On the go with tim – timely. intelligent. mobile.

Next stop: Johannes Kepler University Linz. Since 2nd September, 2019, tim vehicles can be seen on the streets in and around Linz. The new mobility service from LINZ AG LINIEN was launched in September with the opening of two locations – the Linz Hauptplatz and LINZ AG-Center, at Wiener Straße 151. The third tim location (also called a tim ‘mobility node’) will officially be launched today, on 11th November, 2019, at Johannes Kepler University (JKU). The development and expansion of this modern mobility system for Linz is therefore on track.

Brief portrait of the new mobility concept – tim is:

• a complement to local public transport – ideal for routes that cannot be (fully) covered using public transport (for example, for a shopping trip or an excursion outside of Linz).
• a forward-thinking, environmentally friendly mobility concept that connects different means of transport.
• one of the potential solutions to the mobility issues of our time based on major trends such as the sharing economy and digitisation.

‘tim mobility nodes’ are at the heart of the project. They are places where parking spaces for bikes, stationary (e-)carsharing, public e-charging stations and rental cars for longer trips are available in addition to existing public transport services. The aim is to combine public with individual transport and replace one’s own car or make it easier to do without a (second) car. Thanks to the tim nodes, passengers can combine trams or buses with (e-)carsharing cars or rental cars, for example.

Never have to deal with permits again… When you travel with tim instead of driving your own car, you no longer have to worry about permits, toll stickers, repairs, tyre changes, etc. There are always new vehicle models available with fully comprehensive insurance coverage. In addition to the monthly basic fee of €7, costs are only incurred when the car is really needed…

“Mobility is one of the great challenges of our time. Public transport plays a central role in the development and implementation of mobility concepts, especially in cities. In these challenging times, when we are facing the effects of climate change, the focus is on reducing particulate matter air pollution and toxic emissions caused by private transport. tim relies on two important pillars – e-mobility and carsharing”, said Mayor Klaus Luger.

Deputy Mayor Markus Hein said: “Multimodal mobility nodes offering a wide variety of forms of mobility provide an ideal complement to public transport. They help to minimise the so-called ‘last mile’ problem. Together with LINZ AG, we want to make switching to public transport even more appealing. We are rapidly expanding this service throughout the city. In summer, we launched the first tim mobility nodes on the Hauptplatz and at the LINZ AG-Center. Today we are launching the third tim mobility node in our city, at the JKU.”

tim relies on the sharing economy, digitisation and location strategies

“tim embraces the idea of ‘sharing instead of owning’. The new service is very much about sharing means of transport. Furthermore, tim is following another significant trend: digitisation. Access to tim is smart. tim’s services can be used quickly and easily via an app and a smart user card. I am pleased that LINZ AG LINIEN can add another location to this forward-thinking mobility service here at the JKU thanks to tim“, said LINZ AG Managing Director Dr.in Jutta Rinner.

“tim also selects locations after analysing people’s needs and an area’s potential. The JKU location appeals to its large number of students, the employees on campus and local residents”, said Managing Director Rinner, highlighting the existing user potential for tim at the new location.

Launching the tim location at Johannes Kepler University

Rector Meinhard Lukas said: “Sustainability is part of the JKU’s values – in its teaching, research, and on campus. Using solar energy, overhauling the cafeteria to serve organic food, and the mobility concept, these are all examples of this. The tim node at the JKU site closes the gap between public and private transport. We hope that this will encourage even more members of the JKU to switch to the city of Linz’s public transport services. At the same time, I hope that we will launch many more connections from the JKU to the city centre over the coming years.”

Details about the new tim node

Typically tim: The JKU tim node clearly demonstrates tim’s brand features:

Brand recognition. Every so-called ‘tim node’ can easily be identified thanks to its characteristic brand design. A pylon with pictograms representing the service marks the locations and makes nodes easily recognisable from a distance.

The services available at tim’s JKU node

• Stationary (e-)carsharing

  With tim’s (e-)carsharing nodes, customers have access to a vehicle to cover shorter distances when needed. ‘Stationary’ means that a tim car will be returned to the tim node from which it was picked up. There are two e-carsharing vehicles and two conventional, fuel-operated carsharing vehicles available at the JKU location.

• Rental cars

  To cover longer trips (e.g. a weekend excursion), a rental car can be booked at tim’s JKU node.

• Public charging stations for e-cars

  There are two charging stations for the e-carsharing cars at the location. There are also two additional public charging stations for recharging private e-cars nearby (at the Science Park and JKU car parks/near the Marketing Institute).

• Parking spaces for bikes

  tim’s locations are also easily accessible by bike. There are therefore several parking spaces for bikes available at the mobility node.

• tim node = share taxi pickup point

  Linz’s share taxis are a proven addition to public transport. tim is also an upgrade to share taxis, because every tim node includes a share taxi pickup point* or one is located nearby. Passengers can order a share taxi and be picked up as usual. (*In the case of the JKU location, there are two share taxi pickup points nearby – the final stop of lines 1 and 2, Universität, and the final stop of line 77, Universität Nord. These will of course remain in place.)

The JKU tim mobility node is the third tim location in Linz. The first two tim Linz mobility nodes (= tim locations) – on Linz’s Hauptplatz and at the LINZ AG-Center – were opened on 2nd September, 2019. At the same time as the two tim nodes, the tim service centre was launched at the LINZ AG-Center, at Wiener Straße 151.

The tim service centre

Interested parties can sign up for tim at the tim service centre located at the entrance to the LINZ AG-Center (Wiener Straße), where they will also receive the tim card and learn how to use an e-car. tim employees can offer this service in person or on the phone.

First experiences

tim is currently in an extended start-up phase. Nevertheless, certain initial findings or experiences could still lead to changes due to this early stage of development. Points that are currently noteworthy:

tim is well received by all age groups. The youngest tim Linz customer to date is 20 years old and the oldest is 83 years old. The biggest age groups are 40- to 50-year-olds, followed by 20- to 30- and 50- to 60-year-olds.

E-carsharing is catching on! Significantly more tim users are choosing e-cars (in October, 85 per cent of carsharing trips were made with an e-car) – this means that LINZ AG’s goal of getting more people excited about e-mobility with tim appears to be succeeding.

Up until now, the average usage time of a tim vehicle has been four and a half hours. This figure further confirms the expectations and focus of the concept behind tim, which is based on similar experiences with tim Graz.

Two anonymous examples of typical days at the tim service centre:

tim Linz user: the customer was already looking forward to trying tim Linz based on what they had heard about it in the media and made an appointment for a consultation at the tim service centre shortly after its launch. She went there by tram. Her training session was followed by a test drive. She ended up dropping the tim employee off halfway through the test drive already and driving off straight away – she was sold on tim immediately after her first drive…

tim Linz user: the customer drove to the tim service centre in his own car after making an appointment in advance. His enthusiasm grew during the consultation. After signing up, the customer received his tim card. He’s been travelling with tim ever since and is now planning to sell his own car…

The next steps planned for tim Linz

Planned locations

In cooperation with the city of Linz, there are five tim Linz multimodal mobility node locations planned for the first phase.

In the wake of the locations which have already been launched at the Hauptplatz, the LINZ AG-Center and Johannes Kepler University, two more tim locations will be launched by mid-2020:

• at the Tabakfabrik (as a prototype for a location in the city with a high employment rate) and
• at the Grüne Mitte (to help develop an emerging district)

Four more locations are planned to be launched by 2021 – bringing the total number of tim locations to 9 – after a detailed evaluation is carried out in accordance with the funding programme guidelines.

BMVIT funding for tim Graz and tim Linz

This project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) and is being implemented by the federal railway infrastructure service company Schieneninfrastruktur-Dienstleistungsgesellschaft mbh (SCHIG mbH) as part of its E-Mobility for All: Urban Electromobility programme.

Graz and now Linz set their sights on the ‘tim’ brand for multimodal mobility

The multimodal mobility model is available in Graz and Linz.

The further development of tim locations in Graz and the implementation of tim locations in Linz are funded by the BMVIT with a total of €1.8 million. tim Linz will receive around €1.1 million for development and implementation.