This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at Arranca el proyecto Mugitu para un transporte público más fácil

Mugitu Looks for a solution to offer to the citizen an only place from which obtain information and pay the public transport

It starts the project Mugitu for a public transport easier

Editorial Interempresas15/06/2012

15 June 2012

A consortium of Basque companies has set up the project Mugitu, whose final aim is to boost the use of the public transport like answer to a model of mobility, the current, that according to the UITP (International Association of Public Transport), for the year 2020 no longer will be sustainable.

For this, the project goes to investigate the technology and the format that would make possible to gather the information of different systems of public transport of face to that his users can credit them without need to attend to the different operators or use different means of payment.

In the practice, the use of a system like which goes to investigate would avoid to the user concern by balances, recargas, coins, money in cash, companies that operate the transport, etc. Would be accessible to buses, trams, metres, even taxis, bicycles… And would act against a common account, charge card or another half banking. A concept that in the sector designates ‘seamless': transparent, without obstacles. In definite, a system of public transport easier.

Transfer of users.

The aim of this project sustenta so much in the implication and the impulse that all the Administrations are promoting with regard to the use of the public transport –by reasons of hygiene, environingingmental, economic, etc.–, as in the different studies that indicate that we advance to a model of mobility insostenible.

In fact, the figures indicate that, in 2020, 80% of the Europeans will live in cities and the trucks will realise 75% of the kilometres visited, if the current situation does not change. This will suppose an increase of the urban congestion that, nowadays, already represents 1% of the GDP and causes the premature death of some 300.000 citizens, since 40% of the broadcasts of CO₂ of the public transport produces in urban zones.

In Euskadi, the situation neither is halagüeña. Almost 39% of the more than 6 million daily travel that realise do in car (41% does walking), what duplicates holgadamente the number of travel realised in collective ways. With regard to the public transport, so only 1,8% of the travel realise using more than a way.

Between the reasons that favour the use of the private transport, 71% of the motorists adduces that the public transport is not so practical; 72% signal the fault of connections like reason of his preference; 64% argue the low frequency of the services; and 54%, his scarce reliability.

How change to the public transport

So that it gave the change to the public transport, the Eurobarómetro signals that 75% of the citizens of the EU would think in using the public transport if it was possible to use an only system of payment that served for all the ways of possible transport. Of the segment of the motorists, 66% also would decant by this option. Besides, 65% of those who use his car daily declare that they would use public transport if it was easier to change of a public transport to another (intermodalidad); 52% would value a better information on the schedules; 47% would consider it if the terminals were more attractor trucks; and for 38% would be decisive to buy the on-line notes.

All these appearances constitute the base of launching of the project Mugitu, that initiated his development to finals of 2011 to look for a solution to this aim of information and payment of the public transport through an only platform. Predictably, the project will reflect in a series of products and active technological that they will be able to manage, control and tarificar the pertinent information of the different means of public transport. The field of the investigation will be the Basque Country, although the resultant product aspires to turn into a standard of European application. Like this, the strategic opportunity of Mugitu resides no only in doing compatible different systems but in offering a half only to credit them.

User in front of a machine expendedora.

In this situation, the project Mugitu configures like a strategic project of mobility. So much from the point of view of the promotion of the sustainable mobility, as from the environingingmental and economic perspectives, constitutes an opportunity to situate to the Basque Country like a referent in the development of intelligent systems of sustainable transport.

The project Mugitu has a budget of 6,5 million euros; it is funded by the program Etorgai, of the Basque Government, with 1,8 million euros to three years; and the consortium of companies that will work in him is integrated cheese cheese by Ikusi – Ángel Churches (leader of project), Bilbao Biscay Kutxa, Clúster of Mobility and Logistical of Euskadi, Euskaltel, Idom, LKS, NTS, Nextel and Telvent; and the centres of the Basque Network of Science, Technology and Innovation DeustoTech, Innovalia, Tecnalia and Vicomtech IK4. Besides, they are entities collaborators of Mugitu Prointec, Territorial Authority of the Transport of Gipuzkoa, Deputation Foral of Gipuzkoa and Basque Government.