Flinc

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Globe icon of the infobox
flinc
Website logo
flinc to work via app
mobility
languages German English
operator Mercedes Benz AG
Registration Yes
On-line 2010
https://flinc.org/

flinc is an app-based carpooling service aimed at employees of medium-sized and large companies and synergy parks. The main elements of the app are a platform and system of incentives for carpooling that can be customized for each company. This can include reserved parking spaces or collected coins .

With the app, commuters can set up a permanent network for car pooling. Companies can create and implement an individual mobility concept , record carpooling for their CO 2 balance , provide incentives for carpooling and, depending on the design, make better use of their parking spaces.

The first flinc version was a business-to-consumer -based ride- sharing network for spontaneous switching . It connected a car pool with a social network . It ceased operations on January 1, 2019.

On February 28, 2019, the flinc app went into operation as a business-to-business version at the Mercedes-Benz location in Sindelfingen.

functionality

Registered users enter their place of departure, place of work, the usual working time frame and their contact details in their profile. You can carpool in a closed network (company) or in public. So that the profile can be assigned to the respective company, it is verified by the business e-mail address or the associated location code.

In an interactive map, the user is shown other participants with their aliases if there are matches. They can be requested and when the contact is confirmed, the contact information provided becomes available. The users can then arrange to drive together outside the app by phone, email or messenger. The driver is assigned a QR code , which the passengers scan within the app. This registers the journey, driver and passengers. The journey is over when the entry into the geofence area of ​​the destination is detected via activated location services on the smartphone, e.g. parking garages near the plant.

There are different products, depending on the company's desired range of functions:

  • "Basic": Employees at the site can find colleagues;
  • “Plus”: Employees at the location can find colleagues and receive discounts from their company;
  • “Premium”: Employees at the location can find colleagues and, if necessary, receive a discount and there are flinc parking spaces on site; Parking authorization can be checked with the flinc parking attendant app.

For the creation of a car pool, the users at participating locations can generate so-called coins that can be used for rewards. The driver whose license plate is registered in the app also receives a preferred parking space for the day of the car pool.

history

Born in May 2008 as the idea of ​​some students at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences , today's company was founded in 2010 as a stock corporation. The technical infrastructure was tested in the T-City . After a four-month closed technology test, the project went into operation across Germany in July 2011. A market launch outside Germany was also planned.

For the first few years, flinc received start-up funding from the Investment and Structural Bank Rhineland-Palatinate and KfW as well as from private investors; the startup was not yet profitable.

In September 2017, flinc was taken over by Mercedes Benz AG; on November 5, 2018, the in-house blog announced that the platform would be closed for the end of the year.

After the takeover, flinc gained experience in the area of ​​peer-to-peer carpooling. The product and the application were checked for further use cases and realigned based on the results with the focus on employee mobility in companies and synergy parks.

flinc was tested at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen at the beginning of 2019 with around 35,000 employees and continued at the location after a successful test phase. The introduction for other companies is planned for the first quarter of 2020.

chronology

  • 2019: Start of operations at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen with a new focus and functionality
  • 2017: Test run of the dynamic ridesharing platform for spontaneous and regular trips to Mercedes-Benz locations
  • 2016:
    • The "Study Renewal of Urban Mobility - How can a Shuttle System Replace Complete Motorized Individual Transport in Hamburg?" Is published.
    • Continental became a partner of the flinc initiative 2proAuto .
    • The district Donnersbergkreis took flinc into his mobility offer.
    • The cities of Dieburg , Babenhausen and Kelsterbach . became partners of 2pro Auto .
    • On the mobility planners of DB Regio Bus , were flinc offerings displayed.
    • The German Railways presented the data of its timetable information available so that all long-distance passenger traffic - and public transport DUTY could be taken into account in Germany. With the “DB Busradar NRW ”, bus locations determined via GPS could be called up with flinc from a smartphone.
  • 2015
    • Opel and Deutsche Bahn invested in flinc : The Bahn wanted to use it to establish a door-to-door service and win more customers from rural areas. Opel wanted to present itself as a mobility service provider.
    • Offenbach district added flinc to its mobility offer . He hoped to defuse the situation in the event of timetable failures.
    • Dietzenbach supported 2proAuto , with which free spaces in cars should be better utilized. 2proAuto was awarded the City of Frankfurt's Climate Protection Ideas Prize.
    • The Spessart region and the Main-Kinzig district integrated flinc into the Spessart mobility network .
  • 2014
    • The Qixxit mobility portal was developed by DB Vertrieb in 2012 , has been available as a smartphone app since June 2014 and was a member of 2pro Auto from March 2016 . Flinc was integrated into Qixxit from November 2014 .
    • Opel organized its internal mobility management through flinc .
    • St. Georgen , the St. Georgen Technology Center and the companies ebm-papst and JG Weisser cooperated with flinc and hoped that this would improve their CO 2 balance.
    • The Schwarzwald-Baar recorded after one year working with flinc between 100 and 150 new users per month.

Awards

  • 2014: DB Next Station , award from Deutsche Bahn for start-ups in the mobility sector.

Competitor

The Irish company Carma Technology Corporation is pursuing a similar approach to flinc with real-time ridesharing and the corresponding iPhone application, but without a social network and without direct integration into external navigation applications .

References

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Incentive System. flinc, accessed November 29, 2019 .
  2. ↑ flinc website. Retrieved November 29, 2019 .
  3. ↑ The daily ride-sharing app , Utopia.
  4. ↑ Mona Moll: Daimler takes over ride-sharing pioneer flinc. In: Global Media Site. Daimler AG, September 28, 2017, accessed on November 14, 2019 .
  5. ↑ App. apple.com, accessed November 29, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Parking. flinc, accessed November 29, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Everyone travels with everyone , by Malte Brenneisen, Urs Spindler and Julia Wehmeier, Die Zeit, October 11, 2011
  8. ↑ USA Today : Apps debut at Demo , accessed July 30, 2011.
  9. ↑ flinc with EcoSummit
  10. ↑ Flinc founder Kirschner: "Mobility is not yet efficient" , Handelsblatt on April 17, 2013.
  11. ↑ Daimler takes over ride-sharing pioneer flinc. Daimler AG, accessed on March 1, 2018 .
  12. ↑ flinc says thank you and goodbye ( Memento from November 5, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ↑ Blog entry on the website. Link: https://www.flinc.org/post/es-wird-weiter-geflinct
  14. ↑ flinc pilot Sindelfingen. Retrieved November 29, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Study Renewing Urban Mobility - How can a shuttle system replace all motorized individual transport in Hamburg? , flinc, November 17, 2016, accessed on January 8, 2018 (PDF)
  16. ↑ Continental is a new partner of the flinc initiative 2proAuto. (PDF) flinc, June 27, 2016, accessed on July 27, 2016 .
  17. ↑ Internet platform supplements public transport in the district ( memento from April 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), Donnersbergkreis district administration, April 8, 2016
  18. ↑ City of Dieburg becomes partner of flincs 2pro Auto ( memento of April 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), City of Dieburg
  19. ↑ Babenhausen promotes carpooling: flinc welcomes the city of Babenhausen as a new partner of the 2proAuto initiative , Babenhäuser Zeitung, March 4, 2016
  20. ↑ Kelsterbach promotes carpooling, rapid growth of the 2proAuto initiative sets standards for a sustainable region , Kelsterbach city administration
  21. ↑ Commuters discover ride sharing , by Jutta Rippegather, Frankfurter Rundschau, April 13, 2016.
  22. ↑ Wherever you want: Your personal mobility planner - easy to use and internationally recognized! , DB Regio.
  23. ↑ Press release from Deutsche Bahn - “New: Flinc ridesharing app with nationwide DB timetable information” ( Memento from January 11, 2016 in the Internet Archive ).
  24. ↑ Mitfahrnetzwerk "flinc" - Digitization in local transport , February 26 2016th
  25. ↑ Opel and Deutsche Bahn invest in Flinc , Handelsblatt, July 13, 2015.
    Ride-sharing app: Opel and Deutsche Bahn invest in Flinc , Der Spiegel, July 13, 2015.
  26. ↑ Flinc makes private cars public , by Annette Schlegl, Frankfurter Rundschau, July 28, 2015.
  27. ↑ The ride sharing center of the 2proAuto initiative , district town of Ditzenbach
  28. ↑ City of Dietzenbach supports the flinc initiative 2proAuto , district town of Ditzenbach.
  29. ^ Action program for regional services of general interest, regional conference "Mobility Network Spessart - New Approaches to Mobility in Rural Areas" , Spessart regional, Kreisverkehrsgesellschaft Main-Kinzig mbH, Main-Kinzig-Kreis, Office for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Rural Areas, February 11, 2015.
  30. ↑ Qixxit extends its range of services: new partners and traffic data in real time ( memento from April 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), Quixxit, November 11, 2014.
  31. ↑ Flinc to the target , Opel, July 24, 2014
  32. ↑ "flinc" is the new St. Georgen ride-sharing network ( memento from April 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), St. Georgen im Schwarzwald city administration, April 15, 2014.
  33. ↑ Flinc traffic app: model project attracts more traffic , Südkurier, March 24, 2016.
  34. ↑ The district-ride-sharing network "flinc" goes online Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, December 6,, 2013.
  35. ↑ Mobile in the Rems-Murr district! - Traveling together with the Rems-Murr car sharing network ( memento from June 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), flinc.org
  36. ↑ Flinc through the LEADER region Danube-Bohemian Forest ( Memento from June 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), report on donau-boehmerwald.info
    Information on spes.co.at/flinc
    This is how flinc works , flyer of the region with the supporters of the
    Upper Mühlviertel ( Memento from June 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) and Kirchdorf district ( Memento from June 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ): flinc mobility
    groups organize rides using smartphones and apps , Oberösterreichische Nachrichten on September 13, 2012.
  37. ↑ 115. Supporting member is the ridesharing network flinc , Allianz pro Schiene on June 19, 2012.
  38. ↑ Carpooling on the job: If the employer organizes the carpool ( memento from June 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Financial Times Deutschland on November 19, 2012.
  39. ↑ Introduction of a dynamic ride-sharing system ( Memento from June 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), LEADER project in the field of activity “ Village attractiveness and strengthening the economy”, limesregion.de
  40. ↑ Alternative mobility offers from practice: flinc über Land , article by Reinhold Sczuka (Mayor of Althütte ) and Benjamin Kirschner in LandInForm - Magazine for rural areas (PDF 4.7 MB, p. 36 f.), Netzwerk-laendlicher-raum. de ( German Networking Agency for Rural Areas in the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food ).
  41. ↑ flinc blog provides information on innovation universities ( memento from June 26, 2015 in the Internet archive )
    uni-hohenheim.de/mitfahrgelportunities ,
    project report from     Enactus Hohenheim
    ridesharing network flinc at the University of Esslingen ,
    working together more relaxed: BASF and the university rely on the Flinc placement portal / 400,000 offers per month ( memento from January 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Wormser Zeitung on January 18, 2013.
  42. ↑ These startups are supposed to make the railway more modern , by Georg Räth, Gründerszene, February 17, 2014.
  43. ↑ Energy Awards 2013 - These are the winners and nominees | Category 4: Memento of the Year ( Memento from June 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) In: energyawards.handelsblatt.com, accessed on November 30, 2019.
  44. ↑ Review of the Vision Award , In: visionaward.de, accessed on November 30, 2019.
  45. ↑ Winner of the Urban Solutions' Pitch 2012 , press release ( memento from June 14, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), BITKOM , January 17, 2012.
  46. ↑ “Pioniergeist” start-up competition - smart start-up ideas are applauded ( memento from November 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), investment and structural
    bank Rhineland-Palatinate Volksbanks Raiffeisen banks in Rhineland-Palatinate award “Pioniergeist 2011” start-up prize ( memento from December 17, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), Cooperative Association - Association of Regions