Every month we ask one of our partners 5 questions. Read below what they do, how important mobility and innovation is to them and how they see the future of mobility.
We asked 5 questions to Michel van der Mark, director of market development at Qbuzz.
Company: Qbuzz
Number of employees: 2.500
Can you tell us a bit more about your organization, what do you do?
Qbuzz is a data-driven company that provides public transport by bus, tram and train in 3 regions in the Netherlands. We are constantly looking for smart and clean mobility solutions. In Groningen and Drenthe we are doing this in close collaboration with our ambitious client.
What mobility challenges do you have or see?
We have a sustainability task that we fulfil with ambition. We are driving completely fossil-free in Groningen and Drenthe through the use of HVO and half of our buses are already completely zero-emission. All lines that are relatively short or have charging options on the route have been or will be quickly converted to zero-emission with electric or hydrogen buses. Long distances will be the next challenge, think of buses that drive 400 to 1000 km every day. Batteries are not sufficient (more batteries than travellers) and hydrogen buses with this range do not yet exist. Small buses for 8 people are also a challenge. They become too heavy when you make them drive on electricity. For these two modalities, long distance and small buses, there are no suitable buses at the moment that we can use and therefore we are working on solutions.
Which mobility innovations play a role within your organization?
In addition to sustainability, we also focus on smart mobility. An example is our multimodal travel planner that responds to (shared) mobility. As a bus we are part of your journey, but for the last and first mile there are often smarter solutions such as a shared bike, scooter or shared car. We choose to give the traveller the most suitable advice, even if this is a combination of modalities.
The future of mobility: what are you hoping it will look like?
Travel to your destination in a way that is appropriate for the day and time and is cleverly combined with daily life, such as picking up or delivering your package or your groceries.
Why is it important for you to be a partner of Hive.Mobility?
We see that we can boost knowledge and innovation in the north with our partners. Don’t sit still, but advance and seize opportunities!
