Encompassing payment for heterogeneous travelling - design implications for a virtual currency based payment mechanism for intermodal public transport

As a result of a huge offering of different traffic modes, peoples mobility behavior is more and more characterized by multi- and intermodality. But this growing demand cannot be satisfied adequately yet. People have to use numerous separated software platforms and payment schemes to get access to these modes. Whereas some platforms already offer the access to few transport modes, an unconditional and comprehensive virtual payment scheme for intermodal travelling is not fully developed yet. This work examines existing virtual payment mechanisms and projects them onto the setting of the mobility sector. First, mechanism design is determined by companies strategies, the competitive environment and the access to the providing software platform. Basis is a scenario of an open software platform that provides offerings of different independent market actors. Critical for developing a comprehensive mechanism is a functional integration of (private) vehicle sharing, the consideration of specific product characteristics and appropriate system restrictions.