German automobile company Daimler intends to expand and restructure its smart mobility services as it merges two smartphone applications under its Moovel brand.

Moovel Group, founded by Daimler, has merged the Austin-based RideScout with the Portland-based GlobeSherpa to form Moovel North America.

Moovel Group global CEO Jorg Lamparter said: "At Moovel, we believe that mobility should be an ecosystem; a group of interconnected transportation modes that form the fabric of our cities.

"We want all forms of transportation, from public transit to rideshare to on-demand ride apps, to break out of their silos and become organised into one well-connected experience, with public transit as the foundational core."

"Our goal is to innovate within this ecosystem, providing more choices and convenience to customers worldwide."

Moovel aims to provide mobility solutions for public and alternative transportation options across North America through two of its products, Moovel transit and RideTap.

The software helps Moovel organise all information on transportation and booking or payment options into one connected solution for transportation providers, consumers and app companies.

Moovel North America CEO Nat Parker said: "Moovel is working to create a future for urban mobility.

"We want all forms of transportation, from public transit to rideshare to on-demand ride apps, to break out of their silos and become organised into one well-connected experience, with public transit as the foundational core."

Moovel transit, which earlier functioned as GlobeSherpa’s TransitSherpa platform, serves as a white-labelled mobile ticketing and payment solutions for the advanced public transit authorities in North America.

With 13 clients in the US at present, Moovel transit facilitates other public transit apps to integrate with the urban transportation ecosystem.

As a software development kit (SDK), RideTap enables any app to access a network of transportation partners.

RideTap is an upgrade of the RideScout app’s functionality that helps shared-use mobility.

Users who use other apps with RideTap installed on their smartphones can easily locate nearby ride options based on their current location.

RideTap can also be used by transit apps to solve first or last mile issues, while it can also help messaging or restaurant review apps to enable their users to reach their final destination.

Both transportation and non-transportation apps can integrate with the RideTap network in a bid to provide a frictionless, real-time multimodal experience to people.