Markus C. Beutel

Product oriented integration of heterogeneous mobility services

Growing spontaneous mobility demand and decreasing affinity to automobile ownership in young generations require integrated concepts for intermodal mobility. Especially in areas with insufficient capacity coverage by traditional public transport, adding alternative services, e.g. car sharing, seems promising. Currently, customers have to combine different means of transportation manually by checking several information sources, creating a combined itinerary and booking several, mode specific tickets. This paper presents an information system architecture, the so-called Mobility Broker, a joint platform for mobility services that enables provider collaboration to offer travelers the best possible combined service. Mobility Broker combines heterogeneous mobility service data, like time tables and car sharing places, using standardized open interfaces and well-known methods of data integration. The combined information allows intermodal routing for generating combined itineraries. Furthermore, it allows to use one ticket for heterogenous travelings. By this simplification of access to intermodal travel, we aim to foster the integration of alternative public transport modes. Thereby, the heterogeneous mobility service product characteristics and related synergy effects determine the approach fundamentally.

Business model framework to provide heterogeneous mobility services on virtual markets

Growing spontaneous mobility and decreasing affinity to automobile ownership in younger generations demand for an integrated service for intermodal mobility. In areas with lacking coverage of traditional public transportation, extending the coverage by integrating alternative services like car sharing, seems promising. Because of the very different nature, the collaboration between traditional public transport and emerging mobility services requires fundamental changes to business models. Current business models are designed under the assumption of separation and competition, which contradicts the idea of collaboration. Therefore, a restructuring of all main pillars of business models under the consideration of mutual interdependencies is required. This work defines such business model pillars and contributes a business model framework for providing different mobility services on centralized virtual markets. Basis is a joint platform which enables collaboration between multiple services to provide a collective intermodal mobility service to the customer.

IXSI - Interface for X-Sharing Information

The increasing demand for mobility, especially for individual transport, leads to more pollution, congested cities and shortage of parking. New ways of mobility could mitigate these issues. Unfortunately, such forms of mobility, i.e. carsharing, are usually isolated services, because of the missing integration with other mobility modes. Our aim is to offer a combination of heterogeneous services on a single platform. We argue that such an integration allows optimal offers and higher usability and therefore results with a higher acceptance among travelers. Embedding a vehicle rental system into a travel information system information-wise is a step forward. For this purpose, we developed an interface for x-sharing information, short IXSI, specialized in connecting vehicle rental systems with a travel information system. IXSI is an XML-based, B2B interface with functions for, e.g., exchanging basic vehicle data and price information. The interface enables travel information systems to perform bookings of carsharing and bikesharing vehicles and therefore allows the customer to use traditional public transport services as well as rental services seamlessly. Furthermore, we briefly present our IXSI implementations on travel information and vehicle rental system side.

Connecting smart grid protocol standards: A mapping model between commonly-used demand-response protocols OpenADR and MIRABEL

Heterogeneous smart grid systems operate with different and incompatible protocols. MIRABEL and Open-ADR are prominent examples, providing intelligent demand respond functionalities. In principle of operation as in complexity, both protocols differ significantly, which results in a lack of inter-connectivity among themselves. Connecting these commonly used standards makes it possible to benefit from different protocol advantages and prevents from reconstructing whole smart grid systems for consolidation. Furthermore, it holds potentials for interoperability of individually produced smart grid components. This work contributes a conceptual mapping model between OpenADR and MIRABEL on the basis of a detailed protocol analysis, as well as an initial implementation.

Heterogeneous Travel Information Exchange

Travel information brokers are complex systems, dealing with a large amount of heterogeneous data from various sources. The exchange and integration of such data is therefore demanding, particularly for small mobility service providers with few IT resources. To face this problem, this work illustrates a key tool to support information and service integration. On a conceptual level, we present a travel information broker system architecture and respective information flows. Additionally, we describe data exchange related to system components, e.g., intermodal routing, pricing and accounting. On this basis, we developed and tested a communication adapter that enables and eases communication between the core system and second party service providers. Furthermore we outline the method of extending public transportation routing with information about sharing services. This enables travelers to query combined information about public transport, bikesharing as well as carsharing services using a single application.

Evaluation of an integrated intermodal travel service

Combining heterogeneous mobility services during one single trip, intermodal traveling is hindered by barriers on different levels. Especially, by incorporating (electric) sharing services, e.g., car-or bikesharing, complex travel chains might occur. To provide flexible intermodal mobility to users, integration has to be realized in various areas: Beyond the provision of comprehensive travel information, it is possible to integrate even further on the business model level. Within a large field test of a comprehensive travel information system, called Mobility Broker, perceptions towards an integrated offering of heterogeneous mobility services are examined. Hereby, different services are not only integrated concerning travel information, but also in the area of distribution. Results indicate that the solution has the potential to deliver extensive flexibility for mobility users and to lower barriers towards alternative mobility modes. Nevertheless, transparent implementation is required and capacity issues could form an obstructive bottleneck. Furthermore, data security and privacy issues could be barriers for widespread acceptance of bundled tariffs.

Chances for Urban Electromobility : Field Test of Intermodal Travel System and Effect on Usage Intention

With growing cities, challenges of climate change, and ambitions for energy transition, innovations in urban mobility are inevitable. On the one hand, fossil-fueled vehicles are polluting the cities and could be substituted with electric cars. On the other hand, the sheer number of vehicles has to decrease and public transport needs to be enhanced. A possible solution addressing all challenges in one fully integrated concept is “Mobility Broker”, which combines electric car and bike sharing with public transport in one intermodal traveling system. However, adoption and changes in mobility behavior are crucial for implementing new concepts. In this research, a prototype evaluation by 10 participants using the system for 2 months is presented. The usability of the system as well as the change in attitudes and usage intention before and after the hands-on experience is analyzed. The overall evaluation for intermodal traveling was positive but usability and a reliable infrastructure are crucial factors for usage adoption.

Information Integration for Advanced Travel Information Systems

ATIS (Advanced Travel Information Systems) are complex systems, dealing with a large amount of heterogeneous data from various sources. The exchange and integration of such data is therefore demanding, particularly for small mobility service providers with few IT (Information Technology) resources. To face this problem, this work illustrates an IT infrastructure to support information and service integration. On a conceptual level, this paper presents a travel information system architecture and respective information flows between components, e.g., intermodal routing, pricing and accounting. As realization, the authors developed and tested a communication adapter that enables and eases information exchange between the ATIS and heterogeneous second party service providers, e.g., carsharing operators. Furthermore, the authors developed a method of extending traditional public transportation routing using the exchanged information about sharing services. This enables travelers to query intermodal itinerary information combining public transport, bikesharing as well as carsharing services using a single application. The overall system was tested in a three-month testing phase. Initial results are promising.

A Structured Approach to Support Collaborative Design, Specification and Documentation of Communication Protocols.

Especially in complex software development projects, involving various actors and communication interdependencies, the design of communication protocols is crucially important. In this work, a structured approach to support the design, specification and documentation of communication protocol standards is presented. To do so, we refer to a complex use case, dealing with the integration of multiple mobility services on a single platform. This endeavor requires the development of a large number of independently usable protocol standards which adhere to a multitude of quality aspects. A structured approach is required to speed up and simplify development and also to enable synergies between these protocols. Our requirements analysis methodology consists of interviewing domain experts to identify important aspects and shortcomings of the current development process and to elicit potential improvements. These intermediate results are prioritized and incorporated into a requirements specification for a standardized communication protocol development process. Furthermore, we assess existing software solutions in terms of their applicability.

Mobility Service Platforms - Cross-Company Cooperation for Transportation Service Interoperability.

The growing number of modes of transportation with diverse characteristics and situational suitability would allow a multifaceted mobility behavior. Unfortunately, the usage of a combination of heterogeneous modes of transportation – specifically during a complex travel chain with multiple changeovers – is hindered in various ways. Users have to query, compare, combine, book and use multiple specialized mobility service individually which results in inefficiencies both on demand and supply side. Centralized mobility service platforms can form a technological bridge to deliver service interoperability. In cross section between competition and cooperation, the need for suitable, profitable, and sustainable market forms to provide complex service configurations arises. As a result of interdisciplinary workshops with domain experts, we describe a role relationship model and identify relevant market forms. To do so, we present a conceptional tool to analyze, characterize and differentiate various mobility service platforms and apply it to set of platforms currently beeing developed.