CASE STUDY
TPER / Corrente
A Digital Platform to Support the Evolution of a Multimodal Shared Mobility Service
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Project Highlights

6 cities and municipalities currently served
Bologna, Ferrara, Imola, Casalecchio di Reno, Cosenza and Parma.
330
electric cars
100
electric scooters
300
electric bicycles
2018
Corrente has been operational since October 2018
2021
It began using Playmoove

Corrente Car Sharing

A Project at the Heart of Bologna’s Urban Mobility Transformation

Developing Corrente Car Sharing in Bologna means operating in a city where sustainable mobility has become a central element of urban transformation. Bologna is one of the European cities selected for the EU Mission “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities” and coordinates the network of nine Italian cities involved in the programme. In this context, Corrente Car Sharing is a tangible component of the local mobility ecosystem: a 100% electric shared mobility service, promoted by the TPER Group and integrated with public policies aimed at encouraging shared and low-emission transport. The project is particularly relevant because it places Playmoove technology within a public and multimodal mobility system supporting one of Italy’s major cities on its path towards climate neutrality.

TPER – Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia-Romagna is one of the leading public transport operators in Emilia-Romagna and manages a mobility ecosystem that includes bus services, rail transport and shared mobility solutions.

Within this ecosystem, Corrente is the TPER Group’s 100% electric shared mobility service, launched in October 2018. The service provides cars, scooters and electric bicycles through a fully digital experience.

The project started in Bologna and, since adopting Playmoove technology in 2020, has progressively expanded into new areas, extending the service to Ferrara, Imola, Casalecchio di Reno, Cosenza and Parma. Corrente is therefore currently active in six cities and municipalities: Bologna, Ferrara, Parma, Imola, Casalecchio di Reno and Cosenza.

The geographical expansion has progressed alongside the evolution of the fleet and the services offered. Corrente’s fleet currently consists of 335 electric cars, 100 scooters and 250 bicycles, all managed within the same digital ecosystem.

When TPER began working with Playmoove, Corrente was already an operational service. The requirement was therefore not to create a new service from scratch, but to migrate from an existing platform to a more flexible and open technology infrastructure capable of supporting the project’s future growth.

The growth of the service required a platform that could adapt over time to new requirements, new cities, different vehicle types and an increasing number of integrations.

One of the central aspects of the project was identifying hardware solutions capable of ensuring accuracy, reliability and operational continuity. Thanks to the numerous telematics integrations already available within the Playmoove platform, it was possible to evaluate and adopt the technologies best suited to Corrente’s requirements, selecting the most appropriate solutions for both hardware and telematics.

Corrente’s management understood that creating a smart shared mobility service required much more than a simple booking platform.

The selected platform needed to support a complex operational organisation and coordinate a wide range of services, including:

  • users and bookings;
  • different vehicle types;
  • fleet maintenance and cleaning;
  • field operations;
  • user support;
  • payments and invoicing;
  • service data and performance;
  • integrations with the corporate IT ecosystem;
  • external systems and platforms related to public mobility.

During the first meetings with Corrente’s management, the need to rapidly and extensively customise processes and functionality emerged as a key requirement in order to improve fleet operations, customer support and maintenance activities.

In addition, the platform needed to communicate with TPER’s information systems and manage incentives made available by public authorities, such as mobility bonuses, cashback and similar initiatives.

The objective of the project was not simply to replace the previous software, but to create a technology foundation on which Corrente could continue to grow.

The main objectives included:

  • supporting the expansion of the service into new cities;
  • managing a growing number of vehicles;
  • supporting cars, scooters and bicycles simultaneously;
  • introducing new mobility modes and services;
  • improving fleet operations;
  • simplifying the work of operators;
  • improving tools dedicated to customer support;
  • making data easier to access;
  • integrating the service with TPER’s information and administrative systems;
  • maintaining freedom in the choice of hardware;
  • enabling the progressive introduction of new functionality and integrations.

The platform therefore needed to be structured enough to support a complex mobility operator while remaining flexible enough to adapt to the continuous evolution of the service.

The Playmoove Solution

Playmoove provided TPER with a modular and scalable platform through which the different components of the Corrente service could be managed digitally.

The solution includes functionality dedicated to car sharing, automated rental and, more broadly, mobility service management, together with the tools required to manage users, bookings, vehicles, operations, payments and invoicing.

The platform also includes the application used by customers and the administrative and operational tools used by the teams managing the service.

It therefore covers both the digital experience for end users and the tools used by operators and administrative staff.

The modular architecture also makes it possible to configure specific workflows and introduce new functionality over time without having to redesign the entire infrastructure.

The Playmoove team developed a white-label application, with customised graphics and interfaces designed to reflect Corrente’s identity and values. Customisation covers both the frontend application used by customers and the administration and management interfaces used by operators.

An Ecosystem Open to Integrations

One of the most important elements of the project is the ability of the Playmoove platform to integrate with the technology ecosystem already used by TPER.

Throughout the project, integrations have been developed or addressed with:

  • CRM systems;
  • SAP and other corporate systems;
  • administrative and invoicing systems;
  • payment providers, including Nexi;
  • hardware and IoT devices installed in vehicles;
  • public mobility platforms;
  • incentive and coupon systems;
  • parking systems and access systems for dedicated areas.

The fact that Playmoove was already integrated with the main onboard telematics solutions represented a particularly important advantage.

Different hardware configurations were tested throughout the project, both on cars and micromobility vehicles, allowing Corrente to progressively select the solutions best suited to its requirements without being tied to a single technology provider.

This approach separates the software platform from the technology physically installed in the vehicles, making the infrastructure easier to evolve over time.

Migration

The transition from the previous platform to Playmoove was designed to minimise the impact on users and ensure service continuity.

Hardware installation was carried out progressively in stages. During one phase of the migration, the two systems operated in parallel, allowing vehicles to be gradually transferred to the new platform while minimising the impact on end users.

Alongside the technology migration, the Playmoove team trained Corrente’s operational staff in the use of the new platform, enabling them to become independent in its day-to-day management within a short period of time.

A Platform That Grows with the Service

One of the most significant aspects of the Corrente project is that the relationship with Playmoove did not end with the technology migration.

The platform has continued to evolve alongside the service.

Over the years, Corrente has expanded geographically, moving from the initial Bologna project to the current operating areas of Bologna, Ferrara, Imola, Casalecchio di Reno, Cosenza and Parma.

At the same time, the range of vehicle types managed has increased and new functionality, workflows and integrations have been introduced.

This is one of the central elements of the project: the same technology infrastructure has supported different phases of growth without becoming a constraint on the evolution of the service.

Managing Operational Activities

As the fleet and the number of cities served increase, operational complexity also grows.

To address this requirement, Playmoove provided Corrente with dedicated tools for fleet maintenance management, progressively refined according to the client’s requirements and operational experience.

Operators can therefore organise and monitor vehicle interventions and the activities required to keep the service operational in a more structured way.

The platform is consequently not used only by customers booking vehicles, but also becomes a central tool for the teams responsible for the day-to-day operation of the service.

Data and Reporting

Another important requirement concerned data availability.

TPER needed easy access to information relating to fleet performance, users, invoicing and other service indicators.

Playmoove therefore provided dedicated data extraction and reporting tools, making performance analysis easier and supporting operational decision-making.

Centralised data availability makes it possible to analyse the service from different perspectives and use the information collected to identify new opportunities for optimisation.

Results

The first result of the project was the successful migration from an already operational platform to a new technology infrastructure while limiting the impact on the service.

The most significant result, however, becomes clear when looking at Corrente’s subsequent evolution.

The service started in Bologna and has progressively expanded its geographical reach over the years, operating today also in Ferrara, Imola, Casalecchio di Reno, Cosenza and Parma.

The platform has simultaneously supported:

  • the geographical expansion of the service;
  • the evolution of the fleet;
  • the introduction of cars, scooters and bicycles;
  • increasing operational complexity;
  • the development of new integrations;
  • process customisation;
  • the evolution of tools dedicated to operators;
  • increasingly structured data management.

The project therefore demonstrates that a mobility platform should not simply address the requirements that exist at launch, but should be designed to evolve alongside the service it manages.

Why Playmoove

One of the main reasons TPER chose Playmoove was the need to overcome the flexibility and reliability limitations experienced with the previous technology solution.

The client was looking for a platform that could be customised according to its operational and business objectives while also providing greater freedom in the choice of hardware and in integrations with external systems.

Playmoove therefore became the technology infrastructure on which the service could be progressively developed, with the objective of responding to the increasingly diverse requirements of its users.

The Corrente case demonstrates how a modular and open platform can support a mobility operator from the migration of an existing service through its progressive geographical, operational and technological expansion.