Jetty

Opportunities don’t come easy. I’m a mother of twin boys and co-Founder and co-CEO of Jetty (Jetty.mx), a company that develops technology for collective transport operators (public and private) with the goal of offering a safe and comfortable experience with highly qualified drivers. As a women entrepreneur working for ten years on the future of mobility in latinamerica I’ve learned that passion leads change. 

During my career I’ve worked on creating companies that use technology to improve people's lives. I started my first company on the future of mobility and sold it to a world leader in 5 years. This led me to become a partner of Innku, where I have actively participated in the creation of several companies: Briq.mx a crowdfunding platform that allows people to invest small amounts of money in real estate or CeroUno.io a coding school.

Everyday 1.7 million people travel daily from their homes in the suburbs to the downtown core of Mexico City. For the vast numbers of citizens who can’t afford a private car, commuting is a torture. Mobility alternatives are limited to either spending a fortune on taxis and ubers, or enduring low quality, largely informal transport services. 

Jetty is an app-based collective transport platform working since August 2017 in Mexico. We have improved the service of the transit industry by using mobile phones, GPS, digital payments, social networks, in-app feedback loops, and crowdsourced data to improve passenger experience, dignify the work for drivers, and enhance safety with gender and inclusion perspective. 

Recently, we adapted our technology to promote social distancing and minimize risk of on-board contagion of covid19. Technology should not be a privilege, public transportation can be safer, comfortable and reliable by adding a technological layer to improve services.

Jetty promotes a more safer and inclusive public transport.

1. Safer: We adapted our technology to minimize covid-19 contagion on public transportation. Social distancing and mass transit are two concepts that don’t fit well together. According to MOOVIT, there has been a global reduction of public transport ridership down to 70% y 90%. Around the world there has been much discussion around the role of transit systems on covid-19 spread.  We are helping providers to reduce their reliance on cash payments, ban passengers that refuse to wear masks, limit the number of seats used, trace who boarded each vehicle, train drivers to sanitize vehicles and take passengers temperature, and inform passengers of exact departure times.

2. Inclusive: According to CAF more than 70% of women in LatAm feel unsafe in their daily commutes. Also, CEPAL declared that people with disabilities are excluded from the transportation systems (pedestrians, passengers, drivers). Concerned about this situation, we developed a mobility disruption with gender perspective and inclusion. We collect data that shows the differentiated use of women and people with special needs (pregnancy, disability) and attends them during their ride.

We aim to scale our solutions throughout Latin American cities to shape the future of mobility.

Jetty helps public transport authorities and public or private transit operators adopt and embrace innovation. We do this by implementing a layer of technology on existing services, adding passenger and driver apps that eliminate (or reduce) cash payments, manage seat inventories, record who boards each vehicle, elicit passenger feedback, train drivers and inform passengers of exact departure times. 

We do not operate transport services directly. We develop and maintain technology needed to plan and regulate services, to help operators deliver flexible, demand responsive services, and to help passengers enjoy their daily commutes. We always use open source technologies and open communication protocols, unencumbered by restrictive licenses. 

Over time, we work with our public and private partners to draw insights from data collected, helping them finetune routes and schedules, optimize their vehicle fleets, identify workforce problems, adjust the location of stops and increase passenger satisfaction.

Even before COVID-19 struck, public transport in most Latin American cities was in shambles. Regulators had scant control and minimal information over services provided to the public. Planners lacked critical data for decision making, and missed vibrant channels of communication to engage passengers. Private operators had no incentives to deliver excellence, and routinely cut all possible corners: they contracted laughable insurance policies, avoided paying social security to their drivers, let their vehicles fall apart, postponed maintenance and filled their vehicles until they could not fit a pin. Sadly, the relationship between passengers, operators and government was structured to be adversarial.

We understand the reluctance to digital transformation and adaptation of technology. For these reasons, we offer immediate benefits: 

• For transit providers: have a safe arrival planning system, supervision and monitoring tools for the drivers.

• For passengers: access information on routes, stops, travel times and frequencies of the services; know who is their driver and vehicle; rate the service and give feedback on the travel experience; have real-time support attended by trained agents before, during and after the trip; possibility of recovering forgotten objects in units. 

Investing in mobility today is shaping the cities of the future.

2020 has been quite a ride for everyone involved in the collective transportation industry. People are working from home, and/or distrust transit more than ever. Amidst the pandemic, Jetty partnered with local governments, transport operators, international NGOs and development banks interested in exploring the future of urban transportation. 

Jetty is a transformational and innovative project that addresses mobility challenges with a tangible solution. We believe that mobility is a core challenge of the cities of tomorrow. Latin America needs a radically diverse and purpose-driven problem solver as myself to lead the new agenda for economic growth and recovery after covid-19.

In 2010, I co-founded Aventones in Mexico, a service that promoted corporate carpooling. We were swimming against the tide as everybody thought it was unthinkable to share a car with a total stranger! Uber and Airbnb didn’t yet exist so the concept of sharing economy was difficult to grasp. We quickly realized there was a market in Latin America. After launching in four more countries we positioned the company as the leader in the region. We piloted a vanpooling service (Vanpool.mx) to provide a more  professional service but this pilot had to be cut short as in 2015, Aventones was bought by the ridesharing world leader: BlaBlaCar, a company specialized in connecting drivers with passengers on long-distance trips.

Onesimo completed his doctoral studies at MIT, writing his dissertation on the formalization and professionalization of the jitney industry in Mexico City and Santiago, Chile. In 2015, he briefly explored a partnership with Bridj, a company that at the time operated a micro transit service in Boston, who wanted to expand to Mexico. The idea did however spark investor interest in Mexico City. 

When Onesimo approached me with an idea to change public transportation in Mexico we immediately clicked and co-founded Jetty. 

Quarantine challenged Jetty’s business model and purpose. Public transportation all over the world is facing bankruptcy and low demand. I am passionate about Jetty because together with the team we decided to use our resources to impact our community. 

Since March, with several local NGOS in Mexico City and donations of Jetty users, we have provided free and safe transportation of critical goods to hospitals. A few examples: With “Comida Solidaria” we partnered with a group of chefs, companies and civil society organizations to offer free daily meals to people from scarce resources in the context of the health emergency units. Another example, in collaboration with “Ya Respondiste Foundation” we deliver 150 to 300 balanced daily servings to Mexico City’s public hospitals.

Jetty knows how to adapt to  challenges. I launched the whitelabel program, making our technology available and easily accessible. We closed on our first contract under this model in May, with an operator in the city of Ecatepec, Mexico (fleet size 1600 vans).  In a few months we have redefined our business model to offer technology as a service for governments, bus operators and organizations interested in improving their transport service.

I believe that actions and acknowledgments speak for themselves. We launched Jetty in 2017 as a fully-permitted on-demand electronic urban transport platform. In 2018 we evolved and developed an alliance with a micro mobility company (Mobike) and with a public transport operator who decided to use our technology (S VBUS).

 Over time, we partnered with several other transport companies who embraced our platform  and in the process  created an incipient MAAS platform capable of bringing together digital and analog transport service providers. Our platform helped passengers select among a plethora of options otherwise unavailable in the market: thanks to Jetty, they avoid transfers by choosing direct routes, or travel with more comfort by reserving a seat. 

In this period, we also started to work closely with local governments, leading some of our government partners, such as the State of Mexico Secretaría de Movilidad to review its regulations to facilitate technological innovation.

In less than a year since our initial launch, our solution started to be noticed. Forbes named us one of the 30 business promises. The World Summit Awards defined us as the 40 digital innovations that are revolutionizing the status quo. In 2019, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology distinguished us as a regional winner of the Inclusive Innovation Challenge (IIC), naming us one of the best solutions for the future of work1. We won the 2019 Keeling Curve Prize for Climate Solutions. And Google selected us for its 2019 Launchpad Accelerator Program.

The purpose of Jetty is not to compete with current transport operators or governments, but rather to help the population improve their travel experience and to contribute to more pleasant social environments. Our objective is to expand the urban passenger transport market, benefiting users, drivers, operators and governments.

Today Jetty is a proven platform in major cities and its peripheria that connects users, drivers and bus operators. Our technology has been used by more than 25,000 unique users, +300 drivers, 10 transportation companies, and three local governments in six cities. We have sold 1.5 million seats and supervised over 130,000 van and bus trips. Our apps have more than 100,000 downloads, rated as follows:

• User  iOS  app- App Store- 4.8 of 5

• User Android app - Play Store - 3.2 of 5

• Driver Android app - PlayStore - 5 of 5

In four years of operations, we have learned a lot about how to manage complex urban challenges, establish lasting partnerships and implement cost-effective, creative solutions. We are ready to scale, and are actively trying to bring our technology to cities sharing our commitment to transform urban mobility systems.

Resistance to digital transformation and innovation is always expected no matter the industry. As co-founder of Jetty I have faced plenty of challenges in its short history: blockades and threats from transport operators, outdated regulation from some authorities and initial distrust from our users. I have addressed these challenges with hard work, evidence-based pilots and alliances with local and global organizations.

Over the last four years I have led a team that has designed, developed and tested a system capable of transforming mobility in Latin American cities. Together we have studied the best practices in the industry, adopted the most advanced technology, recruited a great team of professionals, received advice from the best specialists in the field and proven solutions for a plethora use cases in real urban environments.

I believe that leadership in the mobility industry should be more diverse, inclusive and digital driven. More women should be part of the boards of companies, governments and academia working to solve the mobility challenges we face in Latin America. 

Compared to most tech-enabled transportation services, our organization has a distinct strategy. We do not replace the existing transport industry. We make it better using innovation and technology. In Mexico and in many Latin American countries public transportation is far removed from technology. While there are many “new mobility” tech companies, none share our commitment to working with the existing transportation industry (one composed of thousands of small scale, semi-formal operators). Jetty scales the benefits of the digital economy to a larger territory and to a much bigger demographic of passengers, operators and drivers. 

Earning the trust of the traditional industry and governments is hard, and yet we are making significant progress. Our evolving partnership with the local governments of San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León and Estado de México; with the main transportation operators in Ecatepec and San Luis Potosi gives us a unique competitive advantage. And makes us more likely to lead to a scalable and equitable business model.

Covid-19 has far outpaced the capacity of public transport and their ability to adapt, establish, sustain and expand high quality safe-transit alternatives. Jetty provides a solution to this challenge by concrete actions. Through Jetty, the public transport operators and drivers receive access to resources related to prevent diseases. For example, tutorials on how to sanitize vehicles, take passengers temperature and use our tech. Also users receive a protocol on how to travel safely. With these actions, society gains awareness of the role of prevention and safe distancing in mitigating  contagious at public transport. 

Our short term goal is to broadcast successful pilots. Experiments where the public demonstrates a shift in their mobility decisions; for example, reducing the use of cars and traveling safely in shared vehicles. Authorities engage and use data technology for evidence based policies on mobility to prevent the spread of diseases. Public Transportation operators enhance the quality of their services.  In the long term outcome we seek that users, drivers, operators and public servants accept a tech driven solution as fundamental to tackle a large scale mobility problem.

Currently, Jetty has served more than 150,000 registered users and 25,000  in its almost four year history. With the opening of this year’s new cities in Mexico we expect to serve up to 50,000 active users by 2020. We have transformed the everyday lives of thousands of Mexicans who needed a better public transport.

Due to quarantine there has been a shift of the profile of our users. For example, in our pilot program in Toluca +90% of our users are women. The project was built  alongside with the Secretariat of Mobility from the State of Mexico, two important public transit operators from that state, the Interamerican Development Bank and ITDP. This project provides an exclusive commute for health workers traveling to and from four covid-19 hospitals in the city of Toluca.  This service was created based on data that the medical staff provided to hospitals through an online poll. 

Practically every user that uses our platform becomes a regular rider, therefore creating a bond with them and a security perception towards the service itself. At the same time, we offer the bus operators certainty about their income. In five years we expect to grow these types of programs and offer our service through the main cities in Latin America. To address this we make public transportation a real business option for owners and a safe option for users.

Jetty’s objectives for 2020 changed as a result of coronavirus policies. We went from looking to offer our service of van-pooling in more cities in Mexico, to a reinvention of our business model and service to address coronavirus challenges. Currently, we are working to offer our technology as a whitelabel for governments, public transportation owners and organizations interested in adequating their service. 

Our main objective to 2020-2025 is to become the main technology used by public transport systems in latinamerica and transform the quality of this service for their users. A better, safer and on-demand transport service in developing countries is possible. We believe that our technology can help to achieve this objective by growing, scaling and replication our business in the 20 main cities in latinamerica in the next five years.

We seek to address the covid-19 crisis in transport by partnering with local governments, organizations and businesses interested in using technology. In the long term, we seek to include technologies that work offline, and make our service more inclusive.

Since Jetty was founded we have faced regulatory hurdles and resistance to implement digital transformation. Traditionally, the transport industry has been reluctant to change. Unfortunately, the perception that app- based mobility contributes to congestion, inequality, gentrification and other evils widespread with local governments and public transport owners. Perhaps this is a consequence of observing the impacts of “new mobility” services in the more developed world, and of assuming their impact will be similar everywhere. 

With coronavirus this idea needs to change. Ironically, the tool that can help them survive the current crisis is technology. We are attacking a different problem in a very different context. Public transport regulation around covid-19 is being weakly enforced. Labor rights of drivers in the incumbent jitney industry are not respected, and passengers are mistreated constantly. 

Jetty needs a sandbox to develop new and bolder solutions to enhance passenger safety in pandemic. Companies like ours would benefit tremendously from an environment that rewards risk taking and experimentation as we have done with Toluca and San Pedro. Our focus and limited resources are better employed improving passenger experience in a secure way than on lobbying for new opportunities. But even in the face of adverse circumstances, and of tremendous technological, competitive and regulatory challenges, companies like Jetty will find a way to offer a contagion-free Public Transport.

Our main strategy to overcome future regulatory hurdles and resistance challenges is to make passengers, drivers, operators and governments happy on our pilot programs around our actions to prevent contagium. These three groups need to be our most vocal supporters. We are documenting and publicizing our impact, with allies such as BID, ITDP and news anchors.

We are seeking to implement more pilot programs for essential personnel. For example in San Pedro, after a month of trial without publicity and funding, we have a 50% occupancy of the routes. We believe that as our business model becomes more well known, more jitney associations and governments are willing to try our tech. For these reason, during quarantine we: 

• Accelerated tech development to adapt our service to the current covid-19 needs and measures 

• Transformed our business model. 

We are interested in developing more partnerships to fund both strategies. 

1. Started a service that can coexist with cash transactions and regular public transit in San Luis Potosí (population 1 million). Rather than operating as a TNC, we operate as a payment platform and clearinghouse for a regular public transportation company. For that pilot, scheduled to scale citywide in the second half of 2020, we launched QR code payments, added real time vehicle location to our passenger apps, and developed physical ticket booths, to allow passengers lacking a bank card to purchase credit just before boarding.

2. Adapted our technology and launched pilots to transport essential personnel. Amidst the pandemic, a significant share of public transit services was shut down. The municipal government of San Pedro Garza García asked us to establish a pilot program to transport essential municipal workers to their jobs (medical staff, police and public workers). In 3 weeks, we surveyed workers and designed a 14-route network, and tailored our apps to identify employees eligible for a subsidy. They are now using our tech to offer safer transportation to their essential personnel.

3. Implemented a program to safely transport medical personnel working in COVID hospitals. We launched this service in Toluca, tweaking our technological suite to comply with social distancing and contagion mitigation protocols. This program is a fruitful collaboration with the Interamerican Development Bank, the ITDP, the Government of Estado de México and local transportation companies.

These pilots show us how technology companies and local governments can establish deep, nimble, action-oriented partnerships to develop resilient and flexible transport services.

In the past years we applied a hybrid B2B-B2C business model. On the B2B side, we offered our services to large companies interested in offering a better public transport to their employees. On the B2C public transportation we delivered our services directly to individual consumers through our app. 

Currently, we transformed our business model almost entirely to B2B by transforming our technology into a product that can be white labeled and offered to local governments, public transportation companies and entrepreneurs interested in launching Jetty in their cities.

We provide three main products with benefits in the white label scheme 

• Technology for personnel and school transportation: Greater added value for your customers by offering technology to monitor vehicle location, hours and points of ascent / descent; driver supervision thanks to user feedback; optimization of frequencies and schedules; 

• Public Transport: Mayor control over the operation and payments; supervision of drivers via user's feedback; optimization of frequencies and schedules; training for drivers in customer service and gender perspective.

• Government agency: develop public innovation policies, use data for public decisions.

Before, covid-19 we were nearly a profitable start-up company operating in Mexico City. Due to the pandemics measures our demand dropped down to 90%. Our path to regain our sustainable growth is shifting our business model. Now we work as an entire tech company that offers its services with a set-up fee and link our commission with their sales. This strategy commits Jetty in the success of the project. 

We seek two main goals vinculantes with our growth. First, is to regain the possibility to break even by closing more clients around Mexico and Latin America. And second, we wish to accelerate our expansion next year through investment. To achieve this, our technology needs to go hand in hand with our growth. We are working on this by developing covid-19 related features.

To date, we have raised USD 2 million USD through equity from a family office. Before covid-19 we were 20,000 USD away to break-even.

In May 2020, we raised 5,000 USD to document and fund the project in Toluca Estado de México.

People are justifiably worried about handling cash to pay their fare,  want to minimize time spent in crowded bus shelters, and are unwilling to board  vehicles cramped with strangers. Even in the worst-hit cities, essential workers rely on public transit to get to work. We believe that technology and innovation can help guarantee health security by developing a contagion-free Public Transport.

We believe in our project, and for these reasons we are seeking for grants interested in promoting our idea.

We expect USD 900,000 expenses for 2020. 

• Administration: Office, taxes, payroll, equipment.

• Tech: Servers, software licenses, payment processor fees, third-party API and services.

• Marketing: Reaching and retaining new end-users and customers for our Platform-as-a-Service. Tools for engagement metrics and customer support.

• Other expenses: Government permits where required. Growing development team.

We shifted our business model, so we decided to loose our office and establish a home-office policy for all our staff.

Winning the MIT Inclusive innovation challenge allowed us to scale our impact. Now we want to grow and deploy our low-cost hybrid system that allows a contagion-free public transport. A model in which Jetty's app-mediated electronic payments, seat assignment, customer support and trip rating systems coexist (in the same vehicle) with traditional cash fare collection, loosely-controlled drivers, and flexible vehicle and trip assignments. We need to hire (and direct) 10 new developers to improve UX and UI in our apps, automate customer support and prepare our backend to manage >500 transport operators. The MIT network helped us to potentialize our impact and grow into more cities in Mexico. 

One of the main barriers we are facing today is the resistance to using technology and mobility disruptions as a way to handle latam challenges on public transport. I believe that Elevate Prize can help us overcome this challenge by introducing Jetty to key actors in latinamerica. Working together as potential partners we can transform together the future of mobility.  

In Jetty we are actively seeking for mentors and coaches that help us drive-through the challenges of disruptive mobility. We believe that the knowledge and experience of these people, that can later be integrated into board members of advisors, can help us find peers facing similar challenges. Of course we need funding. But we also want to dip into MIT´s pool of insights and hacks for our solution can grow in Latin America though monitoring, evaluation and exposure of our work. In Latin America  the diffusion and institutional backup of organizations such as MIT can help us continue in the path of grow. 

• MIT Transit Lab.
• New Urban Mobility Alliance (NUMO).
• UITP.
• Development banks in the region: World Bank, CAF, IDB Lab. 
• Similar, scaled up companies in our space like SWVL (Egypt), Shuttl (India) and Grab (Singapur, Malaysia).