Skip to main content

Optibus moves onto the water in Hamburg

Deal with publicly-owned ferry operator Hadag expands firm's reach from buses
By Adam Hill October 17, 2023 Read time: 1 min
The River Elbe in Hamburg is an important passenger route (© Nova Rizal | Dreamstime.com)

Optibus has moved beyond its traditional bus planning and routing business and is now offering a similar service to ferries.

It has signed a deal with Hadag, the publicly-owned ferry operator for the German city of Hamburg, which transports 10 million passengers a year.

A key player in Hamburg's passenger transportation network, it has 26 vessels carrying between 114 and 250 passengers at a time.

“Transporting our passengers safely and quickly is our main priority. The technologies that Optibus introduces to our team are the start of a smarter, world-class ferry network for the city of Hamburg,” says Wolfgang Mularzyk, project leader digitalisation at Hadag.

The firm will use Optibus’ software to make planning and operations "smoother and more data-driven". 

“Optibus’ mission is to bring innovation to public transportation, and we want to advance this mission wherever and however people move from A to B," says Amos Haggiag, CEO and co-founder of Optibus.

Hadag is contracted by Airbus to provide ferry shuttles for Hamburg staff to and from its site in Finkenwerder. 

As part of Hamburg's public transport association, Hamburger Verkehrsverbund, increased efficiencies within Hadag’s ferry network will also bring benefits to the city’s wider mobility network, which consists of rapid-transit trains, local trains and buses, suggests Optibus.


For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Sernis tech to combat crosswalk distraction
    February 20, 2023
    Drivers and pedestrians will both be kept safer with Sernis' SR-CrossLED road stud
  • Changing perceptions and going green with ITS
    May 26, 2022
    Entrants to the ITS (UK) Essay Award were asked to write about innovative application of ITS solutions to achieve decarbonisation goals. First-year apprentice Leora Wilson, who studies at Leeds College of Building as part of her apprenticeship with Mott MacDonald, won the competition with this entry…
  • Why integrated traffic management needs a cohesive approach
    April 10, 2012
    Traffic control is increasingly being viewed as one essential element of a wider ‘system of systems’ – the smart city. Jason Barnes, Jon Masters and David Crawford report on latest ideas and efforts for making cities ‘smarter’ Virtually every element of the fabric and utilitarian operations that make urban areas tick can now be found somewhere in the mix that is the ‘smart city’ agenda. Ideas have expanded and projects pursued in different directions as the rhetoric on making cities ‘smarter’ has grown. App
  • Georgia DoT showcases its connectivity
    March 3, 2020
    Georgia DoT’s regional connected vehicle programme could be a model for the rest of the US. Adam Hill speaks to two men involved in making it a reality – and takes a look at the state’s first-ever Tech Showcase