Stuttgart/Karlsruhe, 20 March 2018. The Karlsruhe Transport Authority (KVV) and moovel Group GmbH are pleased to report that the pilot of the on-demand ridesharing service in Karlsruhe was a success: around 1,000 passengers used the service to move from point A to point B during IT-Trans.
This year 6,000 people attended IT-Trans, and the trade fair and conference was a great success for moovel. Together with the Karlsruhe Transport Authority (KVV), the mobility company piloted the moovel on-demand ridesharing service. The service was comprised of 10 Mercedes-Benz V-Class sedans that could be flexibly booked for free using the app “KVV.mobil - powered by moovel”. If multiple people wanted to take a similar route, the app’s algorithm pooled the requests so that the passengers were able to share a single shuttle, which is known as pooling.
“We would like to thank the hosts of IT-Trans for a very successful event and for the opportunity to present our moovel on-demand ridesharing service. Together with the Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund (KVV), we were able to offer attendees and Karlsruhe residents a new mobility service. And 1,000 passengers have used this innovative service to reach their destinations,” said Daniela Gerd tom Markotten, CEO of moovel Group GmbH.
With the ridesharing service during IT-Trans, the Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund (KVV) also took a new approach to mobility. Alexander Pischon, CEO of the KVV, was also pleased with the results of the test phase: “The three days of pilot operations showed us that this kind of on-demand shuttle can be a beneficial and flexible addition to our efficient public transportation network because it is primarily focused on the individual needs of the users.”
Results of pilot operation
Around 1,000 passengers used the service during the three days of pilot operation. The service was in particularly high demand in the mornings when passengers were on their way to the trade fair, as well as in the evenings. Randolf Wöhrl, responsible for on-demand projects at the moovel Group, said: “We have learned a lot thanks to the high demand and the valuable feedback we got from passengers. moovel on-demand calculates the travel time based on real-time traffic data. During the test phase in Karlsruhe, for example, we learned that we can further optimize our real-time routing when there is a great deal of construction in the area. We will adapt our algorithm accordingly.”
During IT-Trans, moovel on-demand was integrated into the KVV.mobil app – powered by moovel as an additional mobility option
People want access to mobility – anytime, anywhere, at their fingertips. The Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund (KVV) and the moovel Group have worked together since 2017 to make mobility in Karlsruhe easy to access and possible to book via smartphones. Using the KVV.mobil app – powered by moovel, passengers can book tickets for buses and trains from the Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund and can also rent bikes from Fächerrad (nextbike). During IT-Trans, the moovel on-demand shuttle was integrated into the app as an additional mobility option. The app gives the user an overview of all available mobility options in their city – and makes it easy to compare travel times and prices. The KVV.mobil app – powered by moovel is available for free in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
