The Eurecat technology centre is presenting new smart mobility solutions which embed real-time information about railways, public transport services, ridesharing and crowdsourcing in technology systems to compare and choose between options and unlock connected and shared public transport.
The tools and platforms on show at Rail Live, which is taking place in Malaga, are part of the European Ride2Rail project. They enable users to choose between multiple transport options and services based on environmental impact, travel time, convenience, price and other criteria for a more positive, sustainable, inclusive and accessible travel experience.
The smart mobility apps developed “will be embedded in public transport services to connect and add to mobility options, especially in rural areas, and their multimodal journey planning, booking and payment features will enhance access to rail, bus and other public services,” says Laia Garriga, Business Development Manager, Rail Industry & Logistics at Eurecat.
Mobility is one of the most influential factors on the road to decarbonisation and so “it is essential to rework it towards a more sustainable model and come up with solutions which will completely reshape transport,” she adds.
“Investing in multimodality by integrating public transport, private transport and shared transport in a single door-to-door range is a major challenge which all governments will have to address sooner or later.”
The project integrates public, private and social datasets with existing transport platforms such as Travel Companion and RAIL to turn ridesharing into an additional form of transport which expands Europe’s public transport and rail networks.
The tools and solutions rolled out to improve decision-making and shift towards genuine integration of transport modes have been tested in services and apps in Helsinki and Athens while the project’s upcoming pilot tests are to take place in Padua and Brno.
The Ride2Rail project is coordinated by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) with the participation of Eurecat’s Data Science & Big Data Analytics Unit and funded by the Shift2Rail (S2R) joint initiative under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
