On-Demand: Stadtwerke Mainz Expand Electric Shuttle Services

Starting January 4, 2021, the Mainzer Stadtwerke intend to expand their on-demand service called MainzRIDER to three additional districts and the operation of the university clinic. The pilot project had started late in September 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result of lower user numbers because of the pandemic, available capacities are now to be used to extend not only the service area but also the operating times. Now, the vehicles are to operate between 6 PM and 6 AM, thereby also reaching working professionals, whereas up to now services ended at 4 AM. Starting January 18, a further extension of the operating time is planned within the Finthen district, which will then be connected from 9 AM to 3 PM.

The Mainz public utility company and its subsidiary Mainz Mobility are working on their pilot project, which is expected to run until the end of 2021, with technology partner ViaVan. It organizes rides between approximately 1,000 virtual stops and the stops of the public transport network (ÖPNV) solely via an app. Users must link their credit cards or the PayPal payment service for payment.

For the project, Mainz Mobility is using two electrically powered LEVC TX with Range Extender and eight pure electric vans of the type Nissan e-NV200 Evalia. Since the start in September 2020, they have carried out around 2,700 rides for around 2,100 customers. The pilot project, for which total costs of 1.6 million euros are planned, is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. The funds come from the "Digitization of Municipal Transport" grant program.