Travel Tech Insider

Mobility: Where the &%$# Are We?

• Gilad Berenstein and Cara Whitehill • Season 4 • Episode 9

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0:00 | 59:32

Few sectors show the gap between technological promise and market reality like mobility. A decade ago, full self-driving felt imminent, rideshare was going to end car ownership, and EVs were about to go mainstream. Billions later, although we're still waiting, progress has been real.

Autonomous vehicles are moving from proof of concept to limited commercial deployment. Peer-to-peer rental, subscriptions, and fleet operators evolving into full-spectrum platforms are reshaping how people access vehicles. EV adoption is underway but uneven, with electrification, charging infrastructure, and consumer uptake all moving at different speeds. Micromobility, e-bikes, and rail are reshaping traveler behavior in corridors.

Nowhere is the contrast sharper than rail. In Europe, high-speed rail is now the dominant mode for regional travel — faster city-center to city-center than flying, cleaner, and increasingly seamless. The US remains fragmented: outside a handful of corridors, rail isn't competitive. What would it take to change that?

The last mile cuts across all of this: getting travelers from airport to final stop remains travel's most friction-filled moment, and the missing link in frictionless, agentic travel planning. 

This episode looks at where the mobility revolution stands and what it will take for ground transportation in all its forms to catch up.

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Gilad Berenstein – host

Cara Whitehill - host

Mariano Menkes — guest

Cameron Jones — guest

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