From our commitment to planning more humane futures, mobility became one of our main expertises, which we are continuously researching and experimenting. And in the urge to solve complex problems towards issues in this field, systemic thinking can be a solution.  We understand mobility through a holistic lens, where solutions are well integrated into the city and with the people.

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As one example of this effort, we developed an autonomous car project, which is called Digital Rails. The project was initiated in 2017 and is currently being studied by mathematics researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) as an attempt to prove the system’s efficiency and its future applicability.

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Yet, we turned to another intriguing mobility matter. After a request made by one of our Product & Service designers, Danilo Makio Saito, we asked ourselves: how come bicycles aren’t still adopted as the principal mean of transportation in big cities like São Paulo?

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In searching for the main causes that are pushing back the expansion of such transportation method, we found reasons connected to the lack of confidence to ride a bike, problems with security and the practicity of cycling.

As a way to get around such fears that people have, we created umabike., a mobility system that eases the experience of cycling around the city. umabike. is a service that attends different moments of the commuting journey,  thanks to the interaction of the product and digital service connected to it.  It is an unique experience that can expand the possibilities of bike usage.

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On the app, users can rent or buy the “perfect bike”, customized according to their needs.  The same bicycle can be adapted to be electric or not, besides that, an adjustable frame allows the integration with many accessories, like luggage racks, children’s seat and a self-security system that counts with a more intuitive signalization  for cars.

After setting up the preferences, the users can request the bike and receive it wherever they choose.

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The system doesn’t count with  physical stores. Instead of that furgons go around the city  to deliver or to get back the bikes left by users. Besides that, the service provides a collaborative infrastructure in which the cyclists have access to a network of partners, like parking lots, gyms where they can have a shower and bike shops throughout the city.