An app for the mobility of the future

What could a mobility offer look like for business travelers who appreciate the convenience of a company car but also want flexible and sustainable alternatives? With this in mind, Deutsche Bahn commissioned a team from the HPI d-school to develop new concepts for the mobility of the future.

Mobility is changing: digitalization, urbanization and climate change are driving a rethink. Status symbols such as the classic company car are becoming less important for young employees - they are increasingly opting for flexibility and sustainable alternatives. Sabbaticals instead of salary increases, BahnCard 100 instead of company cars: companies need to develop creative mobility solutions to attract young talent.

Especially in large cities, the company car is no longer an attractive benefit - searching for a parking space, traffic jams and limited flexibility are real disadvantages. Deutsche Bahn wanted to find an answer to these changing needs and offer an alternative that is just as convenient and reliable as the classic company car.

The team started with extensive research: interviews with company car owners, car sharing users and mobility managers from large companies provided valuable insights. In order to realistically simulate business trips, the students tested various means of transport, traveled across Germany and visited DB Lounges.

One key finding: the most important requirement of modern mobility is freedom of choice. Business travelers want convenience, reliability and flexibility so that they can decide how to get from A to B individually.

This gave rise to the Mobility Promise concept - a mobility app that intelligently combines different modes of transportation. Users can select their preferred means of transport and personalize their daily routes. Among other things, the app enables:

• Daily reservation of a vehicle for the commute to work 
• Automatic booking of alternative means of transport in the event of changes to plans (e.g. cab if train is canceled)  
• Bicycle module with repair service for defective bikes 
• Flexible switching between modes of transportation depending on current needs

This intelligent networking of car, train, bike and car sharing creates a completely new mobility experience.

The findings from the challenge flowed directly into the further development of new mobility concepts. In particular, the collaborative development idea of the project inspired Deutsche Bahn to launch the driversity network initiative - an innovation program that promotes new mobility solutions on an interdisciplinary basis.

The concept of a budget-based mobility app for employees, which provides access to public transport, car and bike sharing for private and business trips, was also being implemented as a test model. The classic company car model could soon be a thing of the past.