Skip to main content

New mobility service for Hamburg

MOIA, the mobility arm of the Volkswagen Group (VW), and Hamburger Hochbahn (Hochbahn) are jointly working on the development of a new and environmentally-friendly mobility service for Hamburg, Germany.
June 16, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

MOIA, the mobility arm of the Volkswagen Group (VW), and Hamburger Hochbahn (Hochbahn) are jointly working on the development of a new and environmentally-friendly mobility service for Hamburg, Germany.

As part of this project, an on-demand electric shuttle service is set to go into operation in 2018 to supplement the public transport network and provide an attractive alternative to travelling by car and add a mobility solution to the current range of car-sharing vehicles and rental bikes that can be booked online.

MOIA is currently developing a vehicle for up to six passengers that will be powered only by electricity and completely emission-free. The aim is to roll out the service with around 200 electric shuttle vehicles in Hamburg in 2018 following a successful test run. A further expansion of the fleet is planned for 2019. Following its introduction in Hamburg, MOIA plans to launch the service in other cities.

Passengers will be able to book the service via the app on their smartphone by entering their location and destination. The MOIA shuttle will then fulfil the journey requests of passengers who are travelling in a similar direction. An algorithm will combine these requests, plan the route and calculate the journey duration and arrival times for each individual passenger.

The new service will be fully financed by MOIA and use the company’s own vehicles and drivers.  The project is the result of a strategic partnership that the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg entered into with the Volkswagen Group of last year. The two partners will work on innovative solutions for three years in order to make the city’s traffic cleaner, safer and more efficient, with the aim of making Hamburg a model city for urban mobility concepts.

Related Content

  • VW launches electric car-share in Berlin
    July 9, 2019
    Volkswagen has launched an electric ‘free-floating’ car-share service called WeShare in Berlin. The fleet comprises 1,500 e-Golfs, and they are to be followed by 500 additional e-up!vehicles in the German capital at the beginning of next year. The first units of its full-electric ID.3 are due to be deployed in mid-2020, the manufacturer says. Initially, WeShare will cover around 150 km2 – in the city centre and beyond the city train ring line. The service costs €0.19 per minute but will increase to
  • Positive incentives an alternative to road user charging?
    February 1, 2012
    The Netherlands has been looking at incentivising rush-hour avoidance. The intention is to better understand road users' motivations and find alternatives to congestion charging. Something significant needs to happen if we are to adequately address the traffic congestion and other issues caused by the ever-rising numbers of vehicles on our roads. Congestion or distance-based charging is seen as one way of managing demand and raising revenue for improvements to transport infrastructure. However, charging is
  • Intelligent powertrains could make cost cuts
    April 30, 2020
    Intelligent vehicle powertrains could be a way of making substantial cuts in operating costs and emissions. David Crawford looks at some far-reaching initiatives in Europe and North America
  • Moscow ramps up shared mobility services
    April 6, 2021
    Up to 100km of temporary bike lanes will appear in the city as part of Green Ring project