“I love the nightlife”: How Demand Responsive Transit shortens the time needed to arrive at the club
Two weeks ago, we looked at supply and demand to and from Tegel airport and proved that at the moment, much of Berlin cannot easily arrive to their airport. We mentioned Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) as a solution to this problem. Today, we’ll look into how exactly DRT could solve this issue in the most Berlin way possible — we’ll see how our allygator shuttle can improve your route to the club.
At door2door we are developing a product suite that will help cities redefine mobility. Through data insights and dynamic routing that matches demand wherever it arises, we hope to improve access everywhere.
Our products — ally mobility app, ally mobility analytics, and allygator shuttle — will allow us to move towards the dream of an efficient and environmentally friendly system. And this is how we are collaborating with the world to do it:
Let’s say you want to meet your friends in one of Berlin’s clubs. You get ready but…how do you get there? What if the route you usually take is blocked by a protest? And if you don’t know the route, should you take a cab?
Let’s look at the map below:
- The yellow area can reach these 5 clubs within 15 minutes by Taxi or private vehicle
- The magenta area can reach these 5 clubs within 15 minutes by Public Transport.
No matter where you live in the world, people face these questions every day when they are preparing to leave their house. And in most cases, only a small part of your town can be easily or quickly reached via public transit.
So, let’s say you are in Berlin. Ask yourself:
- Where do you live? Do you live within the magenta area where you can conveniently reach your favourite club?
- If not, what do you use to get there? Taxi, private vehicle, or a very long trip on public transport?
- What are the sacrifices you have to make to get there efficiently? Time? Money?
Let’s say you don’t know how to get to the club, or you don’t have a car, and maybe you don’t want to pay for a cab — after all, drinks at the club won’t be for free — so how can we help you?
Thankfully, door2door has got you covered. Let me introduce you to ally mobility app. An app that provides you with all the mobility alternatives within a city to get you from A to B. When you use ally mobility app, you help us gather information as well. The ally app works as a sensor to see where and how the users move around the city.
Here we can see all our users’ destination and departure points.
Here’s how our sensors work:
- The data is collected completely anonymously.
- The mobility data is analysed and turned into useful information.
- We use this information to understand how the cities move and to better understand where demand is growing.
Anyways, back to you. So you’ve put on your red lipstick, your high-heels, and your all black (preferably leather) outfit. You are ready for a night out in Berlin. You’ve searched for your route using our ally mobility app and seen that public transport in your area is not great and that you don’t have many options. You’ve already decided the cab is too expensive, but you really don’t want to spend 40 minutes getting to Berghain. What if we told you that we could take you from your door to the club’s door faster than your regular PT route and more comfortably?
Let us introduce you to our second great product: allygator shuttle!
allygator shuttle is a demand-responsive transport service that dynamically builds routes so you can get to your destinations without having to worry about stops, transfers, or too much walking. How amazing does that sound?
Let’s look at the map again, now with allygator shuttle included…
Quick reminder:
- The yellow area represents the area that can reach these 5 clubs within 15 minutes by taxi or private vehicle. But really… 20 euros for a ride?
- The magenta area is the area covered by public transport. That isn’t much of the city is it?
Now let’s look at the allygator shuttle:
- The green area represents the area we are able to cover with our on-demand service! Now, instead of spending 30 minutes on the S-Bahn, you can simply book a shuttle and move directly from your home to the club.
- The on-demand service is significantly cheaper than a taxi because the ride is shared.
And if we are losing you a little because your two pre-club beers are having their effects, let me quickly summarize: Since our shuttles are dynamically routed, we are able to serve a much larger demand area than public transport can, and because we are a shared service, we always cost less than traditional taxis.
Woah! All right if you’ve gotten through all that. Come sit down with us and have another beer. Cause this is where it gets really interesting.
Now that we’ve analysed supply, let’s see where the biggest demand lies. And what exactly does this tell us?
Since we’re already through our third beer, I’d like to engage you in a few philosophical questions:
Why are we always waiting for a bus? And why is it that the S-bahn only runs every 30 minutes after midnight? Why are there certain hours when the tram is so packed that you can’t even enter? These questions usually boil down to the same issue: there is an undersupply of public transport and a rising demand.
Maybe if we put it visually this would make more sense:
The squares above represent the areas where there are more people that want to go to the clubs than can be served. There are just too few modes of transport available. What if we let you in on a little secret. What if we told you we could fix this?
Look at how things improve when we introduce allygator shuttle:
It’s like extinguishing a fire!! All the areas that were undersupplied now have an alternative and so do you!
And with that, let’s finish up this beer, book our allygator shuttle ride, and smile at the fact that our suite of products is improving public transit access everywhere. How cool is that?
Now go dance your heart out.
