Future-viability and interoperability were the requirements for the new systems in the Europe-wide call for tenders supervised by BLIC GmbH, Dusseldorf. A key element is comprehensive real-time data. Thanks to the ITCS system, the passengers will be able to inform themselves about possible connections, up-to-date arrival and departure times, and possible deviations from the timetable. This will lead to a considerable increase in the quality of public transport throughout the region for the services of all transport companies and associations.
For the new ITCS system, IVU is supplying its products for fleet management (IVU.fleet), ticketing (the integrated on-board computer, IVU.ticket.box, and the IVU.fare background system) and for passenger information (IVU.realtime) as well as a system for the central control of on-demand transport, e.g. for booking on-demand buses. These are connected using a standard VDV 459 interface.
"Continuous journey information and reliable connections are becoming more and more important in order to meet the increasing demand for public transport and to ensure rapid and smoothly flowing services. Current trends show that more and more people are switching from using their own car, but they expect the same level of convenience from public transport. And we can now offer this to our passengers throughout the whole region," comments Ute Thielges, project leader at Rhenus Veniro Süd-West on the benefits of the new system. "In addition, we hope that the unification of the systems will have the positive effect of easing workloads for the transport personnel, increasing road safety, and simplifying operations," Ute Thielges concluded.
Rhenus Veniro GmbH & Co. KG is part of the Rethmann/Rhenus Group, and operates public transport from ten locations in Germany. In Rhineland-Palatinate, five separate transport companies are operated.
The project is supported by the Federal State government as part of its Real-Time Initiative. Michael Schué, spokesperson for the public transport section of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sport and Infrastructure in Mainz (ISIM) explains: "Together with the transport companies and transport association, we have set ourselves the goal for the future of providing public transport passengers in Rhineland-Palatinate with comprehensive real-time data. The Rhineland-Palatinate administration is aiming for a comprehensive improvement of public transport, in particular with the implementation and networking of telematics systems. A central goal for the future is to provide passenger information and to ensure connections between all operators on the basis of real-time data."