25 - What's Next?

Existing Market:

What I think is next:

As I mentioned in the venture capital report, I think what’s next is to take the business model and convince other areas in Florida to implement a new public transit system suitable for their region. Every city is unique and will require research and adaptions to provide the most efficiency and convenience. I will initially focus on primarily college towns, such as Tallahassee and Tampa. My current prototypical customer is a young college student. Many of the improvements and benefits to the public transportation system I’m suggesting will meet this market’s demand.

Existing Market Interviews:

I asked three off-campus college students in Gainesville "What should we be doing to grow this venture?" and “What do you think of expansion of this plan to other college towns?”:

1.     I think that there are so many new types of transportation that are incorporating advanced technology such as autonomous cars. Public transportation needs to make technological advances in order to compete with other types of transportation.

I think improving the public transportation in other towns is a great idea. It would be easy to duplicate, I think.

2.     Public transportation is so good for the environment. With a better system, maybe the next step is making all the buses run on renewable energy.

Yeah, you could definitely expand to other college towns. Students are the ones who travel across the state a lot. Would the public transportation systems connect, or be in each individual city?

3.     I would make sure public transportation system is accessible to everyone. I would make connections with businesses to give employees reduced fare and bus passes. Or even coordinate with city officials to make public transportation free, like Luxembourg recently did for the country.

I would start expansion with Ocala. They are the closest town with a large-enough population, and it’d be easy to connect to Gainesville’s system of transportation.

Reflection:

After considering my ideas for what’s next after successful implementation of a superior public transportation system in Gainesville, and interviewing three people in the existing market, I am proposing a set of goals to grow my venture in the existing market:

·       Coordinate with the city of Gainesville to implement a policy to public transportation free for everyone.

·       Invest of renewable energy and sustainable improvements to the buses running in Gainesville.

·       First expansion to Ocala, FL, and connect the public transportation system.

New Market:

A radically new market that I’d like to target tech-savvy commuters. My existing market is mainly low-income residents and students that are looking for the most convenient and cheap mode of public transportation. This new market would consist of more affluent commuters who are interested in technological progress and advancements. In the last few years, there have been projects by big tech firms to produce self-driving cars and single-passenger vehicles. I would incorporate autonomous vehicles into a public transportation system that would benefit many residents at once. Self-driving buses in Gainesville will be exciting and will attract young riders simply because of its innovation.

New Market Interviews:

I asked two tech-savvy college students in Gainesville "What should we do to appeal to tech-savvy commuters?" and “What do you think about implementing self-driving buses?”:

1.     I’d love to get high-speed Wi-Fi on buses. I ride the bus often and being able to connect online to work on projects and check emails would be helpful. I’d like to see charging stations on some bus stops, maybe just the main ones. It’s annoying when my phone dies before I can check the rider app and I’m not sure how long the buses would take.

I don’t know if self-driving buses would be popular. I think that technology isn’t fully formed yet, maybe in a few years.

2.     Have buses run on electric energy.

I think it’s possible to implement self-driving buses There are a lot of new technology emerging and being in the forefront is an important part of the high-tech industry. Your best bet would be to partner with a key player in the market, such as Google, Tesla, or BMW.

Reflection:

I’m glad I got a chance to briefly discuss my plan to invest in technological improvements in order to attract potential tech-savvy passengers. The first person I interviewed was skeptical of my venture but suggested practical upgrades such as charging stations and Wi-Fi that I will definitely implement. The other interviewee was more optimistic about autonomous vehicles. He gave me valuable a suggestion to partner with key players in the market, which I plan to follow through with for my venture. This new market isn’t as attractive as my existing market because the demand for simply efficient and safe public transportation is much higher than for a disruptive technology such as autonomous vehicles.