My Routes - FAQ

The BVG Fahrinfo app records data everywhere that you travel with your smartphone. However, only data gathered from journeys in Berlin and Brandenburg is analysed. A comprehensive picture of the travel behaviour of all participants enables us to identify which means of transport are preferred and how active passengers generally are when travelling in Berlin. The focus is not on the individual, but on the overall picture created by all passengers.

Once you have registered in the app and allowed route recording, all you have to do is to let the app run in the background. You can also enter further data such as your age bracket or your ticket as part of a voluntary in-app survey. 

Not yet. However, we will soon be launching a competition within the Fahrinfo app where we will draw winners for various monthly prizes amongst all active participants. The longer you participate, the more exciting the rewards will be.

• Minimum age18 years.
• Android smartphone: from version 13.
• iPhone: from iOS version 16.7.
• Berlin or Brandenburg is your place of residence and where you spend most of your time.

Once the consent form is confirmed and the location access permission activated, data points are collected. When participating in the survey, user data is stored, and sensor data is recorded, which provides information about spatial coordinates, times, and states of movement. These data points are used to calculate the different route sections and modes of transport used as well as associated attributes such as duration and length. If the app is used over a longer period, multi-day movement profiles will be created. Additionally, further information such as your age group or your ticket can be entered as part of a voluntary in-app survey.

This is your email address and a password of your choice, which you use to log into the BVG Fahrinfo app. Additionally, the device type, operating system, and app version are also part of the user data.

• Location.
• Acceleration values (determined via sensors in the smartphone).
• Motion activity from the operating system.

Not with us, because we take the protection of your data very seriously and treat it confidentially. All the information we collect is subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (EU-GDPR). To ensure complete safety, we have also informed the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information in advance and in detail about the project.

This is all evident in the way we work:

Pseudonymised: Recorded sensor data and the movement data derived from it are separated from your identification features (user data) and assigned to a user via a pseudonym (UUID). Your movement patterns are thus collected pseudonymously. However, through the observation of recurring locations, conclusions could be drawn about where you live and work. Therefore, we handle all data very sensitively.

ISO-certified: After being recorded in the app, the collected data is transferred to an ISO-certified data centre located in Germany and stored in a database there. ISO certification is the highest international certification standard for information management systems.

Encrypted: The data collected by the app is transmitted exclusively using cryptographically secured encryption methods.

No disclosure to third parties: The data belongs to the BVG and is not shared with third parties. Our service provider Motiontag stores and uses the data exclusively for the provision and improvement of services and is not authorised to process the data further.

Opt-out: Survey participants have the option of blocking or deleting their individual journey data at any time. This can be easily done in your profile in the Fahrinfo app.

The data helps us to better understand your mobility and travel needs and contributes to providing a comprehensive overview of public transport system usage. By gaining an understanding of the mobility behaviour of our customers, we (the BVG) can make appropriate forecasts and provide improved offers. The data can be used for the following evaluations:

• Distances travelled by a mode of transport over a certain period.
• Combination of different means of transport, transfer processes.
• Capacity utilisation of the means of transport used.
• Access to and from bus stop catchment areas.
• Transport hotspots as well as visitor numbers and attractiveness of locations.
• Seasonal changes in the use of public transport.

Using location services – especially GPS – consumes battery power. However, route recording is configured to be very battery-efficient, so that battery consumption is kept to a minimum. This is achieved by using not only GPS but also other smartphone sensors and smart algorithms that minimise the frequency of location queries and thus conserve battery power. We are currently working very hard to further reduce battery consumption. Currently, our test devices consume around 2.5 % battery per hour of active route recording and almost nothing in idle mode. As this varies from device to device, we recommend charging your phone overnight. With typical use and mobile data transfer enabled, approximately 2.5 MB of data is consumed per day.

When registering, please confirm your e-mail address to activate your account. You should have received an email with a confirmation link. Please check your inbox and, if necessary, your spam folder. Click on the link to activate your account. You can then log in with your email address and the password you have chosen and start using the app. If you are not sure which password you used, you can create a new password via the ‘reset password’ link. 

For technical reasons, you need to log in the first time you use the route recording feature so that the data transfer can work properly.

If location services are turned off in the operating system, route recording will also be disabled in the Fahrinfo app. To enable location services, please follow the relevant instructions:

Android: On Android, you can turn on the location in the system settings under ‘Location’. In most cases, the location setting is also available in quick access if you swipe down from the top edge of your smartphone. You can activate the ‘Location’ icon there. 

iPhone: For iPhones, open ‘Settings’ > ‘Privacy’ > ‘Location services’. There, the location services must be activated and ‘Precise location’ selected. The BVG Fahrinfo app must always be allowed access to the location services.

Once you have enabled location services and want to use the BVG Fahrinfo app again, you need to manually reactivate the journey recording in the app.

Yes, you have the option of deactivating the recording in the BVG Fahrinfo app under ‘Service’ > ‘Settings’ > ‘Authorisations & data protection’.  If you deactivate the location services in the settings of your smartphone or withdraw access to the location services from the BVG Fahrinfo app, the route recording in the BVG Fahrinfo app will also be switched off. If you later switch the location services back on and want to donate data again, you can then manually reactivate route tracking in the app under ‘Service’ > ‘Settings’ > ‘Permissions & data protection’.

If you have switched off the location services, you must first switch them back on. You can then reactivate route recording (also see ‘How do I know if location services are turned off? How can I activate them?’)

In the BVG Fahrinfo app, under ‘Service’ > ‘Settings’ > ‘Authorisations & data protection’, you can see whether route tracking is activated.

No, not yet. But we are currently working on a feature to show you the statistics of your journeys.

The app needs to access your location services and movement activity in order for route recording to work. When activating route recording, the app will automatically ask you to set the correct authorisations. Please accept these requests and allow permanent access (‘Always allow’) to location services and motion activity. If you want to view or change the settings later, you can find the necessary permissions in the following places:

iPhone settings: In the Fahrinfo app:
The option ‘Allow route recording’ must be enabled under Service > Settings > Permissions & Privacy > Route Recording.

In the iPhone settings:
Settings > BVG Fahrinfo > Location > Always.
Settings > BVG Fahrinfo > Motion & Fitness.

Android settings: On Android, the user interface and the names of the settings vary from device model to device model.

In the app settings:
The option ‘allow route recording’ must be enabled.
Location permission must be enabled under Service > Settings > Permissions & Privacy > Location Permission.

In the smartphone settings:
Select ‘Always allow’ for location permission.
Battery optimisation should be turned off for the app so that route recording can run in the background. App Info > Battery usage > Not restricted.
Turn off power-saving mode for route recording: Settings > Battery > Power-saving mode.

No need to panic, we are happy to answer any further questions you may have. Just send us an email at meineWege@bvg.de.

If you have technical difficulties, our development team will be happy to help. Simply send an email with the subject "My Routes", describing the exact problem to appsupport@bvg.de.