Socially, the world is much more interested in sustainability and saving the planet. This includes increased efforts to recycle, people and corporations trying to reduce their carbon footprint and everyone ‘going green’. These efforts have permeated virtually every sector of human life and the travel industry is no different.
In fact, the travel industry comes under particular scrutiny due to the carbon footprint created by airlines and the constant movement of people around the world. In response to this, many more travel companies are making efforts to be more sustainable
How Does Travel Harm Sustainability?
Travel, at its core, is an inevitable part of the human experience. After all, people need to move around for various reasons. At the same time, travel, whether by road, rail or air, has been dubbed as one of the biggest contributors to the world’s carbon footprint. This has caused an increase in the number of green cars, people opting to cycle rather than drive and the United Kingdom recently announced a ban on petrol cars from the year 2030.
Scientists have estimated that the plants are significantly at risk if our current habits do not change. At the same time, unsustainable habits are practically ingrained in modern society. Most of the world utilizes single-use plastic and paper, the use of petrol-use cars is the norm everywhere in the world, and the airline industry is not going anywhere soon.
At the same time, many new companies are ingraining sustainable practices into their business models and the world is on track to be better as a result. These efforts ultimately involve creating systems that can function decades into the future while being either carbon neutral or carbon negative. They also involve encouraging habits among consumers themselves that are sustainable and beneficial to the planet.
How Companies Like Bussr are Challenging the Norms
These days, it is more common to see travel and transport companies that are committed to sustainability in their operations. One of these is Bussr, a travel platform founded by entrepreneurs Hussein Abdelkarim and IM Shousha that is taking on the $30 billion movement sector in South-East Asia. the company has only been on the scene for two years but has already amassed over 100,000 users and offers transport to over 2,500 destinations in 90 cities.
The idea behind Bussr is actually rooted in sustainability. One of the biggest contributors to the world’s carbon footprint is the use of cars. The current state of the world means that in developed and developing countries, most people own a car, with a single-family potentially having multiple ones. Bussr, however, believes that this carbon footprint can be reduced if fewer people owned personal cars but instead relied on public transportation, ride-sharing, cycling, and other alternatives.
However, making use of these alternatives is not always convenient as payment methods, ease of renting alternative transport and other factors often discourage consumers. Bussr has taken all of these into consideration and has created an interface that addresses most consumer needs.
First, Bussr offers customers a chance to book all kinds of transportation options. These include ride-sharing, public buses, renting of scooters, and even bicycles. It also addresses the payment issue by offering a secure payment option on their app, which is available on both iOS and Android devices. Customers can pay for their tickets, which are issued digitally.
This is significant because single-use tickets are a large contributor to waste around the globe. But with Bussr, the tickets are issued on mobile devices rather than paper. Customers can also use multiple means of transport in a single trip if needed and are also recommended trips based on cost-effectiveness as well as time taken to complete journeys.
Ultimately, these efforts do more than just making customers move around with more ease. They are, essentially, helping to reduce dependence on personal vehicles. With systems like this, the average person can reasonably forego having a personal car or can use such a car far less frequently, this sort of change in behavior means that carbon footprints can be cut in half or even more.
These sorts of innovations benefit tourist hotspots in South-East Asia that see a large influx of people such as Bali as they are able to engage in sustainable practices. It also benefits more rural areas as they enjoy more discoverability and accessibility to the outside world.
The efforts to sustain the planet are a long-term process that requires decades of effort from both individuals and institutions. Firms like Bussr are taking huge leaps in their regard to setting business models that allow customers to access transport services whilst sustaining the planet and engaging in ethical practices. Ultimately, this benefits not just the companies or the consumers but the planet we live on.
