The recently started in Hamburg driving service Moia has suffered a severe setback. The demand for trips is great, often no vehicle is available. Too many people are trying to order electric minibuses. But a decision of the Administrative Court of Hamburg could severely hamper the development of the service belonging to Volkswagen. For the time being, Moia will only be allowed to send 200 vehicles on the streets of Hamburg.

If the decision remains, Moia is unlikely to become a serious alternative for bus, train, taxi or car for the time being. Especially at peak times already many trips are rejected because no free vehicle is available. However, to attract passengers permanently, waiting times should be low and the booking function reliably.

Therefore, the number of vehicles should be increased quickly. Moia wants to employ at the end of 2019 in Hamburg already 1000 drivers, in the first quarter of 2020 it should already be 1500. Over the next 12 months, the fleet is to be gradually expanded "to a maximum of 500 vehicles," said a spokesman. There are currently 400 permanent drivers driving for Moia.

Hamburg taxi operator Ivica Krijan does not agree. Before the administrative court, he wanted to enforce being heard as a victim in the approval process for the novel mobility concept. The court affirmed this request in principle. The trial approval of the Hamburg Economic Authority for Moia would be useless - because Krijan would have to be heard before the grant first.

A taxi driver against the city of Hamburg

The city reacted quickly. She ordered the immediate execution of her granted permit. This is possible, for example if the approved facts are in the public interest. It was convinced that the rights of the complaining taxi operator were not affected by the trial approval, the Department of Economy, Transport and Innovation on SPIEGEL request.

But Krijan again resisted this official fast-line-up. The court saw the matter differentiated. If the city's approval relates to more than 200 Moia vehicles in use, the taxi operator may actually be violated in its subjective rights. However, if Moia does not exceed this limit until the dispute has been resolved in the main proceedings, the authorization would be reasonable for the taxi operator. Moia was also to be expected to wait with the expansion of the fleet until further clarification of the factual and legal situation.

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Crucial for the impact on the taxi industry is the number of Moia vehicles used in relation to the number of Hamburg taxis. The court indirectly affirms that tax revenues could be lost by competitors like Moia. This is considered to be possible only at a ratio of significantly more than five Moia vehicles to 100 taxis. Hamburg has currently just over 3000 taxis, the court considers a significant decline in sales only from about 200 Moia vehicles conceivable.

Partial success for Moia?

Moia sees the verdict as a partial success. "We are pleased to note that a single taxi operator has failed to achieve his original goal of completely stopping Moia," a spokesman for the company told SPIEGEL.

However, the limitation to 200 vehicles is "also with incomprehension note." Hamburg has a need for a service like Moia. "In the first 10 days alone we had 15,000 bookings and the number of booking requests was a multiple, so today we could already use the 500 vehicles with several passengers per trip approved by the authority," it said.

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They will file a complaint against this preliminary decision at the Higher Administrative Court and hope for a swift decision confirming the legality of the Authority's approval. With 200 vehicles, no city-wide service is possible. The fact that a single taxi driver could "nullify the public transport interests of an entire metropolis" was "an untenable state of legal uncertainty".

At Moia, the passenger orders the car via a smartphone app and also indicates the destination address. Software determines a meaningful route guidance in the other passengers can be included, who want in the same direction and could share the vehicle. Even competitors like CleverShuttle work on this principle. Uber operates a similar offer in the US under the name Uber Pool and Express Pool.

The fare for a Moia ride in Hamburg is between the price of public transport and that of a taxi. The fare depends on the distance as well as the day of the week, the time of day and also varies by factors such as supply and demand. Based on data from Hanover, where Volkswagen has been operating Moia for some time, the company estimates that an average single journey in Hamburg will cost between 5 and 7 euros.