BussNess™
Bringing business on the road
Sustainable
Efficient
Comfortable
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21.200 Business-flights
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our traveller
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Bringing business on the road
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The way to go
Why should you get on board
Video explaining the BussNess concept.
21.200 Business-flights
In 2021 there were a total of 303 thousand intra-trade flights, which is 17 per cent more than the total of 2020. In the Netherlands, Schiphol attracted the most intra-trade flights at 88 per cent. Eindhoven was the number two with 6.8 per cent (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, s.d.). 7 percent of these travellers had a business reason for their trip, but since business travellers usually fly several times a year there can be assumed that in the total number of air trips, the number of business travellers is therefore higher than 7% (Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat, 2018). Even if the 7% were assumed, flying for business purposes still accounts for 21.2 thousand flights per year.
pollution
Because short flights cause relatively more pollution due to high emissions when landing, taxiing and taking off, Greenpeace believes these flights should be replaced by trains or electric buses as much as possible. "In this way, we can achieve substantial climate gains and much of the nuisance to the environment and nature disappears." (Een derde van vliegreizen niet verder dan 750 kilometer, 2019).
The future of business travel
Travellers often choose the plane anyway because they do not want to transfer trains or buses, which is normally necessary for longer distances. Travellers are happy to use public transport, but with conditions: The trip must be affordable, easy to book and travellers want as few transfers as possible. Basically the same conditions they set for air travel (Een derde van vliegreizen niet verder dan 750 kilometer, 2019). It is also becoming increasingly important to think about sustainability, since flight shaming is becoming more of a thing (Group 3 - Reimagining mobility, 2023).
As a solution to the heavy use of flight traffic by the business sector, the BUSSNESS™ was designed, a solution that meets all the requirements of the intended user.
"Our mission is to reduce the number of business-flights in europe by implementing a concept that allows people to travel smarter and more sustainable."
Our traveller
From interviews with members of our target group we distinguished 3 kinds of persona’s for which we want our concept to match their psychological needs. These needs can be seen below.
comfort
The trip needs to offer the traveler comfort so they will be able to work and relax during their travels.
beauty
The bus will exude luxury and comfort.
community
The traveler will be part of a group of business travelers when traveling with BussNess™.
purpose
The bus is specially designed for users who want to work during their journey.
morality
The traveler contributes to a environmental friendly way of traveling.
impact
The bus will be environmentally friendly.
We differentiate between three different groups:
The ignorant destination seeker
This group is ignorant towards the journey itself. They feel like it’s not a part of their job to worry about travel specifications. The BUSSNESS™ concept forms a perfect alternative for them. The journey itself will no longer stand in the way of his daily (work) activities. Instead, the ignorant destination seeker can book their journey in the app. Once that's done, they just have to get on board and do not have to worry about anything else. They will form the early/late majority.
The smart business-traveler
This target group will be our early adaptor. They want to travel efficiently, stress-free and sustainable and are open to new ways of conforming to their needs. The BUSSNESS™ concept presents a travel-manner that matches these needs perfectly. They will therefore pick up the concept easily.
The value-for-money employer
This target group sees the value of their employees travelling productively (work during their travels), fast (as little time as possible should be lost) and sustainable, to meet their company values. The BUSSNESS™ concept meets their needs perfectly.
Fast
Effortless planning
Easy traveling
Efficiency
Stress-free travel
Sustainability
Productivity
Sustainability
Fast
ignorant destinationseeker
"I don't want to worry about planning my business-trips. My assistant just books the fastest flight possible."
Smart business-traveller
"Working efficiently during my travels, without being interrupted is important to me. I would like to travel with keeping sustainability in mind."
value for money employer
"I want my employees to travel to their work-event as efficient as possible. To be in line with the image of the company I want my employees to travel sustainably when possible."
Bringing business on the road
The future of business travel
The BUSSNESS™ is developed for the future, aiming to be fully operational from the year 2050, since it will take approximately 20 to 25 years until self driving car lanes will be reality (Ni et al., 2020) and the concept was designed specifically to drive on these lanes. The BUSSNESS™ is designed to drive on a self-driving highway (lane), which means no driver is required in the bus and there will be more space for passengers and extras, such as a coffee corner. A trend that is already occurring at the moment is the development of technology in the field of autonomous vehicles (Brenner & Herrmann, 2018), which means that the self-driving buses of the future will have many advantages and ride more comfortably than current buses. Right now, buses are often listed as crowded, with long journey times and a lot of jolting during the ride. In the future this will be completely different because of the implemented technology of autonomous vehicles. Special highways, on which only self-driving vehicles will drive, allow these vehicles to interact better with each other, resulting in less frequent or sudden braking, smoother lane changes and faster driving.
*We have assumed the shortest flight time indicated. Flight times to Strasbourg vary between 1h15 and 6h15.
Advantage of BUSSNESS™
BUSSNESS™ aims to create as much meaningful worktime during the business trip as possible. In the graphs above it can be seen that in traditional air travel (left), the time to work is relatively short and cut up in to small pieces, which is counter productive. Worktime on the BUSSNESS™ (right) is uninterrupted and relatively long ensuring great productivity. The BUSSNESS™ booth booked includes enough seating space, legroom, a comfortable seat, a desk and a second screen. When booking in the BUSSNESS™ app, it is possible to indicate if the passenger wants to receive a meal during the journey, so this does not have to be taken into account in their own planning. It is also possible to indicate preferences for the location of the seat on the bus. The BUSSNESS™ has sanitary facilities and a luxury coffee corner to give a business class feeling to the passenger. By fully equipping the user with every luxury desired, BUSSNESS™ hopes to attract many passengers and replace some and hopefully all destination flights for business in the future.
The BUSSNESS™ meets the requirements of a traveler used to flying: the buses will drive throughout Europe between cities where most flights for work travel are scheduled to. These buses will drive directly which means that transfers will not be necessary during the journey. To make it extra easy, passengers will board at the nearest airport where they would normally board for their flight. This makes the service also available as a last part of an intercontinental trip to Europe, instead of taking a second flight. For even more convenience a pick-up service from home or work is also available in the service.
Time management
amsterdam
STRASBOURG
Ultimate comfort
BUSSNESS™ aims for absolute comfort. To achieve this several technologies used in luxury car brands will be used. For example, all wheel steering used by Bentley. It allows for great agility and for incredibly smooth lane changes or the Bentley dynamic ride system can be used as an inspiration to keep the buss perfectly level in corners. Bentley also uses smart technologies like "electronic limited slip differentials" and torque vectoring to have better stability and traction in corners. Which is important if we expect that cars, and the BUSSNESS™, will drive faster on the autonomous lanes (Bentley Motors, 2021).
More inspiration can be taken from Rolls Royce and their ghost suspension system. This system makes it feel like you are flying instead of driving, it does this by scanning the road in front of the car and anticipating for any road changes (DeMattia, 2020).
With the BUSSNESS™ being fully electric, questions about the range might be raised. But this will be no problem since there are already trucks like the Tesla Semi that can do ranges of 800 km per charge (Semi | Tesla, z.d.). Which means there is no necessity to stop and charge. especially when a modular battery pack is introduced.
All wheel steering - (Bentley Motors, 2021)
Bentley dynamic ride - (Bentley Motors, 2021)
Tesla Semi - (Semi | Tesla, z.d.)
The way to go
When traveling for work is required, BUSSNESS™ can help. In the app, one can indicate their destination and the desirable departure date and time. Then the user can choose whether they want to be picked up from home or work, receive meals during the journey and choose a preferred side for a booth on the bus. When the pick-up service is chosen, the passenger is picked up from home or work and driven to the nearest airport, from where the BUSSNESS™ departs. When this is not selected, the passenger travels there on their own. Upon boarding, the passenger seeks out the assigned booth, where there is space to store their luggage and all facilities are available to make the journey comfortable and productive. The journey to the destination is direct so there is no need to change vehicles. On arrival, the passenger can easily leave the bus through the wide aisles.
Make a booth-reservation in the app
The user can plan their trip manually in the app.
enter the bus and go to the assigned booth
The user can enter the bus. In the app they will receive directions towards their personal booth.
gET READY FOR TAKEOFF
the bus will depart at the exact promised time. There cannot be any delay.
Get picked up by the taxi
Transport towards the take-off spot is ncluded in the reservation. The taxi will pick you up at your adress.
Work in silence during the journey
You're booth will be entirely sound-proof! There are charging-points for all your electronics and enough storage space to create a spacious and tidy workplace. In addition, there is an extra screen at your disposal
tHE BUS DRIVES YOU ALL THE WAY TO YOUR DESTINATION.
You will be dropped off at the airport of your entered city
consumptions
In the bus you will find an extensive kitchen. In this kitchen you can get free coffee and tea and prepare the luxurious meals that you have ordered in the app.
Why you should get on board
Choose for sustainability
Ride along in an all-electric bus made from only sustainable materials. Making the right choice has never been easier
Travel efficiently
Travel time becomes working time. Make a full working day while being taken to your destination. This will leave you more time to catch up with your colleagues and enjoy your destination city
get comfortable
Good sanitary facilities, soundproof cabins, plenty of space and even meals and refreshments during the ride. Everything a comfortable ride needs is there.
Future implementations and recommandations
Before implementing the concept, we first want to conduct a pilot. This will (depending on the state of the new technologies at that time) not be carried out autonomously, but in a redesigned bus with a driver. Progress depends on the speed at which society adopts these technologies. Scientific, social and legal progress are important in this respect. Before the actual bus can be built, a user-study will be carried out to test whether the design of the bus (with all facilities) meets the requirements of a working person on the road.
- Carrying out a pilot as mentioned above. Several things can be tested here. Is it a popular idea? What kind of marketing is needed to popularize the idea? What is still missing in the bus, what facilities complete the concept? How do people feel about working while traveling?
- We have looked at a hop-on-train to further reduce travel time. Further research could be done to see if this is possible and profitable. In addition, it can be investigated what kind of train/bus adjustments must be made to make this possible.
- In addition, a marketing plan to introduce the idea to large companies should be considered. Many companies arrange the travel for their employees, so that they do not have to do this themselves. At the moment the bussness app is completely autonomous. our recommendation is therefore to look at a company account in which the trip can be booked for all employees.
- According to the current concept, the bus will run on batteries. Instead, the implementation of hydrogen cells could be considered.
Recommandations
BussNess™
Bringing business on the road
Sources
- Bentley Motors. (2021, 5 mei). THE MOST ADVANCED BENTLEY CHASSIS YET. Bentley Newsroom. Geraadpleegd op 17 april 2023, van https://www.bentleymedia.com/en/newsitem/1214-the-most-advanced-bentley-chassis-yet
- Brenner, W., & Herrmann, A. (2018). An Overview of Technology, Benefits and Impact of Automated and Autonomous Driving on the Automotive Industry. Springer eBooks, 427–442. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-49275-8_39
- Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek. (z.d.). Hoeveel vliegbewegingen zijn er van en naar Nederland? https://www.cbs.nl/nlnl/visualisaties/verkeerenvervoer/verkeer/vliegbewegingen#:~:text=In%202021%20waren%20er%20303,dan%20het%20aantal%20uit%202020.&text=67%20procent%20van%20alle%20vliegtuigbewegingen,en%20naar%20Amsterdam%20Airport%20Schiphol.
- DeMattia, N. (2020). Here’s How the New Rolls-Royce Ghost Planar Suspension Works. BMW BLOG. https://www.bmwblog.com/2020/10/05/heres-how-the-new-rolls-royce-ghost-planar-suspension-works/
- Een derde van vliegreizen niet verder dan 750 kilometer. (2019, 27 november).RTLNieuws.https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/economie/artikel/4935031/vluchten-schiphol-kort-750-kilometer-trein-emissie-milieu-co2
- Group 3 - Reimagining mobility. (2023). Travel through Europe [Dataset]
- Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat. (2018, 29 maart). De Vliegende Hollander. Document (onderzoekspublicatie)KennisinstituutvoorMobiliteitsbeleid.https://www.kimnet.nl/publicaties/rapporten/2018/03/22/de-vliegende-hollander
- Ni, J., Chen, Y., Chen, Y., Zhu, J., Ali, D., & Cao, W. (2020). A Survey on Theories and Applications for Self-Driving Cars Based on Deep Learning Methods. Applied sciences, 10(8), 2749. https://doi.org/10.3390/app10082749
Made by: Nito, Sophie, Frits & Guusje
REIMAGINING MOBILITY | 2023
