Clever shuttle vehicles
The shared taxi no longer runs through Hamburg, Frankfurt and Stuttgart.
(Photo: imago / Action Pictures)
Hamburg The railway subsidiary CleverShuttle withdraws from three German cities: The shared taxi no longer runs through Hamburg, Frankfurt and Stuttgart. 330 drivers lose their jobs, but should be offered a retraining to work at the railway. The employees were informed on Monday morning, a spokesman said.
The decision came as a surprise: at the weekend, the white-green hydrogen and electric cars drove through the cities. In the app, the affected cities are currently still bookable, only at the end of the booking process, there is an indication that the service is set “since today”.
The CleverShuttle spokesman attributed the attitude in Stuttgart and Frankfurt to problems with the Passenger Transportation Act. Thus the service in Frankfurt had never been formally approved by the authorities, but only tolerated. In addition, the service was not economical to operate in both cities. CleverShuttle is now only available in Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Dresden and Kiel.
The situation is different in Hamburg: The city has generously approved several model projects over the past two years. CleverShuttle also had a permit since 2017, initially for 20 vehicles, later for more. However, strong competition started last April: Volkswagen proven his similarly designed shuttle service Moia on a large scale in Hamburg with up to 500 electric minibuses. It sets Volkswagen unlike CleverShuttle’s specially designed, quite eye-catching vehicles.
Price was depending on the route times one, sometimes the other provider in front. However, CleverShuttle obviously did not fare against the much larger local rivals – especially FreeNow (MyTaxi) in Hamburg started a pilot project for Ridesharing and the US-Fahrdienst About came to the city. The competition was partly with “dumping prices” on the way, said a CleverShuttle spokesman. Moia was initially unable to reach an opinion.
CleverShuttle and Moia offer rides via app order. The passengers must expect that the vehicles drive a detour, in order to let other passengers on or off in between. In return, a ride is much cheaper than in a taxi. Taxi associations have also warned that the new offers cost taxi drivers the job. However, the new travel services offer employees fixed employment contracts with regular working hours and wages.
For the affected CleverShuttle employees, this pays off now: unlike the sudden withdrawal of the British food delivery service Deliveroo from the German market, the drivers are not directly on the road. The railway is currently looking for urgent staff, said a CleverShuttle spokesman. Therefore, a transition is likely about as a bus driver; but it is still unclear how many employees wanted to accept the offer.
The railway had taken over the majority of the 2014 founded start-up a year ago, but was also involved before. Also part of the train is the shuttle Moia, which is currently being expanded in Hamburg. Unlike CleverShuttle, it limits itself to small urban areas and is part of public transport.
More: The automakers are making progress with their shuttle services. VW wins in court, BMW and Daimler Start Free Now. The competitor is located in the USA.