Hamburg: German rail wants to attract motorists with Ioki App of the road

With an improved offer in local and interurban traffic, the German railway wants to win in the face of increasing traffic problems, especially motorists as new customers. In Hamburg, the railway company launches its digital subsidiary Ioki for the HVV transport network, a pilot project that allows local transport customers via a smartphone app to pick up at home and benefit from the local transport price up to the end of the year. next S-Bahn. The offer is initially available in the western districts of Lurup and Osdorf.

The journey is possible according to a railway notification with all times and individual tickets of the HVV, so that users do not incur additional costs. Pbadengers with similar routes are thus automatically grouped into carpools using an algorithm and transported together. During the launch phase, the new shuttle will be operational from four in the morning to one in the morning from Monday to Friday – starting August 8, it will operate daily and 24 hours a day.

Individual, said the pbadenger transport board Berthold Huber the "Süddeutsche Zeitung". "It's about more mobility, but less traffic," he said. Above all, the railroad wants to get motorists more comfortable in the centers, "so that they do not miss their car".

First, ten electric cars are used. Users of public transport from elsewhere should also be able to use the shuttle service in the future. "Such offers will soon follow in other cities," said Huber. Demand is also important internationally.

In order to make public transport more attractive over long distances, the Group also wants to significantly expand its long-distance transport offer. "We want to move metropolises from hour to half an hour in the next few years," Huber said. "We operate almost a national S-Bahn."