What is Kussbus? The concept?

The company Utopian Future Technologies SA has just launched a new alternative mobility concept with its Kussbus solution.

Halfway between public transport and trip-sharing, Kussbus offers a bus-sharing transport solution designed for school commutes. This ecologically friendly mode of transport via an app combines GPS technologies and data sharing as effective as Waze and blablacar.

“Passengers crossing the border and Luxembourg residents can board a comfortable 19-seat bus with a seat guaranteed. The minibuses follow routes through several areas around Luxembourg: Belgium-Luxembourg, South Luxembourg-Centre Luxembourg, Germany-Luxembourg, etc., in order to decongest traffic. 19 seats means 19 fewer cars on the road compared with 1 Kussbus vehicle. ”

Its highly innovative online reservation system is managed via a smartphone app.

What makes this concept innovative?

“The innovation lies entirely in the functions and uses that the app provides.”

Via an algorithm that calculates and determines shared stops, an itinerary is offered based on the simplest and most effective route. The Kussbus app can easily find the shared stop closest to the passenger in real time. These points are also regularly adjusted in order to optimise the network of passengers.

Other advantages: the buses are comfortably equipped, allowing passengers to take advantage of their free time to read a book, listen to music or even start the day’s work. The buses are considered public transport, which allows them to use faster bus lanes and optimise travel time.

In practical terms:
To use the app you must :

1. sign up (provide name, address, credit card info, etc.),
2. reserve your trip on the app,
3. go to the assigned pick-up location,
4. you can follow your trip in real time on the app (traffic info, time remaining etc. via push notifications), until arrival at your destination.

Who had the idea for the Kussbus project?

Jean-Luc Rippinger, the founder of Kussbus, first studied air and space engineering in Munich.

Then, in the middle of his career, the idea came to him when he was visiting the BMW plant in Bavière: “Employees there used bus-sharing to go to work since there weren’t enough parking spots for everyone. I thought that applying this strategy to an overcrowded city such as Luxembourg would be an excellent idea,” he explains.

This concept inspired Jean-Luc Rippinger to launch his innovative alternative mobility solution. He teamed up with his friend Nicolas to found their company and develop the Kussbus solution.