Free Now, a European-based ride-hailing app, has announced that users are now able to book public transport services through its app, in addition to private vehicles such as taxis, private cars, e-scooters, e-bikes, e-mopeds and car sharing.
As a result, Free Now claims to offer an extensive range of transport modes from a single source, saying it houses the largest amount of travel options in a single app.
The first corporation to sign up to Free Now to enable public mobility options was Rheinbahn, a German public transport operator, with users now able to book bus, tram and undergrounds trains for any tariff zones within the Rhine-Ruhr Public Transport Association (VRR).
The company will reportedly receive access to almost 1,100 lines, around 7.8 million inhabitants and an area of approximately 7,300 square kilometres in the agreement.
According to Free Now, this means its service will now cover Europe’s biggest transport network and the largest urban transport area, including major German cities like Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen, Bochum, Wuppertal and Duisburg.
The two companies initial agreement will support users to purchase single tickets, day passes and 48-hour passes, with works on technical integration reportedly already beginning.
Thomas Zimmermann, CEO of Free Now, said: “We’re pleased that we’re now the first private mobility platform to be able to offer our users public transport tickets in the biggest population and the largest urban transport area in Europe.
“This is an important next stage for us and, for the first time, we’re enabling end-to-end ticketing for different modes of transport in our app.
“Linking different mobility offers is crucial to succeed in transforming transportation in Europe.
“Free Now actively supports this as a partner of public transport.
“Our goal is to make urban mobility in Europe more sustainable, intelligent, and interconnected.”
The two companies have also been working with Dutch transport service Tranzer to support the integration, with Free Now claiming further partnerships with other transport companies in Germany and across Europe are planned for 2023.
