Companies are under growing pressure to transform their organisations into sustainable workplaces. Employees are increasingly waking up to the fact that they pay a high cost for commuting, affecting both their finances as well as the environment. Cities and communities are struggling with issues such as deteriorating air quality and traffic congestion.
Seeing these societal trends led London-based Faxi to pioneer a concept, called ‘incentivised carpooling’. The start-up developed a unique app and software platform to tackle commuting related concerns for the benefit of companies, employees and cities. Through the app, users can find and connect with colleagues who share the same route to work and commute at similar times. It allows companies to verify employee carpooling in real time and to offer incentives and rewards, such as priority parking, to car poolers.
These remuneration policies have proven to be successful: one UK based customer increased co-worker carpooling from under 10 to over 200 passengers and drivers per month in just six months.
Growing ambitions for partnership
In 2018, driven by a customer-focused approach, Toyota Financial Services (TFS) decided to start working with Faxi for the development of a Toyota branded carpooling platform to offer incentivised carpooling in Europe. Toyota currently runs several projects across 6 cities in Europe and 3 around the globe.
Seeing similar needs across cities in Europe, TFS has now decided to invest in Faxi, becoming the majority shareholder. Aioi Nissay Dowa Europe / Toyota Insurance Management also invested, joining existing shareholder the Indigo group. The ambition is to scale the Faxi platform across Europe and beyond, expanding the current number of cities and projects.
Doug Gillies Managing Director of Toyota Financial Services ( UK ) PLC : “In addition to delivering sales support for environmentally friendly hybrid electric technology, Toyota Financial Services is engaging in new mobility solutions. Building on the partnership with Faxi, TFS decided to invest in Faxi to introduce technology to reduce single occupancy vehicles and the congestion and emissions that they cause. This is a game-changing technology and we’re excited to get behind it with our brand.”
Tony Lynch, Chief Executive and co-founder of Faxi: “Large organisations across the globe have workplace parking issues. In addition to benefiting companies by solving this concern, employees are encouraged to carpool with co-workers by for example earning a reserved parking space. Ultimately, if more people carpool, this can have a considerable downsizing effect on the number of cars on the road, benefitting an entire community.”
With the patent pending, the Faxi technology brings people safely together to share common journeys. It helps communities of people to share the costs of their carpool simply and fairly, by reimbursing the driver for fuel and wear and tear. By using smart phone telemetry to measure the proximity of the driver and passengers, it can prove whether or not journeys have in fact been shared. This not only allows organisations to offer specific incentives, such as prioritised parking or other financial benefits. It also provides valuable data to local and central governments on the congestion and environmental savings that are being generated by carpooling.
Michael Kainzbauer, CEO Toyota Insurance Management SE, COO Aioi Nissay Dowa Europe Limited;
“As part of the Toyota family we constantly seek to jointly explore new ways to meet tomorrow’s challenges today. This joint investment in Faxi is reflective of our desire to focus on activities that will reduce the environmental impact that mobility creates whilst also delivering a seamless customer experience. We look forward to playing our role in this exciting venture as we seek to lead the way in the provision of mobility protection products”.
Serge Clémente, President of the Executive Board, Indigo Group:
“Indigo Group has been all about mobility from the very beginning. For many of our clients and customers, workplace parking can be a considerable issue. No parking, no mobility…And without mobility, the development of urban areas is impossible. We became a Faxi shareholder in 2017, consistent with our strategic effort in developing new individual mobility and digitalization services. We aim to deploy these services across our on and off-street network, both in France and internationally. We are extremely delighted to partner with Toyota in helping Faxi’s services grow across Europe and beyond. We see this collaboration as an incredible opportunity to have an additional positive impact on the local communities we serve.”
Insurance Edge Comment; If you are charging your work colleagues to share your commuting costs, then check that your insurance allows this.
Generally your insurance policy will allow you to accept small payments towards the cost of the actual fuel used. Once you start charging people more towards the servicing, insurance, VED tax, tyres etc then you might need a different type of insurance cover for your car journeys, especially the shared ones during peak commuting times.
If in doubt, check it out.
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