BMW's ReachNow brings car-sharing and ride-hailing with the same app

BMW Mobility's service, ReachNow has officially become the first company to operate both car sharing and ride hailing within a single app.

In Seattle, a user can now seamlessly choose either to drive himself with ReachNow's car sharing service, or hail an immediate ride, or schedule a pick-up for later, all within the same ReachNow app. The new app strives to act as the user's guide to get from A to B, in the simplest way possible.

ReachNow's all-new experience is an important step toward scaling their vision to be the everyday choice for the end consumer. The service believes that car sharing alone isn't enough and that the customer needs a combination of services, including car sharing, ride hailing and rentals, to help them move around seamlessly.

"From day one, we've said that car sharing alone isn't enough to solve the transportation challenges facing major cities. There are plenty of use cases for how people take advantage of a matrix of transit solutions, from bikes and buses to ride share and ferries, to make their way around their world every day," said Dr. Simon Broesamle, Chief Customer Officer at ReachNow. "As the first company to bring together car sharing and ride hailing into one app, the new ReachNow experience is an important step in our commitment to a multimodal future."

"For mobility services, a key metric is the number of trips a Member takes with a service," says Dr. Bernhard Blättel, Vice President Mobility Services BMW Group. "ReachNow's multimodal service offering gives Members more choice in how they get where they need to be by seamlessly integrating multiple services into one app. We believe this approach is critical to increasing loyalty, as Members have no need to look elsewhere for their mobility needs."

A user can seamlessly choose between driving themselves via car sharing or getting a ride from a professional driver with the ride hailing service from the same app. If they choose to Drive, they will be able to select from a fleet of hundreds of BMW, BMW i and MINI vehicles, and pay by the minute, by the hour or by the day.

These services, in addition to the multi-day rental and dedicated fleets for residential buildings and corporate partners, all leverage the existing ReachNow shared fleet. This is a unique model enabling more utilisation of the same cars instead of adding more cars to the streets. This is a key benefit because one can access multiple services to meet their transportation needs without needing to switch between multiple apps.

With ReachNow Ride, the customer has the choice between an immediate, on-demand pickup or planning ahead by scheduling a pick-up, from 20 minutes to up to 7 days in advance. This provides more convenience and control during the workday or for frequent travelers.

Users can personalise the in-vehicle ReachNow Ride experience by selecting temperature and music preferences, in addition to a "quiet time" feature if you wish to not be disturbed during your trip. All ReachNow Rides use professional drivers to ensure a consistent, quality experience.

The new destination bar is key to unlocking the benefits of ReachNow services and allows the user to choose their mode of transportation based on estimated time of arrival and price. As an added benefit, once a car is held, the destination will be sent automatically to the in-car navigation for easy turn-by-turn directions.

The new features are complemented by a fresh redesign, which makes navigating the app, and the transit experience, even easier. Functions like "Park & Keep" and "End Trip" are newly optimised for in-app use, so one can select to park and return to their vehicle and end reservations directly from the app.

Coming soon, ReachNow will roll out the "Enter PIN" feature, a faster and more convenient way to start the trip from a phone.

Members in Seattle will be the first to access the full ReachNow experience. Existing ReachNow Members in Seattle have immediate access to Ride by updating the app. For a limited time, the sign up fee has been waived for new Members who want to try Ride only.

At launch, Members in Portland and residential fleet Members in New York City will have access to an all-new Drive experience only.