Vice-President Siim Kallas, European Commissioner for mobility and transport, has announced the winners of the first Smart Mobility Challenge on European multi-modal journey planners, to promote the development of all-in-one journey planners, going beyond national borders and offering travel options combining different transport modes. In the category of 'operational journey planners' the two winners are Idos and Trenitalia, and in the category of 'innovative ideas' the winners are Penelope Ventures and SNCF.
Idos is a door-to-door journey planner for the Czech Republic and Slovakia that also provides other cross-border travel connections around Europe by bus and train. It has 66 million online views per month. Meanwhile, Trenitalia's journey planner – SIPAX – provides train, bus and ferry connections in Italy and a number of its neighbouring countries. It is complemented by the Viaggiatreno tool for real-time traffic monitoring and has three million daily visits.
The winners in the 'innovative ideas' category caught the jury's attention by their acute understanding of the nature of the challenge and development of projects that cover all prospective needs of travellers, including services such as ticketing. The journey planner idea Byebyehello, presented by Penelope Ventures convinced the jury with its many innovative elements and a strong team of stakeholders that could make this vision a reality. The company intends to launch the planner in May 2012, starting in Germany. The other journey planner idea, Mytripset, presented by SNCF, appealed to the jury with an innovative use of social networks to provide content and traffic updates. It also relies on a strong team of partners. The launch is planned in autumn 2012, starting in France.
The winners of the first Smart Mobility Challenge will be invited by the Commission to present their ideas and solutions at a meeting of the European Parliament's TRAN Committee on 26 March 2012. They will also be invited to the upcoming6456 ITS World Congress in Vienna (22–26 October 2012), in order to foster further discussion about the opportunities and challenges of European-wide multi-modal travel solutions.
Commenting on the results of the vote, Vice-President Kallas said: "I strongly believe that these winners, but also all other participating projects, will help to widen the choice of multi-modal travel for all Europeans. This contest has also confirmed the remaining challenges ahead, and most notably the need for opening up access to travel data".
Idos is a door-to-door journey planner for the Czech Republic and Slovakia that also provides other cross-border travel connections around Europe by bus and train. It has 66 million online views per month. Meanwhile, Trenitalia's journey planner – SIPAX – provides train, bus and ferry connections in Italy and a number of its neighbouring countries. It is complemented by the Viaggiatreno tool for real-time traffic monitoring and has three million daily visits.
The winners in the 'innovative ideas' category caught the jury's attention by their acute understanding of the nature of the challenge and development of projects that cover all prospective needs of travellers, including services such as ticketing. The journey planner idea Byebyehello, presented by Penelope Ventures convinced the jury with its many innovative elements and a strong team of stakeholders that could make this vision a reality. The company intends to launch the planner in May 2012, starting in Germany. The other journey planner idea, Mytripset, presented by SNCF, appealed to the jury with an innovative use of social networks to provide content and traffic updates. It also relies on a strong team of partners. The launch is planned in autumn 2012, starting in France.
The winners of the first Smart Mobility Challenge will be invited by the Commission to present their ideas and solutions at a meeting of the European Parliament's TRAN Committee on 26 March 2012. They will also be invited to the upcoming
Commenting on the results of the vote, Vice-President Kallas said: "I strongly believe that these winners, but also all other participating projects, will help to widen the choice of multi-modal travel for all Europeans. This contest has also confirmed the remaining challenges ahead, and most notably the need for opening up access to travel data".
