Berlin App Shows City Authority Ready to Fight for Mobility

Philip Oakley

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11th June 2019

Berlin’s public transport body, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) and Trafi, a mobility start-up, have launched an app in a bid to take control of its transport systems.

Previously, the various mobility and transport platforms offered in the German capital, the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, regional trains, trams, busses, ferries and the host of private services, were all on different apps. However, with Jelbi the systems have been united into one, which the creators hope will lead to more efficient public transport. Private mobility services, such as e-scooters and rentable bikes, are also included in the app and given the same level of prominence as BVG’s public transport options.

The move is an attempt to wrestle the mobility initiative away from private providers and set the city authority as the go-to source for urban transportation. Trafi and BVG say Jelbi is the first mobility service in the world with so many different services and providers. While this is just a pilot launch to test the waters, if successful it could be a model taken to other cities across Europe. The app is available on Android or iOS now.