- Germany’s fast-growing capital Berlin is turning to technology to promote the use of just about every form of urban transport - except the private car - as it races to stop the city from seizing up from increasing traffic congestion.
The app, called Jelbi, is run by the BVG transport authority and runs on technology from Trafi, a Lithuanian startup that built a similar mobility platform in Vilnius, and has partnered with Prague and Jakarta. BVG required that partners be fully integrated into the Jelbi app - meaning that users can, with a single registration, book and pay for all of the transport options on the platform.
So far, 60% of people who have downloaded the app have taken that step. On average, they book 2.3 rides per week, said Heider. “It’s monumental, and I think is going to start a phase of new deployments,” he said, adding that Trafi was in talks with other European cities, and even countries, on launching mobility applications.