Alternative Routing – geOps wins DB Challenge
The onset of winter in the Munich area at the beginning of December 2023 was the test case for us. At that time, around 50 cm of snow fell in a short space of time, more than ever before in Munich since records began almost 100 years ago. The city was literally engulfed in snow chaos at the time. Public transport was particularly affected. Most long-distance, regional and S-Bahn connections around Munich were interrupted and all other means of transport were also severely restricted. In Bavaria, route agents are the name given to those railroad employees who, in such cases, send out recommendations for alternative routes via all information channels. Thanks to the availability of up-to-date data from various sources and, above all, their extensive experience, the route agents do an excellent job. But especially in the event of major disruptions, there is often not enough time to analyze the situation comprehensively. Over the past two weeks, we have been working on the question of how software can support the route agents or even independently provide recommendations to travelers. The concept was developed as part of a challenge organized by DB Regio under the direction of DB mindbox from Berlin.
Winners ceremony of the DB Challenge with Kaja Machatsch © Deutsche Bahn AG | Pablo Castagnola
We were obviously able to convince the jury with our concept. Last Wednesday, we received congratulations on winning the challenge from Katja Machatsch, Head of Product Innovation & Product Management at DB Regio. We are very much looking forward to forging a PoC from the concept together with the railroad in the coming months.
