Mobility is crucial in the transformation of cities, with the introduction of the new Low Emission Zones (ZBE) in Spanish cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants or the new Sustainable Mobility Law are some examples of the changes that are imparted in terms of of mobility to reduce polluting emissions that force users to change the way they travel.
For this reason, Smartme Analytics, the technology and observational data company, has collected in its “Urban Mobility Observatory” the main trends and preferences of users when moving around cities.
The analysis highlights Uber, Moovit, Cabify, Renfe Cercanías and Bolt as the most used mobility applications in Spain in the last six months. Likewise, the same study shows that 40% of the Spanish digital population has used a mobility app during this same period, whether it is for hiring Taxi/VTC services, carsharing or motosharing, micromobility, public transport or parking.
By age, Moovit stands out, the app for organizing public transport trips, with 21.6% of the market share among users between 18 and 24 years of age. On the other hand, in slightly more adult profiles (between 35 and 54) parking applications such as Telepark (Top 5 for users between 34 and 44 years old) or El Parking (Top 4 for users between 45 and 54) begin to appear. years), thus showing the generational difference. On the other hand, Uber and Cabify stand out, the only two applications present in the Top5 for all age groups.
Renfe Cercanías, the second most used public transport app
Last July Renfe presented the free commuter pass, a bonus that could be purchased thanks to the Renfe Cercanías app. Since then, the application has managed to position itself as the fourth most used app in the mobility sector with a share of 8% of the Spanish digital population. The application is also among the favorites by age,
achieving a 9.5% share among users from 25 to 34 years old, 9.1% among users from 35 to 44 years old and 6.6% among users from 45 to 54% and 7.7% for those over 55 years.
In addition, within the category of public transport apps, Renfe Cercanías is the second most used app with a user share of 16.1%, only preceded by Moovit. A growth associated with the initiative that was promoted and subsidized by the Government with the aim of encouraging the use of public transport by citizens in order to reduce the carbon footprint and comply with energy efficiency plans.
The taxi and VTC sector, the main players in the market
According to the data from the aforementioned study, when taking a taxi or VTC vehicle, the applications preferred by citizens continue to be Uber (53.10% share of the subsector) and Cabify (45.70% share of the subsector), although their use slightly decreased compared to the beginning of 2022 by 3.01% and 11.82%, respectively. They are followed in the ranking of the subsector by Bolt (25%), FreeNow (26.3%) and Pide Taxi (5.1%). Of the latter, its growth stands out compared to the first quarter of 2022, with an increase in the user share of the subsector of 17.7% for PideTaxi and 7.8% for FreeNow, thus showing a growth in Taxi preference.
In the case of Bolt, the latest app that has reached the VTC market with an aggressive pricing policy, it has stabilized in third place within the subsector, although growing in user share compared to the first quarter of 2022. However, Going into the detail of the analysis by age, within the total for the sector, it is only among the five favorites for users between 18 and 24 years with 12% of the share of users in the sector.
