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(Hamburg, March 20, 2019) Nine months after its launch, the on-demand shuttles of ioki Hamburg have established themselves as an important mobility component in the districts of Osdorf and Lurup. Since its launch in July 2018 the service operated by ioki, the subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn (DB) for intelligent demand-responsive mobility solutions, and the Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein GmbH (VHH) has been used by more than 180,000 passengers.
“VHH and ioki have proven with the service areas of Osdorf and Lurup that they are able to implement innovative and flexible forms of mobility within local public transport quickly and successfully. And the cooperation continues: starting from autumn this year, a new service area will be added. Apart from this, ioki Hamburg will also start operations in Billbrook”, Toralf Müller, Managing Director of VHH, announced. Billbrook consists largely of an industrial estate with more than 1,000 resident companies and over 20,000 employees. For commuters, in particular, the ioki Hamburg service in Billbrook will connect the first and last mile with the existing public transport system as well as complement the existing bus lines.
In the upcoming months, an even deeper integration into the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (VHH) is planned. In the next step, customers are provided with an overview of connections to public transport as they leave the vehicle.
“We are very satisfied with the launch of ioki Hamburg. Our work towards strengthening the local public transportation services has paid off: Half of our passengers use the service to reach larger public transport stops. Therefore, we have already paved the way for changes in people’s mobility habits. In the future, we wish to encourage even more people in Lurup and Osdorf to leave their cars at home and use the ioki Hamburg Shuttle instead,” says Michael Barillère-Scholz, Managing Director of ioki.
With the 20 electric vehicles used so far, 130,000 trips have already been carried out. On average 1.74 people sit in an ioki shuttle per trip. While in comparison the average is 1.47 people in a privately used car. The offer is aimed to strengthen the existing public transport system and reduce car traffic at the same time. Therefore, it is fully integrated into the fare costs of the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (HVV).
At the moment, there are also some bookings that remain unused and are not cancelled by customers. This has problematic effects on the algorithm and causes the algorithm to block requests from other customers. Not only does this lead to additional costs, but also contributes to the fact that certain vehicles are not available for other passengers who would like to travel with ioki Hamburg.
To maintain the quality level of the on-demand service, an extra charge of 1 € per person per HVV ticket and each journey booked will be introduced. The price change is effective starting from April 2, 2019. Frequent travellers can purchase a weekly ticket for five euros, a monthly ticket for 20 € or a subscription ticket for 15 € a month directly through the ioki Hamburg App. There’s also the possibility to purchase an annual ticket for 180 € which gives customers the benefit of having unlimited access to this convenient service. Those who cannot or do not want to pay via smartphone are given the option of transferring the respective amount to the VHH.
How ioki Hamburg works
The ioki Hamburg Shuttle is a public transportation service without fixed timetables or lines – fully integrated into the HVV. Together with ioki the VHH brings the service onto public roads. Using an algorithm passengers with similar routes are automatically bundled into carpools and transported together. In the service areas, additional stops have been set up – all within the reach of 200 metres. This way an optimized coverage of the area is assured and existing bus and train services are meaningfully supplemented.
