Colorful Mix: VISION mobility Think Tank 2 at the Hypermotion

At the VISION mobility Think Tanks, the focus was on an exciting overarching theme, which was illuminated and discussed by three speakers from different industries. In the second round of talks, the topics of Mobility on Demand and Mobility Services were discussed by Daniel Kraus, a co-founder and CIO of Flixbus, Lukas Foljanty, Smart Cities Manager of the Moovel Group, and Andrew Han, Germany Manager of The New Motion.

The perspectives were as diverse as the companies themselves: On one side, Daniel Kraus positioned himself very clearly, focusing on the expansion and refinement of the long-distance bus business. Refreshingly straightforward in these times was the statement that FlixBus simply organizes bus transportation, while digitalization and finding additional services are carried out exclusively with partners. To deepen the discussion on Mobility Services and the topic of Mobility on Demand, they plan to integrate medium-sized and smaller cities into the FlixBus network in the next step. They also aim to expand beyond Europe to the USA and Russia. By the way, they already have 100 million transported passengers per year in sight, making long-distance bus travel one of the three most important modes of passenger transportation today.

On the other hand, New Motion manager Han approached the topic from the perspective of individual car traffic: His company is known for charging technology and was acquired by Shell in 2017. However, New Motion no longer sees its future solely in the conception and production of charging solutions but wants to develop into a mobility provider along with Shell. They are already cooperating with fuel card operators and the car-sharing operator Clever Shuttle. Han sees mobile services as the next step in the value creation pyramid, which began for New Motion with the development and establishment of charging options. Yet, even here, they stay true to their roots: Han sees the pinnacle of their mobility pyramid in individual billing models and energy management, specifically vehicle-to-grid, which they also aim to further develop.

Literally "between" Han and Kraus stood Lukas Foljanty, who wants to establish the "ultimate" app for all types of mobility with Moovel: Although Moovel is a Daimler subsidiary and naturally prefers the services and possibilities that Daimler offers with Car2Go or My Taxi, they also cooperate with various transport associations. The goal is the ultimate Mobility-on-Demand app, with which any means of transportation can be booked anywhere and anytime. Moovel Transit is designed as a white-label solution in the look and feel of the respective transport companies for cities and local transport associations. Upon inquiry, Foljanty also confirmed that Moovel indeed sees itself as a service provider for the "big picture" and lets the well-known brands and transit companies take the lead on-the-ground while they handle the integration "powered by Moovel." The only hitch with Moovel: It is still a patchwork that is not comprehensively interwoven. Closing these gaps is naturally Moovel's most exciting task.

Since participants approached the topic of Mobility on Demand from such different angles, they quickly found a consensus: Mobility will be even more tailored to individual needs in the future, requiring easy usability and a network of offerings that is densely woven but not confusing.

What does that mean?

Mobility on Demand ideally includes "the one app" with which any type of transportation can be booked. What is exciting is how differently one can approach the topic: The possibilities range from long-distance trains or buses to public transit and rental or sharing offers.