CleverShuttle introduces on-demand service for Salzgitter and Lehre

For December 2021, Berlin's on-demand specialist CleverShuttle has announced the launch of two new on-demand services from the joint project "flexo" in Salzgitter and Lehre. The service supplements the existing local public transport offer with a flexible component, as it is stated. "flexo" is available on demand and operates without a fixed schedule. The DB subsidiary is responsible for the operational implementation of the service, while the local transport company Kraftverkehrsgesellschaft mbH Braunschweig (KVG) is the operator. The flexo shuttles will start in the Salzgitter districts of Bad and Thiede as well as in the entire municipality of Lehre. They will operate between over 300 virtual stops, called "flexo Stops" here.

Client's Wish: Only Conventionally Powered Vehicles

The company will initially deploy eight Opel Zafira Life transporters with six passenger seats as rental vehicles. Due to delivery difficulties, they are to be replaced by larger vehicles based on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter from summer 2022. At the client's request, only vehicles with internal combustion engines will be used.

CleverShuttle is responsible for managing the fleet and the driving personnel. The Austrian company ist mobil provides the platform and the software in this case, while CleverShuttle collaborates with another rail subsidiary, ioki, on similar projects and initially even used its own software.

According to its press release, approximately 20 full-time and 10 part-time employees from Salzgitter and the surrounding area will be employed. Such a high-profile reference could also be included in the public image of taxi, rental car, or bus companies that participate in on-demand projects in other regions.

Establishing Direct Connections Without Transfers

The new service is intended to create direct connections without transfers on the one hand, but also to close intra-city service gaps and ensure connections to train stations on the other. Initially, ride pooling services can only be booked by phone. It will only be possible to book via an app starting in spring 2022. The fare is integrated into the network tariff, and tickets can be purchased from the drivers.

The operating hours are quite generous: In Salzgitter, they range from Monday to Friday from 5 AM to 12 AM, on Saturdays from 6 AM in the morning to 1 AM at night, and on Sundays from 7 AM to 12 AM. In the municipality of Lehre, they are only slightly shorter.

According to the website flexo-bus.de of the regional association, such on-demand services were also launched on December 12, 2021, in Cremlingen/Schandelah, Hoheneggelsen/Baddeckenstedt, and Seesen. Since September 2, the service has already been available in Wahrenholz/Wesendorf in the Gifhorn district.