A new on-demand ridesharing service run by Daimler’s Moovel subsidiary and the Stuttgarter Strassenbahnen AG (SSB) is to go live in Stuttgart in June following a successful pilot.

The new SSB Flex mobility service starts on 1 June in Stuttgart

Announced late last year, the SSB Flex has been developed to provide an on-demand addition to Stuttgart’s public transportation network, based on the Moovel on-demand platform.

Already trialled via the ‘Flex Pilot’ earlier this year, the service will operate a liveried fleet of 10 Mercedes-Benz V-Class sedans with room for five passengers and two Mercedes-Benz B-Class electric drive vehicles with room for three.

SSB Flex will be offered from Monday to Saturday from 6am to 9pm and also from Thursday to Saturday from 9pm to 2am the following day in large sections of Bad Cannstatt and Degerloch, both of which are currently underserved in parts by the local public transportation network.

Using an app, drivers can book pick-ups and make their choice from a list of possible connections to their destination, which also show options for connections with the other means of public transportation in the area, the cost of each and the estimated timing, with the help of Moovel’s algorithm. Flex trips can be paid via the app with a credit card or PayPal and drivers are then shown where the Flex vehicle will pick them up and how they can get there quickly on foot.

The pilot phase saw more than 20,000 passengers use the mobility service for free, proving particularly attractive late at night when the buses, trains, and trams run less frequently.

Jörg Lamparter, head of mobility services at Daimler Financial Services, said: “Urbanisation is changing the way people get around. We have responded to this trend by offering innovative mobility services for more than a decade. We will continue to work together with cities and transportation associations in the future to develop solutions that move urban mobility forward as a whole – from car sharing to ride hailing all the way to multimodal offers.”