- Leading remote driving (teledriving) company Vay and ioki, market leader for on-demand technology in public transportation (ridepooling), have sealed their cooperation
- Together, they aim to combine teledriving and ridepooling to launch the first teledriven on-demand service in public transport
- A powerful digital solution to driver shortages in the public transport sector: Reducing costs and increasing efficiency and availability of flexible public transport
(Frankfurt/Berlin, 15 February 2024) The partnership of Vay and ioki allows teledrive technology to deliver on-demand, cost-efficient, and digital mobility services. Users request a vehicle via the app. A teledriven car, operated by a specially trained teledriver from a teledrive centre, arrives shortly after. The ioki Platform’s algorithm calculates the route, facilitates ridepooling, and serves as the booking interface for users. For the first time users will be transported by a teledriven on-demand service in public transport.
“I am convinced that teledriving is a promising key technology to gradually introduce driverless public transportation. With Vay, we have a strong partner who shares our vision of driverless mobility integrated into everyday life. We want to make a positive and short-term contribution to the currently acute driver shortage issues in Germany and Europe by using more digitisation and technology in public transport”, says Michael Barillère-Scholz, CEO and co-founder of ioki GmbH.
Shortly after booking a vehicle, the customers will be picked up and driven to their desired destination. Whether users ride in a regular vehicle or a teledriven vehicle is individually decided by the ioki algorithm. In perspective, it could supplement existing on-demand transport, thus avoiding empty runs. This would lower costs and simultaneously increase the availability of local transport.
“With our unique door-to-door mobility service enabled by our teledrive technology we want to create an affordable and convenient alternative for transportation in metropolitan areas. ioki’s innovative platform solution accelerates the introduction of our sustainable and efficient mobility services for public transport. Together, we work towards our goal of significantly reducing the number of privately owned cars in cities”, says Fabrizio Scelsi, co-founder & CTO of Vay.
Vay and ioki are currently in contact with interested transport companies to test the link between on-demand and teledriven technology. The first pilot projects could start next year.
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About ioki
ioki is the leading European technology company for digital mobility and a pioneer in autonomous driving in public transport. Since the company was founded in 2017, companies, cities and municipalities in 11 countries have relied on the expertise of ioki. With more than 130 flexible on-demand services and over 4.5 million passengers, ioki is the market leader for demand-responsive mobility in the DACH region. These include flagship projects such as ioki Hamburg (now hvv hop) and Germany’s first self-driving public bus.
The company offers innovative platform solutions for demand-responsive and regular public transport services, data-based transport planning and digital navigation applications for public buses. With its software-as-a-service and consulting services, ioki enables digital solutions for sustainable mobility. 190 employees from over 20 nations are working from Frankfurt on the vision of digital public transport. ioki GmbH is an independent subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn.
ioki
Xenia Rowley
Head of Marketing & Communications
+49 152 321 071 44
[email protected]
www.ioki.com
Vay
Isabella v. Zastrow
Communications Coordinator
[email protected] / [email protected]
+49 176 60404217
