Let us forget the image of an old Italy, anchored to its traditions, resistant to change. Our country can also prove itself ready and responsive when faced with the potential of the sharing economy. So says Andrea Saviane, country manager for Italy at Blablacar, the platform that introduced shared travel to Europe.

Blablacar is proof that the sharing economy is not just a nice fairy tale but an economic model that works. Can you give us some figures?
Within the sharing economy framework, Blablacar has over the years championed an alternative way of travelling that has taken hold over time: we started in France in 2006 but it is also working extremely well in Italy, where we have been present for four years. Our network currently counts around 30 million people, and every month more than 5 million people travel with Blablacar, between drivers and passengers. In Italy we recently introduced a significant change with online payment, which has been very well received despite Italians having a reputation for being reluctant to use credit cards. In fact, the ability to track transactions perfectly has been viewed positively.

Is the online payment model, with a service fee, adopted in all countries?
The mechanism is always the same and is currently active in France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom: the passenger pays online in advance and we apply a commission. This is the only possible way to make the service work, because the platform's running costs are quite significant. For example, to guarantee maximum safety, over a hundred people constantly monitor feedback and profiles. All of this has a cost, and users are aware of it.

Which means you operated for the first few years on a zero-revenue model…
We made this choice because at the outset the service was virtually unknown in Italy and a very simplified version was needed, as users felt the need to phone the driver to reassure themselves. As the mechanism gradually became part of people's habits, we were able to introduce online payment, which makes booking much faster and less mediated. Since Blablacar is now a name recognised as trustworthy, there are countries where we launch directly with online payment.

In your opinion, is it a scalable and replicable model? Can a young entrepreneur with an innovative idea afford to offer a service that is completely free for the first few years?
In Italy we had this opportunity because we already had an established business in other countries. The startup world often works with funding that guarantees financial independence for a certain number of months, in exchange for the promise of future revenues. This model has worked so far, but lately it is not easy to obtain funding, given that the crowding of innovative ideas is starting to become significant. The very positive side of this is that some mental groundwork has already been done with consumers: there is no longer the scepticism of a few years ago towards the prospect of trying sharing economy tools and paying to use them.

So Italy is a country where Blablacar received a positive response right from the start. What are the differences compared to France or other markets?
France is the country where we started a long time ago and remains our north star, because the volumes are incredible: you only need to search for any given route to see that! Italy is still a long way from those levels, but it has developed more quickly over time. Our country lends itself well to ride-sharing, both from a cultural point of view — because people are not particularly cold or closed off — and from an economic and geographical point of view, because there are a great many cars, petrol costs a lot, and there is a strong pattern of mobility linked to tourism and weekend getaways. Moreover, public transport is not capable of covering the entire territory comprehensively and efficiently. Italy is currently growing strongly, in line with Spain and Germany, and our studies suggest it has what it takes to aim for French-level volumes.

Have public transport operators reacted in any way? Have you ever engaged with them directly?
We have met at various events and had the opportunity to talk with them. We are neighbours, but not overly so, because the two services are often complementary. Blablacar works very well on routes that are covered less efficiently by public services, and it is natural that this should be the case, because where there is a direct connection at a low price there would be no reason to use a car. Furthermore, given the strategy we seem to see from Trenitalia of focusing on high-speed rail and investing less in regional transport, we fill the gaps on routes where high-speed services are absent.

What are your plans for the future?
Our main objective is to match supply and demand for rides ever more efficiently. To that end, over the next six to eight months we have a series of technological improvements in the pipeline on various fronts, such as the number of rides displayed and intermediate stops.