The routes are correspondingly dynamic with trip and arrival times as well as starting point and end stop being individually calculated in each case. The platform has been developed by the moovel Group GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler AG, with locations in Stuttgart, Hamburg and Berlin as well as in Portland, Oregon.

The “Flex Pilot” app locates the user and shows suitable shuttle connections to the desired destination. If a user chooses the on-demand service, he or she will be collected from a location within walking distance of his or her current position.

For this, moovel has determined countless pick-up and drop-off points, so-called “virtual stops” in the service area. In order to ensure that users travel from A to B as quickly as possible, the trip routes are continually recalculated and updated during the trip using real-time data on traffic and the local public transport network.

Additionally, an algorithm calculates the expected demand in advance and thus enables accurate predictive fleet management. Similar trip requests are grouped together by the moovel on-demand algorithm so that several passengers share a car. The “Flex Pilot” test area covers approximately 30 square kilometers and will be expanded if necessary during the course of the pilot phase.

The moovel Group “Flex Pilot” fleet will initially include ten Mercedes-Benz V-Class cars, which can be booked using an app. During the test phase, the use of the new mobility service is free of charge. The “Flex Pilot” app can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

The service with the SSB as operating company will then be launched in the first half of 2018. All public transport travel options in the VVS area will be shown in the app together with all possible combinations with the “SSB Flex” shuttle and all options can be booked and paid for directly in the app.

Two years ago, moovel launched the first mobility app, booking and payment included. In addition to journeys with car2go, mytaxi and Deutsche Bahn, local public transport tickets in Stuttgart can also be booked and paid for easily and directly in the moovel app. More than one million tickets for the Stuttgart Transport Association area have already been sold via the moovel app.

We are systematically working towards simplifying mobility in cities and making it more intelligent. Ridesharing, that is the sharing of trips, plays an important role. moovel on-demand unites all our strengths: intelligent routing including real-time data, the integrated booking and payment functions, and now also the pooling of trips.

—Jörg Lamparter, Head of Mobility Services at Daimler Financial Services