We’re very excited to announce the launch of our Mobility Impact Series!
The words “sustainability” and “mobility” are often mentioned in the same breath. As an industry, mobility is defined by innovations that claim to be based on the common goal of creating a more sustainable and healthier future for our cities and our planet.
But these “green” future visions often leave watchers of the mobility space scratching their heads: what does the term sustainable mobility really mean, anyway?
At Trafi, we’ve been helping cities build and enhance their mobility systems for over 10 years. We’re often approached about the sustainable impact of shared mobility, which is why we’ve decided to delve deeper into the topic with our new Mobility Impact Series.
In upcoming articles, we’ll be discussing “car-topias”, pedestrian-friendly cities, travel patterns and a variety of other subjects. Stay tuned to our LinkedIn channel and check our blog regularly for updates.
Without further ado, read on to learn more the roots of car-centric societies – and why the mobility landscape today is in need of an update.
If anyone still has doubts about cars being a hurdle on the road to sustainable mobility, there are numerous shocking statistics in circulation that could change their mind, as seen below.
There are plenty more:
These numbers aren’t new – scientists, activists and some industry players mention them frequently. However, sustainable mobility is rarely considered in its historical context. Seven decades ago, car manufacturers were selling the cutting-edge dream of a convenient, liberating and comfortable life, finally available to the middle classes for the reasonable price of one automobile; today, digital mobility innovators are disrupting old mobility habits with promises of greener, safer, friendlier cities.
In essence, the core of their sales strategies are very similar: new, exciting mobility solutions have the power to transform our lives for the better. A myriad of solutions on the market today are aimed at improving bits and pieces of the system, but rarely tackle the root of the issue itself. Which of these promises are truly constructive waypoints on the road to liveable cities, and which are just bells and whistles distracting from bigger issues at hand?
Back when the VW Lemon (recognizable as the VW Beetle today) hit the American market in 1960, the advertising campaign surrounding its launch caused an incredible stir. “Think small”, the campaign’s slogan, was revolutionary, changing advertising forever and helping the tiny and somewhat odd-looking VW Lemon cruise its way into the luxury car market in the US – and permanently changing the way people perceived cars in the process.
Up until that point, cars were shiny, large, and loud; the compact, rounder Lemon offered a stark contrast to American muscle cars and appealed to an entirely new segment of car owners. It made simpler cars fashionable, democratizing cars and making them accessible to everyone.
Of course, advertising agencies aren’t the only ones responsible for societies and cities designed around cars. The entire urban planning system in the US encouraged car ownership and viewed automobiles as a convenient, modern transport solution. In the meantime, however, the American transit system was being rebuilt with the goal of linking suburbs to city centers, rather than linking suburbs with other suburbs or more rural areas.
Add cheap gasoline, large investments in highways and a whole range of car-friendly consumer services like drive-in cinemas and drive-through restaurants to the mix, and you end up with an obvious conclusion: cars were practically destined to become the ultimate symbols of a comfortable, modern, convenience-driven lifestyle. The rest, as they say, was history.
Between the end of WWII and 1955, the number of cars on US roads doubled from 25 million to over 50 million. The trend quickly shifted to Europe, where new industry needs and changing economy led to skyrocketing mass production of individual vehicles. During the decade of 1950 to 1960, European car manufacturers launched some of their now-legendary models – Citroen’s 2CV stayed in production until 1990! – and the streets of the continent were quickly filled with motorized status symbols.
Transport demand is expected to grow all across the world in the coming decades as the global population increases, incomes rise, and more people can afford cars.The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that global transport (measured in passenger kilometers) will double and car ownership rates will increase by 60%.
Even as everyone from impassioned teenagers to conservative politicians are demanding more sustainable solutions, further construction on the “car-topia” we’re living in continues unchecked. Hollow value propositions promote electrification and autonomous technology as the path to a better, sustainable future, without telling consumers and investors what that means in explicit terms.
At Trafi, we believe in cities without privately owned cars. We have a different approach to mobility, and we think that genuinely effective and accessible mobility should be viewed as a service and a system that gets its strength from a diverse group of collaborators, leaders and city planners. The good news is that there are plenty of cities who have also pledged to work towards more cohesive and comprehensive mobility services for their citizens, and many have already implemented groundbreaking strategies – Berlin, Zurich, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Paris come to mind, but the market for Mobility-as-a-Service is growing in Latin America and Asia as well.
This vitally important shift to sustainable mobility – one based on concrete data rather than shiny new technology – simply can’t be achieved without the help of multiple mobility actors and particularly without the collaboration of the private and public mobility sectors. Governments, corporations, innovators and architects, and to a lesser degree consumers all have an important role to play. If we unite under the banner of protecting our planet, our cities and the people living in them, sustainable travel habits and a new way of thinking about mobility will become the norm.
Learn about how the Trafi MaaS Suite is enabling global sustainable solutions here or contact us for more info.
At Trafi we are excited to be the first MaaS provider to introduce personal bike routing, available in all our global rollouts, and as a stand-alone bike routing engine.
Bicycles have quickly won a more significant role in our daily commute in the past years. Between 30 and 40% kilometers a person rides on a bike are on home-work trips. Cycling brings significant benefits, not only personal ones to the cyclists like moving faster through the city and being healthier because of the active moving, but also environmental ones. According to the EU Cyclist Federation, cycling saves emissions equaling more than 16 million tons of CO2 equivalents per year in the EU. This corresponds to the total yearly CO2 emissions of a whole country like Croatia.
Moreover, cycling is getting more attention and encouragement from the government; for example, Utrecht in the Netherlands opened the world’s largest underground bicycle parking lot to support commuting by bikes. The COVID-19 pandemic has incentivized many cities worldwide to invest in infrastructure for biking & scooter options to support people’s shifting needs. In 2020 alone, almost 900km of new bicycle lanes have been created across the EU.
Planning a journey with a bike. In Trafi rollouts bike routing information is found on the “nearby” screen or the “route search” window. When a specific public transit stop is selected, a new icon in the “nearby” screen denotes which PT vehicles allow private bikes. In the route search results window, there is a new section dedicated to bike routing options. An intermodal routing option (a route showcasing the connected bicycle and public transit route) is displayed regularly within search results.
Bike routing algorithm. To provide the most-up-to-date bike routes and as accurate arrival time to the destination as possible, we use a combination of complex proprietary routing algorithms, real-time traffic information, OpenStreetMap, and NASA elevation data that is updated regularly. To calculate the routes, Trafi’s bike routing algorithm takes a number of criteria into account – available bike lanes, regular roads, side streets, incline, and elevation along the path, to name a few. Soon riders will be able to choose which route they prefer: the shortest (probably a bit steeper), flattest, or bicycle lane exclusive options. Road data changes fast, and we are working hard to provide the newest and most accurate information.
More and more people opt for biking, which is good news for cities, the environment, and personal riders’ health. We are here to support and incentivize their trips with a best-in-class experience.
Founded in Vilnius, Lithuania, Trafi has been revolutionizing urban mobility since 2013. Our MaaS platform is designed to run even the most complex transport systems and has been trusted by Berlin (BVG), Brussels (STIB), Portsmouth & Southampton (Solent Transport), Munich (MVG), and Zurich (SBB).
Trafi’s mission is to empower cities with state-of-the-art MaaS solution that helps to tackle their mobility challenges and to achieve ambitious sustainability objectives. Our white-label product offers all the features and components needed to launch your own-branded MaaS service. With more than 50 existing deep integrations to mobility service providers and payment facilitators, we help to reduce risk, cost, and time-to-launch for new services.
Navigating cities has become an extremely complicated task. MaaS promises to guide travelers effortlessly through the so-called jungle of the urban mobility network. One of the severe challenges that stands in the way of living up to this promise is disruptions, which happen on a daily basis, especially in larger cities. The majority of urban dwellers can relate to being extremely frustrated by being late to work because of a disrupted line. In these situations, what travelers need the most are guidance and reassurance.
At Trafi, we took this challenge very seriously — to provide top-notch real-time disruption updates, to allow travelers to plan their door-to-door trips effortlessly even when disruptions occur. Firstly, we analyzed the currently available disruption services on the market and identified multiple problems, and then attempted to tackle them.
Based on these observations, we designed a solution to tackle these problems heads on.
Types of alerts sent to travelers:
The most granular disturbances on a direction and stop level for planned and unplanned disruptions.
Planned disruption information comes from the official Public Transport Authority (PTA) sources that we receive through API. Trafi’s system sends automatic updates every 5 minutes, checking for the newest information from the PTA source. E.g. canceled bus line, change of route length, etc. Our system indicates not only that there is a disruption per route level, but also indicated it for a particular disrupted direction (track) for each schedule, meaning that users who are traveling in another direction on the same affected route are not bothered or misled by redundant information.
Unplanned disruption updates are derived from real-time mobility situations. Let’s say that there is a major congestion due to a huge storm. As a result, four busses are stuck and have not been able to move for the past 35 minutes. Thanks to real-time vehicle tracking, Trafi will spot this and immediately send a disruption alert.
For example, Berliners are warned about all service disruptions in one place -the BVG Jelbi app-, including U-Bahn, BVG buses, BVG trams, and S-Bahn disruptions, which cover 95% of the total annual public transport passenger traffic. And soon we will reach 100 % of trip coverage.
Trafi prepared a toolset for cities to publish disruptions manually to cover all possible cases.
Official sources do not always provide all the disruption information and sometimes it requires adding them manually. The lockdown situation during COVID-19 proved that changes for public transport were made quicker than updates were available in official sources. E.g. information such as front bus doors won’t be used to enter a bus anymore, or that it is required to wear a mask if a passenger wants to enter the vehicle were not part of official disruptions but yet highly important for people to know.
Our proprietary tool allows MaaS operators to manually post disruption information: not only by writing a message but also marking what lines, schedules, directions, or stops were affected and how.
The disruption function is now live in the BVG Jelbi app powered by Trafi. The ability to provide the most accurate and granular public transport disruption information sets Trafi apart. But we do not stop here, we strive for the best support of the travelers, thus next we are working on:
– Informing users on the way. E.g. if a traveler is on the way and disruption happens that affects their journey, they will be informed.
– Supporting replanning of the trip to navigate around disruptions. In addition to suggesting another public transport route, we plan to help people discover other modes, and intermodal routes to reach their destination on time.
Founded in Vilnius, Lithuania, Trafi has been revolutionizing urban mobility since 2013. Our MaaS platform is designed to run even the most complex transport systems and has been trusted by Berlin (BVG), Brussels (STIB), Portsmouth & Southampton (Solent Transport), Munich (MVG), and Zurich (SBB).
Trafi’s mission is to empower cities with state-of-the-art MaaS solution that helps to tackle their mobility challenges and to achieve ambitious sustainability objectives. Our white-label product offers all the features and components needed to launch your own-branded MaaS service. With more than 50 existing deep integrations to mobility service providers and payment facilitators, we help to reduce risk, cost, and time-to-launch for new services.
BERLIN — emmy, MILES, TIER, and Voi are now officially joining forces with Trafi to connect traditional and new types of mobility and drive the switch from private to shared transportation modes.
To fulfill most cities’ need to provide alternatives to individual cars, all citizens need to have access to other convenient and flexible ways to get around. By committing to integrate their services in future mobility solutions powered by Trafi, the four private providers demonstrate their willingness to complement public transport seamlessly and make the transition to shared mobility smoother for both cities and residents.
Users will be able to plan, book, but also pay for all their trips with public and private transportation providers directly in one app, thus allowing them to use all services in one environment with a single master account, and removing obstacles in how people travel around the city.
Cities working with Trafi now benefit from an even faster and more seamless integration of private providers, thus bringing value to residents as fast as possible. Having launched the largest MaaS solution in the world in Berlin, Trafi can boast a highly recognized technology stack and extensive experience working with both municipalities and private providers.
“In recent years, Trafi has proven its ability to work hand in hand with cities and Mobility Service Providers alike to connect all types of mobility under one roof,” says Christof Schminke, Managing Director Commercial at Trafi. “We are now very proud that emmy, MILES, TIER and VOI have decided to partner with us as we build bridges between the people, the public transportation networks, and new mobility modes to achieve our mission of providing alternatives to the private car.”
“At Voi we strongly believe that changing traffic for good can only be achieved if public and private partners join forces”, says Claus Unterkircher, General Manager for the DACH-Region at Voi Technology. “This is why we are especially excited to announce our cooperation with Trafi. There is no doubt that the future of mobility lies in multimodal and app-coordinated solutions — with Trafi we have now teamed up with one of the leading developers in the field.”
Founded in Vilnius, Lithuania, Trafi has been revolutionizing urban mobility since 2013. Our MaaS platform is designed to run even the most complex transport systems and has been trusted by Berlin (BVG), Brussels (STIB), Portsmouth & Southampton (Solent Transport), Munich (MVG), and Zurich (SBB).
Trafi’s mission is to empower cities with state-of-the-art MaaS solution that helps to tackle their mobility challenges and to achieve ambitious sustainability objectives. Our white-label product offers all the features and components needed to launch your own-branded MaaS service. With more than 50 existing deep integrations to mobility service providers and payment facilitators, we help to reduce risk, cost, and time-to-launch for new services.
We are proud to announce the official launch of Jelbi — the largest MaaS solution in the world. This is the result of a joint partnership between Trafi and Berlin’s public transport authority BVG. Jelbi offers a Mobility as a Service platform that deeply integrates all types of transportation in the city. Today, we announce the end of the beta phase and brand new additions to the Jelbi family.
As of today, Jelbi will cover all different types of transportation in Berlin, making it the largest Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in the world. It is the first mobility service to combine such a large amount of deeply integrated transportation providers. Initially, it will include twelve types of transport, representing each possible way of moving around the city — as well as walking. Using Jelbi, you will find buses, trams, trains, ferries, the metro, and shared mobility options such as bikes, e-kick scooters, e-scooters, shuttles, car-sharing, and taxis. All at the click of a button.
Fresh for the launch, ViaVan’s BerlKönig shuttles and Tier’s e-kick scooters will join the Jelbi family, with Taxi Berlin following in a few weeks. They complement the already existing partners in form of Emmy, Miles Mobility, Nextbike, Deutsche Bahn (S-Bahn) and the full public transportation network of BVG.
The connected integrated mobility network combined with real-time routing makes it easy to plan, pick and pay for your journey. You don’t even need to sign up with any additional providers. Instead, you are shown the complete set of prices and ETAs transparently, and you can keep all your tickets in one place.
“Together with BVG, we are happy to launch the largest MaaS solution in the world: Jelbi. Ensuring both depth and width, Trafi’s whitelabel solution combines a high number of integrated transport providers with a truly convenient customer-experience. Berlin is a great first step to showcase what technology can do for transportation, but we are not stopping there. Later this year, we are adding even more cities and countries to our portfolio. We provide software that helps urban areas to manage and improve holistic mobility networks — by themselves, for their citizens and in real-time”, said Martynas Gudonavičius, CEO & Co-Founder at Trafi.
Facts and figures
In this short section, we’ll take you through some first insights into how Jelbi has been used during the first three months of being live.
Founded in Vilnius, Lithuania, Trafi has been revolutionizing urban mobility since 2013. Our MaaS platform is designed to run even the most complex transport systems and has been trusted by Berlin (BVG), Brussels (STIB), Portsmouth & Southampton (Solent Transport), Munich (MVG), and Zurich (SBB).
Trafi’s mission is to empower cities with state-of-the-art MaaS solution that helps to tackle their mobility challenges and to achieve ambitious sustainability objectives. Our white-label product offers all the features and components needed to launch your own-branded MaaS service. With more than 50 existing deep integrations to mobility service providers and payment facilitators, we help to reduce risk, cost, and time-to-launch for new services.
BERLIN – Trafi, the technology platform for mobility solutions, and Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), the main public transport company in Berlin, are today launching a pilot version of Jelbi, the first mobility app to connect all different types of transport in the city. The mobility service is a one-stop-shop for people traveling in Berlin, making it easy to plan and purchase all your trips in the same place. Users can say goodbye to app-jumping, difficulties finding a convenient route, and tiresome registration processes. With Jelbi, you only need to register once to access the full range of mobility in Berlin. Planning, booking, and buying your trip is all part of the app, and you don’t have to sign up with any additional companies. Instead, we keep all your trips and tickets in one place.
Jelbi is the first mobility service in the world with so many deeply integrated transportation providers, and it will be available on both iOS and Android. The pilot phase is starting today, on the 11th of June 2019, and already offers people the opportunity to use the entire public transit system as well as Nextbike (bike sharing), Emmy (e-scooter sharing), and Miles (car sharing) seamlessly within Jelbi.
Later this summer follows BerlKönig (ride-sharing shuttles), a joint effort from BVG and ViaVan. Shortly thereafter Taxi Berlin should be fully integrated and after the approval of e-kick scooters, Tier will be next in line. In the future, other mobility modes will be added gradually and the list is long – around 25 transport providers have already expressed their interest in joining Jelbi.
“Jelbi is the largest partnership between a public company like BVG, and a private partner like Trafi, that we have seen across the globe. We are incredibly proud to launch Jelbi in record time, bringing innovative technology to the streets of Berlin and to the hands of every Berliner. Our collaboration is showing how the future of mobility can become a reality in a matter of months, with a strong local network partner and a technology speedboat to pave the way. Kicking off the pilot with a few absolutely integral transport providers, we are so excited for everyone to start using Jelbi”, says Christof Schminke, Managing Director Berlin at Trafi.
“We invite everyone who wants to experience the future of mobility to join us when we open the pilot version of Jelbi for everyone to use today. As the mobility landscape is changing faster than ever before, we realize that the app will never be completely ready and fully developed – it is and will be an adaptable service for the citizens of Berlin. As we are working on the integration of further partners, we are looking forward to getting feedback from our users. Only then can Jelbi become the app that moves us all over Berlin”, says Dr. Henrik Haenecke, CFO and CDO at BVG.
Trafi’s ready-to-use technology makes connecting various types of transportation modes effortless. Offering the world’s most advanced mobility software, we make it possible for people, transport operators, and cities to connect on one platform. From real-time routing and multimodal solutions, to purchase and ticketing, Trafi provides white label solutions for both private and public companies.
Berlin’s public transport company, the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), is the engine that moves Berlin and has been doing so for 90 years. With its dense network of lines, state-of-the-art vehicles, and efficient service, BVG is Germany’s largest municipal transport authority. The BVG transport network is made up of ten underground railway lines), 22 tram lines, and more than 150 bus lines, as well as six ferries, and provides mobility around the clock, 365 days a year. The employees of BVG operates a fleet of around 3,000 vehicles, serving more than 3.5 million inhabitants across an area that covers some 1,000 square kilometers. More than a billion passengers use the buses and railways operated by the BVG every year.
Founded in Vilnius, Lithuania, Trafi has been revolutionizing urban mobility since 2013. Our MaaS platform is designed to run even the most complex transport systems and has been trusted by Berlin (BVG), Brussels (STIB), Portsmouth & Southampton (Solent Transport), Munich (MVG), and Zurich (SBB).
Trafi’s mission is to empower cities with state-of-the-art MaaS solution that helps to tackle their mobility challenges and to achieve ambitious sustainability objectives. Our white-label product offers all the features and components needed to launch your own-branded MaaS service. With more than 50 existing deep integrations to mobility service providers and payment facilitators, we help to reduce risk, cost, and time-to-launch for new services.
BERLIN – Trafi, the technology platform for mobility, and Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), the main public transport company in Berlin, are today announcing a new partnership set to elevate multimodal mobility services in the German capital. This summer, Trafi, and BVG will launch a new application called Jelbi. The app will include all different types of transportation in the city and offer a one-stop-shop for people traveling in Berlin.
Jelbi is the most encompassing attempt at connecting new and traditional transportation in a city the size of Berlin. The app will include the entire public transportation system, scooters, bikes, ride-hailing, and carsharing, as well as traditional taxis. Users can say goodbye to app-jumping, as all mobility modes will be deeply integrated and accessible. You only need to register once to access the full range of the transportation types. Planning, booking, and consuming is all part of the Jelbi app, and you don’t need to sign up with any additional companies. For the upcoming launch, ten-fifteen private providers will be integrated. The service is being continuously extended to include more options and will be available on both iOS and Android.
“Ninety years ago the founding idea for BVG was to offer an easy access to mobility: one ticket for all different services. Thanks to new innovation we are now realizing this idea with a solution fit for the 21st century. With one single app you can easily plan and purchase your journey, no matter what type of transport you prefer. Based on Trafi’s technology platform, we are able to once again offer a single and fully encompassing mobility solution for the people of Berlin”, says Dr. Henrik Haenecke, Management Board Finances, Digitization and Sales at BVG.
“The partnership between Trafi and BVG represents a bridge between traditional and innovative mobility solutions. In Berlin, we are now spearheading how transport providers and cities can run their mobility network with innovative technology. Trafi has been able to build a tailor-made application in record time and together with BVG, we are proud to launch a service representing the future of mobility now”, says Christof Schminke, Managing Director Germany at Trafi.
Trafi’s technology suite makes it easy to connect different types of mobility in a city. We offer a digital infrastructure that enables the city, people and transport providers to act in close collaboration. From real-time routing and user analytics, to purchase and personalization, Trafi provides whitelabel solutions for both private and public companies looking to enhance their mobility services.
Berlin’s public transport company, the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), is the engine that moves Berlin and has been doing so for 90 years. With its dense network of lines, state-of-the-art vehicles, and efficient service, BVG is Germany’s largest municipal transport authority. The BVG transport network is made up of ten underground railway lines (U-Bahn), 22 tram lines, and more than 150 bus lines, as well as six ferries, and provides mobility around the clock, 365 days a year. The employees of the BVG corporation operate a fleet of around 3,000 vehicles, serving more than 3.5 million inhabitants across a catchment area that covers some 1,000 square kilometers. More than a billion passengers use the buses and railways operated by the BVG every year.
Founded in Vilnius, Lithuania, Trafi has been revolutionizing urban mobility since 2013. Our MaaS platform is designed to run even the most complex transport systems and has been trusted by Berlin (BVG), Brussels (STIB), Portsmouth & Southampton (Solent Transport), Munich (MVG), and Zurich (SBB).
Trafi’s mission is to empower cities with state-of-the-art MaaS solution that helps to tackle their mobility challenges and to achieve ambitious sustainability objectives. Our white-label product offers all the features and components needed to launch your own-branded MaaS service. With more than 50 existing deep integrations to mobility service providers and payment facilitators, we help to reduce risk, cost, and time-to-launch for new services.
