Mobility is one of the major topics of our time – public transport plays a central role in the development and implementation of mobility concepts not only – but especially – in cities. In Linz, public transport – which most recently introduced ultra-modern, 24-metre e-buses and a new ticketing app, FAIRTIQ – stands for innovation, comfort, and, to a growing extent, digitisation. tim, a multimodal mobility model, combines all three features and now supplements LINZ AG LINIEN’s services.

Graz and now Linz rely on the ‘tim’ brand of multimodal mobility

The multimodal mobility model already established in Graz is now starting up in Linz. The tim project received support in the amount of €1.8 million from the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT). The project was undertaken by the federal railway infrastructure service company Schieneninfrastruktur-Dienstleistungsgesellschaft mbh (SCHIG mbH) as part of its E-mobility for Everyone: Urban Electromobility programme.

Mag. Andreas Reichhardt, Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology, said: “Mobility nodes are a good tool for encouraging citizens to switch from driving their own car to using public transport. This will reduce urban traffic while also combating climate change. This commitment to public transport and the promotion of carsharing are essential features of a strong, publicly accessible transport service.

tim Linz – a new service from LINZ AG LINIEN

A mobility node that, on top of existing public transport services, also provides parking spaces for bikes, stationary (e-)carsharing, public e-charging stations, and rental cars for longer journeys: this is tim.

tim stands for ‘timely intelligent mobile’ and was launched today in Linz.

The aim of the multimodal mobility concept is to combine public and private transport and to make it easier to live without a(n) (additional) car. At tim’s mobility nodes, passengers can combine trams or buses with using (e-)carsharing cars or rental cars, for example.

A complement to local public transport

tim Linz, the new LINZ AG LINIEN service

• a forward-thinking, environmentally friendly mobility concept that brings together different means of transport via ‘multimodal nodes’
• a potential solution to the mobility issues of our time based on major trends such as the sharing economy and digitisation

“Along with public transport, environmentally friendly e-mobility is making an important contribution to reducing particulate matter air pollution and toxic emissions caused by private transport, thus improving the quality of life in Linz. With tim, LINZ AG is now taking another step in the direction of a forward-thinking mobility system”, Mayor Klaus Luger said enthusiastically about the new mobility system.

tim’s mobility nodes are geared towards helping people get from public transport nodes to their final destinations at little cost and by using various means of transport.

“On weekdays, our city limits are overrun by 300,000 motor vehicles. The spaces for private transport are limited and, to protect the people of Linz, should not be expanded further. With tim’s mobility nodes, we want to create an additional alternative for road users”, said Deputy Mayor Markus Hein.

LINZ AG Director-General DI Erich Haider emphasised the importance of innovation, e-mobility, and partnership-based cooperation at tim: “One component of tim’s services is e-mobility, with tim Linz bundling several LINZ AG e-competences at the same time. This service benefits from the know-how of our experts in the area of e-charging infrastructure, including charging cards. At the same time, LINZ AG LINIEN has a particularly high level of expertise in the field of e-mobility – 75 per cent of our annual 113 million passengers drive electric cars. I am delighted about the launch of this new mobility service which is in part an interregional project and a funding partnership!“

tim follows the big trends: the sharing economy and digitisation

Ongoing urbanisation also implies growing and changing mobility needs. Many experts argue that the combination, on the one hand, of different ecologically compatible forms of mobility and, on the other, their attractiveness to consumers, represents the future of mobility. The major trends of our time also shape demand, among other things. 

“In terms of content, it is very much about the sharing of mobility services and means of transport. But this idea — tim as a concept — works according to the sharing principle. And so the concept was developed in Graz, and Linz is ‘sharing’ in the idea and developing it further, with Graz Linien, to meet Linz’s needs”, LINZ AG Managing Director Dr.in Jutta Rinner explained. “There is another big trend that tim uses to its advantage, which is digitisation. This is what makes accessing tim ‘smart’. The new mobility services can be used quickly and easily via a specially developed app and an intelligent user card”.

Today’s launch is the first official milestone of the Linz project.

Start with two locations plus tim service centre

The first tim mobility nodes in Linz: at the Linz Hauptplatz and at the LINZ AG-Center

Not one but two: the first two tim mobility nodes (= tim locations) in Linz – at the Linz Hauptplatz and at the LINZ AG-Center – will be launched today, on 2nd September, 2019. A short ceremony at the Linz Hauptplatz location establishes the official setting for the new service.

At the same time as the launch of the two tim nodes, the tim service centre at the LINZ AG-Center, at Wiener Straße 151, is officially open for business.

Multimodal nodes are the heart of tim

Public transport forms the backbone of a multimodal mobility solution. In addition to the public transport services in Linz, tim will offer additional, demand-oriented mobility. The tim project in Linz is characterised by the concept of so-called ‘multimodal nodes’ (‘tim nodes’)

• stationary (e-)carsharing, a public e-charging infrastructure, rental cars for longer journeys, and parking space for bikes will be available
• located near public transport stops
• these locations also function as pickup points for share taxis or have visible pickup points within range. tim customers also receive a discount for share taxis – comparable to MEGA ticket customers.

At the tim nodes, passengers can combine taking the tram or bus with using (e-)carsharing cars or rental cars, for example. The core concept of tim is: using public transport for daily trips and tim for extra trips such as for transporting goods or running errands. tim also offers users a suitable alternative to owning a car or needing a second car.

tim: Cooperation between Graz and Linz

Holding Graz CEO Barbara Muhr said: “In 2016, we brought the mobility of the future to Graz with tim. More than 1,600 people have already signed up for tim and the added ecological value is huge: since September 2016, e-carsharing vehicles have travelled 415,400 kilometres. In view of this successful track record, we are proud that Graz is playing a pioneering role in this project and that the concept is also a success nationwide, resulting in us being able to provide Linz with our know-how”.

The next phases of tim Linz

Planned locations

Five locations are planned for the first phase, in cooperation with the city of Linz.

These locations have been planned to serve as multimodal mobility nodes for tim Linz.

Following the Hauptplatz and LINZ AG-Center locations, three more tim locations will be set up by the end of 2020:

• at Johannes Kepler University (mainly as a service for students)
• at the Tabakfabrik (as a prototype of a location in the city with a high level of employment)
• at the Grüne Mitte (to stimulate the development of a new district)

Four more tim locations are planned to be implemented by 2021 after a detailed evaluation has been carried out in accordance with the funding programme.

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Press photos: tim service centre

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