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BMW’s ReachNow offers a new urban mobility solution

Posted: 23 July 2018 | | No comments yet

Passengers in Seattle can now choose between driving themselves via car-sharing or hailing a ride from a professional driver, through the same app.

ReachNow

BMW-owned ReachNow has announced an all-new experience which operates both car-sharing and ride-hailing from the same app.

ReachNow Members in Seattle can now access both ReachNow ‘Drive’, a car-sharing service where they drive themselves and ReachNow ‘Ride’, a ride-hailing service with professional drivers, from a single app. This is a first for the transportation industry and supports the expected move away from privatised vehicles.

The app uses a single account; removing the need to switch between multiple apps when planning a journey. Its design features a destination bar providing price estimates and arrival estimates for both car-sharing and ride-hailing. Also included is information and advice on how to operate the BMW, BMW i and MINI vehicles for customers using ReachNow Drive.

When using ‘Drive’, customers have the option to pay by the minute, the hour or by the day.

The ReachNow Ride service offers the choice between an immediate on-demand pickup, or a scheduled pickup planned between 20 minutes and seven days in advance. The experience can be personalised, with temperature and music preferences available and the added option of ‘quiet time’ if the passenger does not want to be disturbed.

The service can be tailored to the individual, ensuring the journey is both enjoyable and productive for the passenger. It is expected that experiences alike to these will help reduce the use, and ownership, of privatised vehicles. The Center for Automotive Research has predicted that by 2021, one car-sharing vehicle will replace 7.7 private vehicles in North America.

The new features are complemented by a redesign, which makes navigating the app easier. Functions including ‘Park & Keep’ and ‘End Trip’ have been optimised for in-app use, meaning it can be selected to park and return the vehicle and end reservations directly from the app. Coming soon is an ‘Enter PIN’ feature, a faster and more convenient way to start the trip from a phone.

Members in Seattle will be the first to access the full ReachNow experience.

“From day one, we’ve said that car-sharing alone isn’t enough to solve the transportation challenges facing major cities. There are plenty of use cases for how people take advantage of a matrix of transit solutions – from bikes and buses to ride-share and ferries – to make their way around their world every day,” said Dr. Simon Broesamle, Chief Customer Officer at ReachNow. “As the first company to bring together car-sharing and ride-hailing into one app, the new ReachNow experience is an important step in our commitment to a multimodal future.”