Stuttgart/Amsterdam. ViaVan, the joint venture of
Mercedes-Benz Vans and Via, launched its service in Amsterdam in early
March 2018. The Dutch capital is thus the first city in Europe where
this ecologically and economically sustainable alternative form of
mobility is available.
Amsterdam and the business model of ViaVan are
an ideal fit. In addition to Copenhagen, Vienna and Barcelona, the
Netherland's most populous city can call itself a Smart City and plays a
leading role in Europe in the area of sustainable mobility and
innovations.
On-demand van ridesharing for more efficient transportation
Thanks
to an innovative technology that enables trips to be pooled, several
passengers travel together without any protracted detours and delays.
With the help of an app, riders can select their desired starting point
as well as their destination. The system uses sophisticated algorithms
created by the software experts from Via to calculate very efficiently
and in real time which journeys can be "pooled" without significant
detours. In this way, passengers with similar or the same destinations
are brought together and transported jointly in a ViaVan.
For
maximum efficiency and to arrive at the planned destination without
major detours and/or delays, the app uses so-called virtual stops, e.g.
junctions, where passengers can get on or off. The aim is to pool
trips and consequently reduce the number of vehicles in the city.
In
contrast to private transport, this requires fewer vehicles, while
increasing the available mobility capacity at the same time. In this
way, the ridesharing service complements both the public transport
system as well as already existing mobility offers – and it does so at a
favourable price.
The digital fare comprises a basic price – there is a
fixed price in the city centre of Amsterdam – as well as a time or
distance-based surcharge for outlying areas. The offer from ViaVan lies
somewhere between the rate for classic local public transport and a
taxi fare.
Booking the journey by app ensures that the price that will
ultimately be charged is known when the booking is made and no longer
changes. Payment is made cashless via the app, which is fast, easy,
convenient, and secure.
The idea of US-American start-up Via already managed to establish
itself in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Around 1.5 million
trips are made there each year, with already more than 30 million
successful trips having been made worldwide since the market launch.
Via, which has been in existence since 2013 and is based in New York,
founded the joint venture ViaVan together with Mercedes-Benz Vans in
September of last year. Other cities will soon follow after the
successful market launch in Amsterdam. These include Berlin and London,
where the service will also be launched soon pending final approvals.
Long-term strategic partnership to further develop the mobility concept
Mercedes-Benz Vans
and Via are jointly working on the advancement of intelligent
mobility, which also comprises the optimisation of the use of Mercedes
vans in ridesharing services. At present, the company uses mainly the
Vito Tourer (up to nine seats) and the V-Class (up to eight seats),
which are continuously adapted to this particular purpose.
Thanks to
its high configuration flexibility and connectivity, the new Sprinter
will in future also see increased duty for certain applications where
additional seats are required. Besides the further development of
advanced software and sensor systems, the focus of the long-term
strategic partnership is also on the use of battery-electric and thus
locally emission-free vans as well as on autonomous driving.
Source: Daimler
No comments:
Post a Comment