Optibus moves onto the water in Hamburg

Deal with publicly-owned ferry operator Hadag expands firm's reach from buses
Classification & Data Collection / October 17, 2023
By Adam Hill
Schedule software Hamburg bus ferry Germany innovate © Nova Rizal | Dreamstime.com
The River Elbe in Hamburg is an important passenger route (© Nova Rizal | Dreamstime.com)

Optibus has moved beyond its traditional bus planning and routing business and is now offering a similar service to ferries.

It has signed a deal with Hadag, the publicly-owned ferry operator for the German city of Hamburg, which transports 10 million passengers a year.

A key player in Hamburg's passenger transportation network, it has 26 vessels carrying between 114 and 250 passengers at a time.

“Transporting our passengers safely and quickly is our main priority. The technologies that Optibus introduces to our team are the start of a smarter, world-class ferry network for the city of Hamburg,” says Wolfgang Mularzyk, project leader digitalisation at Hadag.

The firm will use Optibus’ software to make planning and operations "smoother and more data-driven". 

“Optibus’ mission is to bring innovation to public transportation, and we want to advance this mission wherever and however people move from A to B," says Amos Haggiag, CEO and co-founder of Optibus.

Hadag is contracted by Airbus to provide ferry shuttles for Hamburg staff to and from its site in Finkenwerder. 

As part of Hamburg's public transport association, Hamburger Verkehrsverbund, increased efficiencies within Hadag’s ferry network will also bring benefits to the city’s wider mobility network, which consists of rapid-transit trains, local trains and buses, suggests Optibus.


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