Challenge amb la Direcció General de Transports i Mobilitat (DGTM)

Awards:

• Best solution award: 15.000 € + Pilot of the solution with DGTM + To present the proposed solution in the Smart City Expo World Congress 2021
• Second prize: 3.000 € + To present the proposed solution in the Smart City Expo World Congress 2021
• Third prize: 2.000 € + To present the proposed solution in the Smart City Expo World Congress 2021

What should I submit to participate?

To participate you must present a file in ppt or pdf format (about 10 slides), in which the proposal is clearly stated (technical aspects, usability, implementation, etc.) and where it is carefully described how this proposal responds to the call the participant has been worked on.

Optionally, participants may add other value points they consider appropriate for the jury evaluation (for example, a link to a video presentation or a brief summary of the business plan).

It should be remembered that the elements that are most valued in this competition are: degree of viability (it is advisable that the proposal contains elements that show the tangibility of the idea, for example a pilot), degree of innovation (creativity and originality) and degree of adaptability to the call (it is imperative that the document details how the call was approached in a personalized manner).

Calls:

Call 1: To improve the current systems used for collecting and accessing service information

How to improve the information of the public road service received by the operator and/or the user?

Access to information on the public road transport system is essential to increase the use of public transport, not only by regular users but also to promote new users to know the offer and make use of it.

Currently, this need is being addressed through the SAE (Operating Assistance System), a global management system with multiple functionalities for the operators who use it, including the ability to receive real-time vehicle information and geolocation. However, this system has a high implementation cost and is not used by all the operators of Catalonia.

Thus, this challenge opens two main lines of work:

• Improve end-user access to both static data (timetables, bus lines, etc.) and dynamic data (transit times, etc.) of the public road transport system.
• Increase / optimize information in real time (especially in terms of vehicle geolocation) and be able to effectively communicate this data to both operators and end users.

The aim of this call is to find a solution capable of optimizing communication between the real service and the user / operator company .

Call 2: Service optimization for users with functional diversity

How to improve the user experience and vehicle accessibility for people with functional diversity?

One of the aims of public transport is to facilitate the access and inclusion of all citizens in its services.

Nowadays there is already a high percentage of buses (approx. 80%) adapted for people with reduced mobility and there is also a telephone service for early booking of adapted vehicles. This telephonic service, however, is often less effective than desired.

Further from this servides, all the accessibility improvements that have been made to the public road transport network have been mainly focused on physical mobility, thus there is still room of improvement for optimizing the accessibility and experience of other publics with some types/degrees of disabilities.

In this sense, in some other countries, one can find examples of bus networks where users with sensory disabilities can be informed through a sound or visual system. One can also find some solutions focused on facilitating a better support during their journey.

The aim of this call is to find a technological solution able to improve the user experience, the access to service information and / or the vehicle accessibility for users with functional diversity.

Call 3: Digitized payment

How to digitize the payment system of single bus tickets?

Currently occasional users have to take the exact amount of money to buy a ticket from the bus driver. This means that the driver has to interact with these users, which causes small delays in the service and adds responsibilities to the driver, which, given the current crisis situation, also involves health risks. In addition, the management and protection of cash involves an additional cost for service operators.

To all this, we must add that the European guidelines have been pointing out for some years now the importance of replacing cash payment with more convenient and secure payment alternatives.

The goal of this call is to find a solution able to offer an alternative to single ticket cash payment for users, especially for casual users.

Call 4: Service in areas with lower population density

How to boost the supply of public transport among the less populated areas?

People living far from metropolitan areas must frequently face important mobility hardships when getting around using public transport due to coverage and frequency limitations. These deficiencies in the public service increase dependence on the private vehicle and are detrimental to the quality of life of these citizens, as they often have difficulty accessing goods and services located in other municipalities.

The aim of this challenge is to find an innovative solution able to promote sustainable mobility in areas where the public road transport network present bigger coverage and frequency lacks, preferably incorporating new features such as virtual payment or service personalization.

Call 5: To prevent sexual harassment in the public road transport network

How to prevent, reduce and fight sexual harassment in the public road transport network?

A recent survey, made between the ATM, the ICD and the DTES, found that 50% of women road public transport users have suffered sexual harassment at least once, a number which is especially alarming among women users located between 16 and 25 years-old, 91.6% of them have suffered sexual harassment on public transport at some point.

In order to deal with this situation, video surveillance systems have been installed, both in vehicles and at bus stops, lighting has been improved and surveillance personnel with specific training have been increased. However, the study also reveals that only 32.2% of women are aware of the security measures that exist in the bus network and that a large majority of respondents value very positively the possibility of deploying new measures able to enhance a better security and prevention system.

In this sense, the perception of insecurity that women feel when traveling by public transport highlights the need to incorporate measures aimed at eradicating this violence and ensure correct actions in the event of possible cases and a subsequent recovery.

The aim of this call is to find an innovative solution capable of improving the safety of women users in public road transport network.

We remind you that the participation in different calls is not incompatible, so the same participant can provide solutions to all the calls in which they are interested as long as they offer innovative and adapted solutions to the proposed calls.

Want to know more about the calls? Join the Challenge Presentation Day and discover all the details.

For further information please visit the rules of the contest.