Smart City Travel

After Safe Drive Zones, in which one third of the participants were Severs Breeman customers, the next pilot of BMW and Rotterdam is about to start. Smart City Travel is aimed at motorists who (regularly) drive from outside the city towards Rotterdam city centre. BMW, Rotterdam and Erasmus University Rotterdam are investigating ways of enticing motorists to park their car at a P+R on the outskirts of the city and continue the last leg of their journey by public transport or shared transport. "We want to learn what it takes to motivate BMW drivers to first make this smart choice in advance and then actually switch when an alternative mode is actively offered," said Marc Bras, Head of Mobility Services at BMW Group Netherlands. "By offering potentially healthier, cheaper and faster alternative transport from the edge of the city centre, we contribute to the liveability of the city."

After entering the destination in the BMW navigation (or BMW pilot app), the participant is asked via the central display in the car whether he or she wishes to use alternative transport. If the participant agrees, the system checks the availability of a parking space at the P+R in the background, which is then automatically booked. If you choose a shared bike, the reservation is made immediately and you do not need to use the MOBIAN app to book and pay for the ride. If you choose a felyx shared scooter, the availability of that scooter at the selected P+R is checked. The booking is then made via the felyx app.

"The approach of BMW and Rotterdam is unique," says Dorrith Dijkzeul, Strategic Advisor for Mobility at the City of Rotterdam. "With this pilot project, we are connecting the motorist directly to the shared transport providers. In this way, we are not only testing how the chain trip can be made as smoothly as possible technically, but also how and with what message we can tempt the motorist to make the switch. In this way, we are working towards a healthier city."

Cooperation with MOBIAN and felyx
MOBIAN offers its shared bicycles at so-called MobiHubs. In Rotterdam these can be found at the Van Nelle Fabriek and for this pilot also at Slinge, Kralingse Zoom and Meijersplein. In the future, the offer will be extended to at least ten locations on the outskirts of the city with a total of 100 shared bicycles. felyx, for its part, offers shared electric scooters on a ride basis. These have no fixed location, can be found in large numbers throughout the city and are easy to book via an app. If the BMW driver chooses the shared scooter option, it will navigate him to a P+R where a felyx shared scooter is available.

Join the Smart City Travel pilot?
Byparticipating in the BMW-Rotterdam pilots, BMW drivers have the unique opportunity to actively help develop the mobility of the future. The pilot is open to fuel-driven BMW models (so no PHEV or EV) from the year 2018 and equipped with the OS7 operating system. These BMW drivers can register via BMW Labs where, via the BMW ID, it is automatically checked whether the linked BMW is suitable for participation in the pilot, which will start at the beginning of May. Participation is highly appreciated.