The SSB Flex mobility service enables customers to book on-demand and on-demand trips with the SSB Flex app. SSB Flex is so far the first on-demand service in Germany to be operated with a line permit in accordance with the Passenger Transportation Act.

Based on the multimodal app, the mobility service offers additional intermodal journeys in Stuttgart and in two other service areas. Passengers can use Flex to get comfortably to the nearest public transport stop, to save themselves a change, to cover a distance more directly or earlier or to make the distance between the stop and the front door more comfortable.

For the operation of SSB Flex, the Stuttgart regional council granted the necessary approval in accordance with the provisions of passenger transport law, which also apply to public transport by bus. This permit is the first of its kind for this type of transport. The Stuttgart regional council is thus demonstrating its openness to innovative transport models. SSB Flex will initially serve as a pilot for this new form of mobility until the end of 2019. This makes SSB the first provider of on-demand, ride sharing or pooling services in Germany to be licensed as a local public transport service under the Passenger Transportation Act. The offer is possible due to the close cooperation with moovel. moovel contributes its platform moovel on-demand to the cooperation, which has been successfully tested with the Flex Pilot in Stuttgart since December 2017.

How does it work?

To use this mobility service, you need the SSB Flex app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store on a smartphone. There, customers enter their customer data and payment information once. Flex rides can be paid via App via credit card or Paypal. In the specific application, the SSB Flex App locates the passenger’s location and displays possible connections to the desired destination. In addition to SSB Flex, the app also takes into account travel options with public transport in the VVS area and offers all possible combination options including the associated costs and a time forecast. Passengers can currently decide on the desired variant within one minute, the expiry of which is indicated by the app, and make a binding booking via the Flex App with SSB.

After booking, the app shows passengers where the Flex vehicle will pick them up and how to get there if necessary via a short walk. After the booking process, the app shows the registration number of the booked Flex vehicle. The driver of the Flex vehicle also receives information on how to get to the pick-up point and which customer with which number of companions he expects there. The Flex vehicle drives up, the passengers get on and off again at the designated exit point near their destination. If passengers already share the journey or register passengers on the way, further stops are made or the route is adjusted. The fare is paid via the SSB Flex App.

The ride offer: As user-friendly as possible

SSB Flex is offered as a mobility service from Monday to Saturday from 6 am to 9 pm and additionally from Thursday to Saturday from 9 pm to 2 pm the following day in large parts of Bad Cannstatt and Degerloch. This means that wishes for improved public transport connections in the so-called “white areas” in both operating areas can be taken into account. On Thursdays to Saturdays from 9 pm to 2 am on the following day, SSB Flex can also be used in Stuttgart city centre. At these times, the frequency of public transport in the inner city area is decreasing. SSB Flex is therefore offered by SSB as a supplementary service to local transport and during off-peak times. Wolfgang Arnold, Technical Director and Spokesman of the Board of Stuttgart’s trams, explains: “We want to supplement the existing range of bus and train services with flexible, customer-friendly solutions. This enables us to close gaps in the available space and time. The aim is for even more citizens to choose public transport.”

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Two Stuttgart mobility service providers cooperate

The new offer is based on the cooperation of two Stuttgart mobility specialists. The algorithm of the moovel on-demand platform behind the SSB Flex App bundles the travel requests of the users intelligently (so-called “pooling”), and thus enables the sharing of trips (so-called “ride sharing”). To ensure that the user gets from A to B as quickly as possible, the routes are continuously calculated and updated using current real-time data from road traffic and public transport. In addition, a forecast of expected demand is calculated so that the fleet can be managed with foresight. If other passengers want to cover a similar distance, the system bundles the requests so that several passengers share a vehicle despite different entry and exit points. If a passenger decides to travel part of the way with SSB Flex, he or she will be picked up within walking distance. Drivers on a Flex vehicle learn from an algorithm where to pick up or drop off how many passengers and how to get to the next stop. The meeting points of passenger and vehicle are determined by the course of the journey controlled by the algorithm using virtual routes and stopping points.

SSB uses a fleet of 10 vehicles. These are Mercedes-Benz V-Classes, each with five seats in the rear and Mercedes Benz B-Classes with electric drive, which offer three seats in the rear. All vehicles are clearly recognizable as SSB Flex vehicles in yellow and white design. Drivers of SSB vehicles are either specially trained Flex drivers or additionally trained bus drivers of SSB.

Pictures/Images: Daimler