The start and end of a business trip can often be the most stressful part of the journey. We look at how to make it a better experience.
You’ve caught the same early flight 100 times and you know the drill – pack light, make sure you have enough time for a shot of caffeine in the lounge, board early to stow your hand luggage, then sit back and relax for take off. But what about the two hours before that moment? Being at the airport is easy – how you get there is another matter.
Carolyn Pearson, CEO of Maiden Voyage, an inclusive business travel consultancy, agrees the first part of the trip is stressful: “The first mile I’m thinking what have I forgotten? I’m constantly checking my bag and thinking of a Plan B.” Ground transport is a part of the business trip that is reliant on the traveller making the right decision for themselves, and their company, when they are stressed, tired, and in the case of the last mile, probably in an unfamiliar place. What could possibly go wrong?
The first dilemma is which mode of transport to take. Do you jump in an Uber, order a local cab, book a chauffeur, catch a train, drive yourself, take the Tube or try out an e-scooter? And what drives this decision? Speed, cost, safety, ease, sustainability, or perhaps company travel policy?Understanding ground transport options at an unfamiliar destination is a familiar pain point. Business travellers may face language barriers, different travel systems and tricky payment options.
According to a recent Business Traveller survey, 40 per cent of travellers would take the fastest option, while company travel policy was way down on the list at just 7 per cent. The survey also showed that 16 per cent of respondents chose transport depending on their knowledge of the destination, while 13 per cent said it depended on the time of day.
Pearson says: “My choice [of transport] would depend on the destination and time of day. If I was going to Lagos, for example, it would be the safest and most expensive – presuming more money means safer.”
George Haysom, chief commercial officer at Idwal Marine, has been a frequent business traveller for 20 years. He says: “During my earlier years of business travel and when China was less developed, I needed to take a 275 km journey from Qingdao to Weihai. It was my first time in China and I had no idea how to arrange a safe transport provider. I felt the safest, most reliable option was to opt for a Shangri-La hotel car (at relatively vast expense). It was a 4.5 hour journey and it still felt fairly ropey. Today you can do [the same journey] in just over 1.5 hours on a high speed train.”
Cohesion is key
Sandra Green, strategic client solutions director at TakeTwo, a global boutique travel management company (TMC), says booking the first and last mile with a TMC gives a co-ordinated approach to your trip.
Green says: “This is important in case your flight is delayed or any other issues arise, in which case your TMC can manage any changes on your behalf. You don’t want to turn up, possibly late, into an unfamiliar location without any idea how you get from the airport to your hotel.”
But travel managers cannot possibly know or research every city and its transport systems, and there are plenty of business travellers without access to a TMC, so the responsibility has ultimately fallen on the business traveller. Wouldn’t it be great if all transport options were in sync? Thankfully technology is helping to fill this gap. Today there are plenty of apps that can help you find the best way around a public transport system almost anywhere in the world (see below).
Uber, which disrupted the ground transport space when it arrived in 2009, is also aiming to provide a one-stop-shop for a seamless journey. This summer, it will roll out a new UK feature that enables users to book flights directly through its app. You can already book Uber Rides, train journeys across the National Rail network, Eurostar and coaches with National Express and megabus.
Whether it’s Uber, Bolt, Lyft, FREE NOW, Careem or Gett, ride hailing has shaken up the ground transport sector with its on-demand availability, ease of payment and trusted service. More traditional services have had to adapt to this more flexible way of travelling. Blacklane, which offers high-end private car services for business travellers, recently launched its “chauffeur hailing” app in New York and Dubai to fit the increasing demand for instant ride-hailing.
Green transfers
It might be more expensive to take a private car but according to the Business Traveller survey only 16 per cent said price was a consideration. Even lower on the radar was sustainability, with only 8 per cent of respondents saying it affected their choice of ground transport.
After all, a bleary-eyed traveller arriving in an unfamiliar city is unlikely to jump on an e-bike. At most, they might use Uber’s Green option, which provides EV and hybrid ride options. Haysom says the problem is there aren’t many sustainable options. “If I’m getting a cab, I try to use Uber’s Green option where possible (and it’s often marginally cheaper than UberX), but the problem is that they only tend to have good availability in the bigger cities in Europe.”
However, things are changing, and with the EU Green Deal making it mandatory for companies to publish their ESG reports from this year, sustainability issues for travellers will become more of a focus. Blacklane has introduced a city-to-city programme across 11 countries with the idea that taking a car between two cities is less hassle, and greener, than
catching a domestic flight. With France restricting domestic flights to encourage more sustainable options, Blacklane has filled the gap with 29 city-to-city routes across the country. There are also 36 city-to-city routes in the UK. The company is also transitioning to electric vehicles with the goal of delivering 15 per cent of its global rides via EVs by the end of 2023. In London one in every four rides this year has been delivered in an electric vehicle.
If city planners had their way we would all be moving towards a more fluid, sustainable system for urban mobility. UK PACT (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions), funded by the UK Government, is pushing for last mile urban journeys to move away from cars altogether.
According to the website: “Our first and last mile journeys must be seamlessly integrated with public transport to provide travellers with a convenient ‘door-to-door’ experience. This is critical to supporting a shift away from private car use and designing for a low-carbon society.
One way cities are tackling this is through ‘mobility hubs’. These offer strategically located integration points that allow for multimodal travel, amenities and technologies to support last-mile connectivity.”
With so much to consider when choosing ground transport, preparation is key. But even the best-laid plans can’t predict travel chaos caused by strikes, volcanic ash, or a global pandemic. Haysom recalls one memorable journey: “I had an interesting experience in Gujarat when my driver was run off the road by an ox cart, resulting in a puncture and missing my flight out of Rajkot!” Sometimes you have to hold your hands up, and hope for the best.
Useful ground transport apps
- Citymapper is well known for helping travellers navigate cities and their public transport systems. It covers Europe, USA, Canada (Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver) and cities in Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei), Australia (Melbourne and Sydney) as well as Mexico City and São Paulo. The news section is useful for strikes and updates on different public transport systems.
- Cabify is a ride-hailing taxi service available in more than 90 cities across Spain and South America.
- Eurail will help you with your train travel across Europe. You can find stations, train times and plan routes. It works offline too.
- Gett is similar to Uber and has partnered with 2,000 ground transport options around the world, covering Dubai and Zurich as well as cities in the UK, Israel and Germany. Gett claims the average wait for a pick up is four minutes and you can integrate it with your company’s travel management systems and choose green options. It offsets all rides in the UK and has the biggest fleet of EV vehicles in London.
- Mapway offers transport apps for 24 of the busiest cities in the world, with journey planners as well as information on travel and delays. There’s an app for each transport system, and each city.
- Moovit covers 112 countries and 3,500 cities for ground transport options. You can plan routes on any mode of transport.
- Trainline gives you live train updates in the UK for delays and diversions.
- Transit is a real time public transport app, which can be used in 18 countries and more than 300 cities.
- ROLZO is a chauffeur service which offers private rides across 100 countries, 750 cities and 1,000 airports. It has EV options too.
Words: Felicity Cousins
