Dōcō It has finally announced, at least officially, the partners it will have to launch its mobility service. Renfe’s subsidiary application, which was presented in September of this year, sought to manage door-to-door mobility. In other words, together with the reservation of short, medium and long distance trains, you could also manage reservations for taxis, VTC, electric scooters or shared motorcycles. The only thing that was not clear was who would be part of the selection of Dōcō.
Finally, they have chosen Bolt, Cooltra, Karhoo, Movitaxi and Reby. Covering all shared mobility services available in Spain. It is not a surprise in any case: Bolt, Reby and Cooltra have already resonated at the presentation of the service. A leaked photo on the web of Dōcō displayed the shared services icons of these companies. Now they are joined by Karhoo and Movitaxi to complete the offer.
In this way, Dōcō will offer a single payment for managing the trip. From the moment you leave home until you reach your destination, payments can be unified and combined from the same application. It is, clearly, Renfe’s way of competing with the new train services –Ouigo and Iryo– and its price reduction. Also to achieve the gold of that unique mobility application that the sector has been clamoring for a long time and that, to date, has remained more an attempt than a reality.
At the moment in the pilot phase, the first services for users registered on a trial basis will begin in early 2023. Subsequently, the door-to-door mobility model will be opened to the rest of the users of the Renfe network. Also for the rest of mobility service companies that want join the association of Dōcō. Something that the association will have to actively seek for several reasons: the first of which is precisely to be able to offer its service in all the regions in which Renfe manages a railway line.
Dōcō: taxis in all regions, motorcycles and scooters depending on the place
Renfe, through Dōcō, wants to cover the maximum of available transport options. The problem is that not all the regions have all the transport models or the participating companies are not available in all of them. That will be the biggest challenge that, for the moment, the new Renfe service will have to face. Possibly, Madrid and Barcelona do not have a problem; full national coverage will have to be sought.
Broadly speaking, the taxi is the model with the best availability in all areas. Karhoo makes its 22,000 taxis and rental cars available to Renfe. It is, by far, the selected company with the most cities in its portfolio: a total of 50. Just like Movitaxi and its 8,700 taxis in almost all regions.
Bolt is the one that has the most mobility offer available in Dōcō, also the one that generates one of the biggest debates for a taxi sector –the traditional one– against the great Estonian mobility app. But in terms of the variety of transport, and number, it is the most complete. Present in Barcelona, Madrid, Seville and Costa del Sol, it has taxis, VTC, bikes and electric scooters.
The latter play, along with Reby, their presence in Madrid. Just a month ago, and ending a few days ago, the call for licenses to manage shared scooters in the capital was launched. Of the 12 participating companies, according to sources familiar with the contest, only 3 will be chosen. Depending on the result, maybe Dōcō have to find a new partner in the capital.
In the case of electric motorcycles, the service is provided by Cooltra, with almost 3,500 in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.