It’s a problem that many young people are familiar with. What’s the easiest way to get to events or festivals if they are held in the countryside? Or if you yourself live outside the city where a major event is being held? That’s what the founders of the transportation service Triply had to contend with themselves. People can now arrange transportation to and from such event with this app. Specifically young people under the age of 18.
It is also a godsend for organizers of these large-scale events. It solves the problem of a lack of train or bus connections, lack of parking spaces and potential traffic congestion caused by visitors who all go there by car.
Group travel by trains and shuttle buses in one app
The creators of Triply use this transportation service to help the organizers bring visitors to and from events. They arrange group travel by trains and shuttle buses from the nearest train station, as well as scheduling bus routes on request. One advantageous side effect of the smart solution is that it is environmentally friendly. In addition, organizers can make use of the integrated online ticketing system service. Co-founder Sebastian Tanzer explains the concept in an interview with Innovation Origins.
Where did the idea for Triply come from?
“We first came into contact with this subject about five years ago during a school project at the Higher Technical College (HTL) Leonding (Austria). At first it was only a small-scale project, but we picked it up again for our thesis. The title of the thesis was ‘Public Move – smart shared taxis for the countryside.‘ We received very positive reactions and our work was awarded an inter-school project prize.
It turned out to be an exciting subject, which we also ended up discussing with various local authorities. However, people were not yet ready for our concept of shared means of transport. As in, a kind of car-sharing. A transportation service for events, on the other hand, was already viable. Because we focus on a target group who has an affinity with the internet and thinks it offers major benefits. The thesis was completed in April 2017 and we set up Triply immediately after that.”
How did the launch go?
“We used our private savings to set up the company. After that we participated in small-sized accelerator programs. We received our first investment from a ‘business angel’ who teaches geo-informatics at the University of Salzburg. We got to know him via Start-up 300. This is a listed start-up ecosystem in Linz, Austria, made up of several investors.”
How has the transportation service fared?
“We are planning shuttle service concepts and have created algorithms that support planning. The software was only ready just a few months ago. Until that point, we had designed mobility concepts for 17 events. We deem these as our software and concept trials. Our first trial was for a student association at a nightclub with 3,000 visitors. Now we are looking at other aspects of our original concept and are developing software for on-demand mobility analysis.
What problem is Triply addressing and why is that important?
“We are Mobility Enablers and we aim to offer people a handy transportation service with our products. In our first project, we developed a system that enables young people to travel to and from events. Now we want to facilitate mobility in rural areas in general. It is mainly elderly and young people in rural areas who need shuttle services in order to become more mobile.”
What makes Triply better than or different from existing providers?
“Many developers of transportation services focus on urban areas. We focus on the countryside and connections between the countryside and cities. In addition, we not only design concepts for transportation planners, but also for lay people, such as mayors and organizers committed to mobility strategies.”
What are you proud of?
“Knowing that you’ve made it at a young age and that you are able to work together as a team on a mutual idea. Right now, it looks like it’s going to work out.”
How hard was it to get funding for your transportation service?
“Not so difficult. With small awards and subsidies, the start was relatively easy. Already we have some limited turnover now, but we still need investments. In the meantime, we’ve even got several investors on board involved in our company. We still hold the majority shares though.”
What can we expect in a year from now?
“We’re hoping that our event transportation software will become more widely used. And that we can cover additional mobility areas as of now.”
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