Ericsson ConsumerLab Report: Digital Technologies to Augment Singapore’s Transportation Infrastructure

• 43
  percent of Savvy Commuters feel that they receive plenty of mental space when commuting
• 40% of Singaporeans feel that their city
  infrastructure is becoming more strained every year
• Technology
  expected to play an instrumental role in enhancing commuter experience

SINGAPORE -�Media
OutReach - 26 November 2020 - Ericsson’s latest ConsumerLab report explores
commuter behavior both before and during the COVID-19 crisis, reflecting
consumers’ opinions and habits that could be used to offer a more satisfactory
commuting experience in the increasingly digital and connected world of
tomorrow.

 

Commuting in Singapore
has been affected by the COVID-19 crisis with measures during this
unprecedented time influencing changes in consumer mobility patterns and future
expectations. Consumers are demanding more from their devices, mobile
connectivity, and vehicles during their daily commute to wrap up their work or
partake in social and recreational activities while commuting. The Augmenting the Daily Commute report surveyed 16,000
commuters in 16 cities, including 1,000 from Singapore who used different transport
modes, including ride and car sharing services.

 

Mental space for a positive commuting experience

The report explores
how the most satisfied commuters — a group Ericsson has named “Savvy Commuters” —
see their commute as more than just time spent moving from one point to another.
Savvy Commuters actively create positive conditions for their trips, using it
to free up time for the rest of the day and turning it into an experience worth
having.

 

A crucial criterion
for a positive experience is the feeling of having enough physical and mental
space. Physical space is dependent on the transport mode but mental space can
be recreated through digital engagement. In Singapore, 43 percent of Savvy
Commuters feel that they receive plenty of mental space during their commute,
an additional 42 percent shared that they have sufficient personal space when
commuting. This group immerse themselves in different digital experiences to
create a sense of space, with 54 percent of them relying on their smartphones
and 46 percent using headphones to achieve this purpose.

 

Commuters are concerned
about the city’s mobility infrastructure

Mass transportation
remains the most common form of transportation mode by Singaporeans (56
percent), with 37 percent doing so with their personal cars. Key motivations
cited for using the current mode of transport are its convenience (58 percent),
cost (45 percent) and time efficiency (46 percent). When it comes to time spent
on commuting, majority of Singaporeans spend less than 90 minutes commuting a
day (64 percent), while 36 percent spend 90 minutes and more. Unsurprisingly,
reducing time spent on commuting is a key priority for most respondents (over
70 percent) compared to having control of their arrival time with a longer
commute (almost 30 percent).   

 

Despite being one of the few cities in the study
with greatest use of mass transport modes, more than 60 percent of respondents in
Singapore have a negative perception of the city’s transportation system. 39
percent of respondents feel the growing strain in the city’s mobility
infrastructure,  while 25 percent believe that
it is reaching a saturation point
and is working over the intended capacity.

 

Safety tops the list of conceptual mobility services

Testing and analyzing
16 mobility concepts across three categories of “Safety and Assistance”,
“Entertainment”, and “Convenience”, Ericsson found that consumers are most
interested in services and features that enhance safety and reduce stress in
demanding situations. Majority of respondents show high interest in enhanced
assisted driving features supported by connectivity, where information is
collected from vehicles and sensors regarding hazards beyond the horizon.

 

Half of the
respondents from Singapore are highly interested in safety features that send
alerts when a driver is not paying attention to a danger ahead, alerting both
the driver and other road users. This is backed by their willingness to pay a
premium for safety services and features such as distracted driver detection
(35 percent) and see through cars powered by 5G (32 percent).

 

When it comes to
entertainment and convenience, 37 percent voiced high interest for augmented
reality windows on trains and buses. Nearly one third look forward to seeing some
form of in-seat Augmented Reality (AR) passenger entertainment, while 34
percent have stated their preference for mood personalization experiences. 39
percent of respondents are also highly interested in continual in-vehicle
connectivity that offers alternative route suggestions from the vehicle to
avoid call drops or lags along the way to boost their productivity.

 

“5G technology will play
an instrumental role in delivering an enhanced commuter experience, alongside
the safety, efficiency and sustainability of urban transportation in the years
to come. Through our continuous investments, partnerships and innovation, we
aim to deliver the best connectivity experience for commuters across the
different modes of transportation,” said Martin Wiktorin, Head of Ericsson
Singapore, Brunei and Philippines “We can take inspiration by understanding
what consumers value during their daily commute and drive positive changes to
deliver satisfaction and enhance the commuting experience as more people head
back to work.”

 

The report also
includes highlights around commuter expectations on the future of mobility in
Singapore such as:

• 61 percent believe that shared mobility
  services will be used more than today in 5 years’ time, with the main reason
  being to reduce congestion.
• Among the sixteen conceptual mobility services,
  most Singaporeans expect entertainment services to take the longest to enter the
  market, with augmented reality maps expected to roll out only in the next 4.5
  years.
• Globally, 60 percent respondents believe
  autonomous vehicles will completely revolutionize the commuting experience
  within the next 10 years. This figure rises to 72 percent in Singapore with
  consumers indicating that new automotive companies will lead the autonomous
  vehicle revolution. Interestingly, Singapore consumers (38 percent) are
  revealed to rely much more heavily on government authorities to lead the
  deployment of autonomous driving compared to other countries in Asia Pacific,
  with only 25 percent of the region expecting government authorities to do so.

 

ABOUT THE STUDY:

This study is
representative of the opinions of 130 million smartphone users globally. The
data were gathered through online interviews with 16,000 people between ages 15
– 69 years-old from Bangkok, Berlin, Delhi, Dubai, Jakarta, London, Los
Angeles, New York, Paris, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Stockholm,
Sydney and Tokyo. Of which 1,000 users are based in Singapore. In addition to
the consumer interviews, expert interviews were conducted with senior
executives from telecom operators, mobility service providers and vehicle
manufacturers between March and April 2020 to gain a perspective on industry
sentiments around the future of mobility for consumers.

ABOUT ERICSSON:

Ericsson enables
communications service providers to capture the full value of connectivity. The
company’s portfolio spans Networks, Digital Services, Managed Services, and
Emerging Business. It is designed to help our customers go digital, increase
efficiency and find new revenue streams. Ericsson’s innovation investments have
delivered the benefits of telephony and mobile broadband to billions of people
around the world. Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on Nasdaq
New York. www.ericsson.com