Provision of software for on-demand transport services.
The municipalities of Kamp-Lintfort, Moers, Neukirchen-Vluyn and Rheinberg want to work together to put public transport in rural areas on an innovative basis. In August 2020, the city of Neukirchen-Vluyn received the funding notice for the “We-4-Mobil” funding project in this regard. This is a model project for implementing an inter-municipal, flexible public transport system for the four cities. The WI-4 cities of Kamp-Lintfort, Moers, Neukirchen-Vluyn and Rheinberg have been working together intermunicipal in numerous fields of work for more than 20 years. An important parenthesis is the “We-4" business development program, which was created by the four cities in 2000.
The project space covers a total size of 290 km² and has a population density of 799 inhabitants per km². Local public transport is based in particular on a bus system. While Moers and Rheinberg are directly connected to the Ruhr area via the SPNV, the cities of Kamp-Lintfort and Neukirchen-Vluyn only have a fast bus system that connects the municipalities with the surrounding metropolitan areas.
As part of the model project, on-demand transport (= demand transport by car) will be set up which operates in and between the 4 cities, is geared towards the existing classic scheduled public transport or SPNV and strengthens and supplements it. On-demand traffic starts on 01.07.2021, the pilot project will end on December 31, 2024.
The on-demand system to be set up does not make use of a fleet of vehicles specially designed for this purpose. Instead, it directly accesses the vehicles of the local taxi and rental car industry. A corresponding scheduling center is currently being set up and is operated by third parties. The vehicles in the taxi industry can report to this scheduling center for on-demand traffic, for example in the event of overcapacity or during waiting times. On-demand traffic will be software-based in terms of trip booking and scheduling as well as other functions. The software then automatically compares and categorizes travel options in classic public transport, processes them via the scheduling center and, if necessary, transmits them as specific trip orders to the vehicles reported as available after aggregation (“ride pooling”). It is also planned that customers can purchase tickets digitally via this software.
The commission to provide this software for the period from June 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024 (including a four-week test phase prior to operation) as part of a “software as a service” model is the subject of this award procedure. The provision includes the provision of the software and its support and further development.
The procurement documents regulate further details.