Global mobility company Bolt has partnered with Snapchat to create a new Lens that gives every person the power to reimagine their city by visualising urban spaces with fewer parked cars in real time using augmented reality (AR).
The new Lens, which is called P.E.O.P.L.E. (Parked Environment Optimisation for Public Land Enhancement), recognises parked cars and turns them into environments built for people, such as outdoor cafés, cycling lanes and green spaces, and is available to millions of Snapchatters worldwide. It’s the world’s first augmented reality lens that detects cars and replaces them with people-friendly places with a single tap.
The Lens forms part of Bolt’s newest pan-European brand campaign “Feels Like Home”, which encourages people to aspire towards better urban environments with less congestion by highlighting how cities should feel like an extension of your living room, rather than a space for cars.
As the urban populations grow and cities are battling with rising transport emissions and congestion, shared mobility – including shared taxis, bikes and scooters – can help people switch away from using private cars by increasing connectivity to public transport and catering to people’s different mobility needs. Bolt offers taxis on demand in Dublin and Cork, and shared electric bike rental in Sligo, Kilkenny, Wexford, and Bray.
Research from the Tallinn-based firm revealed that only one-quarter of Irish drivers believe they are likely to give up their car in the next five years. Over half (54.55%) of the 1000 drivers that responded cited the overall expense of running a car as a potential reason for giving it up, whilst 52.35% mentioned rising fuel costs as a motivating factor.
A recent consumer survey from McKinsey found that nearly 50% of people are willing to swap private cars for different transport in the next decade, and almost 30% aim to use micromobility or shared mobility more in the coming decade. Bolt’s research also confirms that 63% of people believe shared mobility (ride-hailing, e-scooters, e-bikes, and car sharing) decreases the necessity for owning private cars.
Liisa Ennuste, a creative strategist at Bolt, said: “For decades, cities have prioritised cars over pedestrians, bikes and scooters. This is reflected in the space distribution in cities where more than 60% of urban areas are reserved for cars instead of pedestrians and infrastructure for more environmentally friendly modes of transport.
“Many cities have realised that and are moving away from a car-first mindset by building cycling roads, supporting micromobility, and turning parking spaces into small parklets. Our collaboration with Snapchat is a reminder of how cities can be improved by creating more spaces for people, not cars.”
Poli Dor, Head of Central & Eastern Europe Business Solutions at Snap, commented: “We’re really excited about our work with Bolt, not least because this project helps us to showcase AR’s ability to imagine and promote a more sustainable way of living. We have over 397 million daily active users on Snapchat, so to bring this type of creativity to our platform can have a massive impact, and can help educate people to make more informed lifestyle decisions, like how they get around their city.”
In addition to the Snapchat app, the Feels Like Home campaign will be activated across many other channels, including social media and OOH.
Feels Like Home is the latest Bolt campaign which highlights the potential for cities to be improved if more urban space was devoted to people and infrastructure for shared mobility options like ride-hailing, e-scooters and e-bikes, which reduce the need for owning a private car. Bolt’s suite of products offers viable alternatives to private car ownership: ride-hailing seeks to replace the need for owning a private car, while e-scooters and e-bikes are perfect for shorter journeys, and Bolt Drive can be used for longer journeys where ride-hailing is not suitable.
In past campaigns like Cities For People, Not Cars, Bolt has highlighted how urban environments have been transformed, showcasing historic photos of European landmarks filled with cars and newer photos from the same locations showing fewer cars and more space for people