Once celebrated as a revolutionary mobility solution, ridepooling has now disappeared from most German cities. Which providers still exist and why did the concept fail?
Innovative transport concept
Ridepooling refers to a transport concept in which several passengers traveling in similar directions share a vehicle. Unlike traditional taxis or ride-hailing platforms such as Uber or Lyft, where passengers are transported individually, ridepooling allows a vehicle to be shared by multiple passengers who have similar routes. The main purpose of ridepooling is to increase efficiency in transportation by transporting multiple people with similar goals in one vehicle. This can help reduce traffic, reduce environmental impact and minimize road congestion. Ridepooling can also be more cost-effective for passengers than an individual trip with a taxi or ride-hailing service.
CleverShuttle files for bankruptcy
Despite the initial success of the concept, ridepooling providers have almost completely disappeared from most German cities. Recently, the leading provider of on-demand ridepooling, CleverShuttle, had to file for bankruptcy after Deutsche Bahn, as the majority owner, stopped financing it. Bruno Ginnuth, Managing Director of CleverShuttle, was surprised by Deutsche Bahn’s decision. In a press release, he explained: “We have achieved – and even exceeded – our economic goals that we had agreed with Deutsche Bahn. We are therefore all the more surprised by the decision to end the partnership.” CleverShuttle emphasizes that the company’s operational regional companies are not affected by the bankruptcy. The company currently operates minibuses in more than 45 municipalities in order to close existing gaps in local transport.
Lack of profitability reason for failure
The lack of profitability of ridepooling providers was one of the main reasons for their failure in Germany. The operating costs of the vehicles exceeded the revenue, resulting in significant losses. In addition, companies were hit hard by the effects of the corona pandemic. Only in Hamburg and Hanover is there still the private sector ridepooling provider MOIA, which belongs to the Volkswagen Group. Volkswagen is willing to accept losses on the service and views the investment as a long-term project. In the future, fully autonomous vehicles are expected to save costs for drivers, which could lead to improved profitability.
Editorial team finanzen.net
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