GAIYO

Smart mobility concepts for a sustainable future

Innovactory Almere
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The world is rapidly urbanising. As a result, the familiar way of travelling by car is also coming under pressure. Roads are congested, parking fees are rising and more and more municipalities are lowering their parking standards. So we will have to radically change our travel behaviour. Gaiyo in Almere is working on innovative mobility solutions that contribute to this.

"Transport and mobility need to be smarter and greener," states Lucien Groenhuijzen. For seven years, he was one of the board members of TomTom. In 2013, he and some former colleagues founded the company Gaiyo, aiming to provide innovative solutions to regional mobility issues. In the old production hall of the former Nivea factory in his hometown Almere, he found the ideal location for his company to flourish.

Smart travel assistant

The first app Gaiyo launched was TimesUpp, a smart assistant that helps users travel from A to B. Whether by car, public transport, bicycle or on foot. "Based on how busy the road is, the app suggests a travel plan," explains Groenhuijzen. "In case of traffic jams or other delays, you receive a notification and are shown alternatives. The app syncs with your calendar and alerts you when it's time to leave." With the introduction of this app in 2014, Gaiyo was ahead of its time. Both users and the government were enthusiastic. In 2018, for instance, the app was used in a program to improve the accessibility of the southern Netherlands, among others.

Faced with increasing mobility challenges, Gaiyo aims to inform travellers about the many travel options and encourage them to travel differently for a change. This is easier said than done, as for many people the car is still the ideal means of transport. And influencing behaviour effectively is complicated. In recent years, Gaiyo has gained a lot of knowledge in the field of behavioural change and mobility. The company uses this to break old patterns and help people discover new possibilities. For example, during the renovation of the Waal bridge near Nijmegen between 2019 and 2021. "We then encouraged three thousand motorists to work from home more often and take the bike or ov. Traffic jams decreased drastically."

" We help people to travel more consciously and sustainably. "

Lucien Groenhuijzen, CEO Gaiyo

All travel options in one app

Innovative solutions like MaaS (Mobility as a Service) can help bring about this kind of behavioural change. "To that end, we developed the app Gaiyo," Groenhuijzen explains. "In it, we have connected various forms of transport from a large number of providers, such as bus, train, taxi, shared car, bike and scooter, as well as your own car and bike. You can see exactly how much time each option costs, but also what a multimodal journey will get you, and then you can book and pay for the desired means of transport via the app.

Even parking can be arranged in the app. Everything is integrated in one app. That makes our platform unique. This is how we help people to travel more consciously, sustainably and cheaply. For parking, we are even the cheapest in the Netherlands, because we don't charge any transaction fees. And we are far from finished, we are constantly adding new services.

For instance, we now also offer Gaiyo Business to allow all employees of a company to travel with our service." The Ministry of Infrastructure and regional governments have defined seven national MaaS pilots to make this concept successful and encourage shared mobility. The first tender, in Utrecht, won Gaiyo. Gaiyo has now been installed 60,000 times and has 30,000 users per month.

In home town Almere, too, the concept will soon be introduced. The reason is the Floriade, which will take place in Almere for six months from April. Groenhuijzen: "Together with our partners and the municipality, we want to encourage Floriade visitors to travel greener this way." As an entrepreneur, Groenhuijzen particularly likes Almere. "It is easier to find staff here, both for IT and support positions. Of our 22 employees, a large proportion are from the city. Many of them come to work by bike or scooter. So in that respect, too, we contribute to more sustainable mobility."

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