More than 240 companies from 40 countries submitted applications for the 'Grow with Public Transport' International Awards of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), and the winners were announced at the UITP World Congress in Geneva on Sunday. The awards are given to innovative public transport projects which contribute to the sustainable improvement of the quality and quantity of public transport. The introduction of the dynamic passenger information IVU.realtime in London is one such project. IVU Traffic Technologies AG received the award in the category 'Information Technologies'.
The jury honoured in particular the integration of cloud technology, so that the updated departure times of 8,500 London buses at 19,000 stops can also be made available for external applications via an open programming interface (Unified Real-Time API). With this, IVU and Transport for London (TfL) have introduced a new approach to passenger information. Thanks to IVU.realtime.cloud, the dynamic passenger information can now be integrated into advertising and all sorts of smartphone apps. The data is obtained directly from the operator TfL via an online interface and is then integrated into the services. Travellers in the British capital can now choose from an extensive range of information options which make public transport considerably more convenient to use. With reliable information, journeys with public transport can be planned and in future this should persuade more people to switch from using their cars.
The IVU solution implemented in London represents a significant step towards the long-term UITP goal of doubling the worldwide market share of public transport by 2025. Since the 'Grow with Public Transport' campaign was launched in June 2009 at the UITP World Congress in Vienna, awards are made every two years to innovative solutions which contribute to the sustainable growth of the sector. This year, prizes were awarded in a total of six categories. In the category 'Information Technologies' the other nominees in addition to IVU were the Swedish public transport operator Samtrafiken i Sverige AB and the Swedish system house Appear Networks Systems AB.
"We are delighted with this award, which highlights the importance of IT solutions for public transport in addition to smoothly operating infrastructure", comments a proud Dr Helmut Bergstein, Member of the Executive Board of IVU Traffic Technologies AG. Already in 2009 an award went to the Colombian mobility project 'Mio para todos', to which IVU had contributed on the system side. This year the award has gone directly to the Berlin software company, which has been developing software solutions for public transport operation throughout the world for more than 35 years.
The jury honoured in particular the integration of cloud technology, so that the updated departure times of 8,500 London buses at 19,000 stops can also be made available for external applications via an open programming interface (Unified Real-Time API). With this, IVU and Transport for London (TfL) have introduced a new approach to passenger information. Thanks to IVU.realtime.cloud, the dynamic passenger information can now be integrated into advertising and all sorts of smartphone apps. The data is obtained directly from the operator TfL via an online interface and is then integrated into the services. Travellers in the British capital can now choose from an extensive range of information options which make public transport considerably more convenient to use. With reliable information, journeys with public transport can be planned and in future this should persuade more people to switch from using their cars.
The IVU solution implemented in London represents a significant step towards the long-term UITP goal of doubling the worldwide market share of public transport by 2025. Since the 'Grow with Public Transport' campaign was launched in June 2009 at the UITP World Congress in Vienna, awards are made every two years to innovative solutions which contribute to the sustainable growth of the sector. This year, prizes were awarded in a total of six categories. In the category 'Information Technologies' the other nominees in addition to IVU were the Swedish public transport operator Samtrafiken i Sverige AB and the Swedish system house Appear Networks Systems AB.
"We are delighted with this award, which highlights the importance of IT solutions for public transport in addition to smoothly operating infrastructure", comments a proud Dr Helmut Bergstein, Member of the Executive Board of IVU Traffic Technologies AG. Already in 2009 an award went to the Colombian mobility project 'Mio para todos', to which IVU had contributed on the system side. This year the award has gone directly to the Berlin software company, which has been developing software solutions for public transport operation throughout the world for more than 35 years.
