The MaaS LABS project, funded under the German grant code 16SV8264, ran from 15 May 2019 to 31 December 2023 and was carried out by IVU Traffic Technologies AG as the funding recipient. The consortium included Cottbusverkehr GmbH, the Technical University of Wildau, HaCon Ingenieursgesellschaft mbH, Eckardt Software Management ESM GmbH, and the Verkehrsverbund Berlin‑Brandenburg (VBB). IVU led the development of the IT platform, while Cottbusverkehr supplied operational data and network information for the Cottbus test area. TH Wildau contributed to the modelling of use cases, and HaCon and ESM were responsible for the specification and implementation of the key interfaces. The VBB provided the standardisation framework for the nationwide stop‑identification system (DHIDs) and the real‑time communication standard (TRIAS/VDV 431‑2).
Technically, the project delivered a fully integrated mobility‑as‑a‑service platform that unifies multimodal transport modes—conventional public transport, on‑demand demand rides, and sharing services—into a single booking and information portal. The platform supports end‑to‑end journey planning, including the generation of virtual demand stops based on productive Cottbus network data. A hardware concept for outfitting external vehicles was also defined, together with the necessary operating environments.
The core of the system is a dynamic routing and bundling engine that creates real‑time ride orders for on‑demand traffic. Passenger requests are aggregated and optimised in the background, allowing the system to bundle multiple demand rides into a single vehicle trip without operator intervention. The routing engine returns not only adjusted departure and arrival times but also selectable service attributes such as luggage, stroller, or wheelchair accommodation, and supported fare types. These options are presented to the passenger in the booking interface, which can then confirm or cancel the ride. Confirmation messages are sent back to the information portal via the extended TRIAS interface, now incorporated into VDV 1.4.
Three key interfaces were developed: (1) between the information system and the routing/bundling system, (2) between the routing/bundling system and the control‑center system, and (3) between the control‑center system and the vehicle’s onboard computer. The first interface, built on the TRIAS standard, was expanded to support the new booking workflow and to exchange real‑time availability data. The second interface allows the routing engine to transmit ride orders to the control center as if they were scheduled services, enabling real‑time location tracking and dispositive measures. The third interface connects the control center to the vehicle’s on‑board computer, ensuring that the vehicle receives the final ride order and can report status updates.
A dedicated test environment mirroring the production system at Cottbusverkehr was established on IVU internal servers. All new modules were validated with realistic data, and the system’s functionality was demonstrated in a practical setting. While the report does not provide explicit performance metrics, the successful integration of the interfaces, the real‑time routing and bundling capabilities, and the deployment of virtual demand stops constitute the main technical achievements of the project.