"Providing our users with a safe and affordable travel option, even in difficult situations, has always been and continues to be key for us. That's why we opened a large zone in the centre of Prague, supported the collection of vehicles to places with high user demand and strengthened their regular inspection, cleaning and disinfection. As last year, Uniqway joined the #SKODAAUTOhelp project and supported frontline paramedics. At the same time, we established cooperation with the Czech Red Cross and offered students the opportunity to participate in the delivery of paramedics. A total of 12 student volunteers took part in this event and drove nearly 5,000 km with Uniqway vehicles. The technical development of the service continues. For example, further facilitation of the online registration process was introduced. Most of the events and competitions have also moved online. But it doesn't stop there, we are preparing even more for our users for the summer holidays," says Jan Machart, a student of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of the University of Economics, a member of the marketing team of the Uniqway student project.
In May, the ŠKODA ENYAQ iV, ŠKODA AUTO's latest electric car, joined the Uniqway fleet and was named "The Lawyer" and given the slogan "You have the right to a great ride!". But the big expansion of the fleet started last November when 2 new electric ŠKODA CITIGOe iVs joined the service. For Christmas, Uniqway gifted users with 3 new ŠKODA SCALAs and it all continued in the spring with the addition of 11 new ŠKODA FABIAs. This brings the total number of vehicles in the fleet to 38. The appearance of the vehicles has also undergone a big change, with the original design replaced by new innovative stickers. Each vehicle was given its own unique slogan. Uniqway has also established cooperation with ŠKODA AUTO College and the service is now also available in Mladá Boleslav.
How did the technical team made up of CTU students perform and which innovations were presented? Due to the limited operation of the universities, including the registration offices, the technical team was forced to speed up the development of online user authentication. The team members worked to speed up and simplify the verification process, in particular eliminating the need to include the hidden RFID code of the student card in the registration form. This is now automatically retrieved and stored the first time the car is unlocked. The Uniqway app has also undergone a number of improvements. A This Ride button has been added, under which users can conveniently check the price of a currently running booking. There is also a new parking notification that alerts you to an available vehicle in the selected zone. Work is also underway to unify the look and feel of the iOS and Android mobile apps. A lot of work has also been done by the design team behind the new look of Uniqway vehicles, complete with innovative stickers. The website www.uniqway.cz has also been updated and redesigned. And what is the CTU team working on now? Users can look forward to great new features in the Rewards Store or on the website, where they will find even more useful information, gadgets and facilitations for using the service.
About Uniqway
A team of students from three Prague universities - the University of Economics in Prague, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague - developed and launched the Uniqway, a unique car-sharing concept in Europe, in 2018. The conditions for the service to come into being were created by ŠKODA AUTO ČR, ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab and the aforementioned universities, represented by the mentors of the respective teams. From spring 2021, ŠKODA AUTO College in Mladá Boleslav and its students have also joined the project. The carsharing platform is available to students and teachers of the universities. Users have driven over 400,000 km with the cars in 2020. Students from UE are in charge of the marketing strategy and manage the social networks, students from CTU invented and implemented the entire technical concept and design of the service, and CULS takes care of its operation. Students from SAC help with the marketing strategy and operation in Mladá Boleslav.
More information about the service including the pricelist can be found at www.uniqway.cz and www.studentskeleto.cz.
Photo, courtesy of: Uniqway