Grosswald

 

 

The future of mobility is moving away from vehicle ownership and more towards access to convenient and reliable transportation¹. This trend places greater emphasis on how communities should be built today. More advanced community amenities like driverless shuttles are being incorporated into live-work-play developments to address the shift in how people seek to connect from A to B.

A recent industry survey illustrates opportunities and benefits in creating and implementing a better way to connect people and places. The online survey presented questions to more than 2,500 builders and developers throughout the U.S. to take the pulse on current and future plans for community-based transportation services.

Breaking Down the Survey Results

The data shows more than one-third of builders and developers currently have some form of community-based transportation service while another 12% say they’re currently planning the implementation of services. Of the services provided bikes, shuttles, and electric scooters makeup the largest type of options.

Many builders look to implement new modes of alternative mobility and believe that community-based transportation and/or innovations such as driverless shuttle services would add value to the homes. More than two-thirds of builders and developers responded that it would add value and half of those polled believe this could bring an additional 4% - 6% increase in home values.

It’s one of the driving factors builders see as a unique service feature for new residents. 56% of builders and developers believe new resident attraction represents the largest motivating factor for the implementation of such mobility systems, followed by enhanced services for residents (52%), and added overall revenue (50%).

This will improve safety in communities by reducing road congestion while also positively impacting the environment with electric shuttles in place of gas-powered personal vehicles.

Benefits of Community-Based Transportation Realized

Master planned communities like Tradition and Lake Nona in Florida represent the rise in builders who value the importance of community-based services. Specifically, their autonomous mobility networks are improving connectivity, attracting new home buyers, increasing home values and reducing the need for personal transportation.

Mattamy Homes, the largest privately owned homebuilder in North America and leading developer in Tradition, developed alternative mobility solutions for residents, employees and visitors to connect residential living, retail, restaurants and recreational areas. The implementation of community-based transportation utilizing driverless shuttles consists of two routes with four stops serving three key destinations in Tradition.

Within the first six months, Mattamy Homes created a sustainable and safer mode of transportation that reduced the equivalent of nearly 2,300 vehicle trips in the community.

Through a phased approach and a combination of public roads and dedicated infrastructure in the future, Tradition will continue to expand its autonomous mobility services alongside its nearly 20 miles of experiential trailheads, including stops at the Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital, future commercial shopping centers, schools and medical facilities in the development. Each stop will be accessible by the autonomous shuttles service with a designated stop.

Growing Importance

In summary, as more people move away from city centers and more toward live-work-play communities, those with walking trails and dog parks, and athletic amenities like tennis and basketball courts, and community pools increase property values.² The results obtained from this industry survey also clearly indicate that communities with a better and safer way to get around attract more home buyers, increase home values and provide a level of mobility-for-all for those seeking and needing it.

1 Shift from Ownership to Access Is Shaping the Future of Automotive - Cox Automotive Inc. (coxautoinc.com)
2 https://www.trulia.com/blog/features-increase-property-values-in-my-neighborhood/

Joe Moye is the CEO and Board Director at Beep, Orlando, Fla. Dan Grosswald is the Mattamy Homes Division President for South Florida, Boynton Beach, FL