PubliCar Appenzell
Flexible door-to-door on-demand bus service
PubliCar Appenzell provides the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden with door-to-door public transport services over the last mile. The flexible on-demand bus service has been operating since 2000 and has switched from analogue to digital. Since 2020, people have been able to book journeys with the PubliCar App, and the vehicles are scheduled fully automatically. The journeys are pooled wherever possible.
Anchor Navigation
Background
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The Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden is characterized by scattered rural settlements.
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The region is internationally known and a very well developed tourist area for hikers and alpinists. The form of settlement and the numerous points of interest for tourists mean it’s difficult to operate a sensible route.
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Additionally, the frequencies on the individual routes are low.
Goals
The region is to be made accessible to the general public with public transport. The service is particularly popular among older people, school students and tourists.
Concept
The regulatory framework formulated at the outset makes Appenzell the model use case for on-demand area transport.
The service has been available since 2000, and since 2020, people have been able to book journeys in the PubliCar App. The requested journeys are scheduled and pooled fully automatically.
Service
- Area transport throughout the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden
- In operation since 2000, digitized in 2020
- Operating times: Sun – Thurs 6 a.m. – 7.30 p.m., Fri – Sat until 11.30 p.m
- Three vehicles in use (vehicle types: Mercedes Sprinter and VW ID. Buzz)
- Bookable via the PubliCar App, call center and web booking
Results
- 22,000 – 25,500 passengers per year
- 14,000 – 16,500 journeys per year
- Pooling rate: approx. 1.8
- App bookings: approx. 75%
- Overall quality from customer survey: 90/100 points
Development
The Mercedes Sprinters with 24 spaces are too large in relation to capacity utilization and the pooling rate. With this in mind, VW ID. Buzz GTX vehicles have been tested for on-demand services since autumn 2025.
PostBus and the procuring canton of AI have begun to develop the service with a data-driven approach.
From autumn 2026, the on-demand service will be displayed in the SBB Mobile App preview. By taking this step, PostBus expects to make progress in raising awareness of the service.
