Mapflow Avego wins role to provide pioneering mobile traveler information and guiding system to Madrid
The OPTI-TRANS project will enable the first system to optimize real-time passenger information for buses,
metro trains and shared transport.
DUBLIN, Ireland (12 March 2009, Dublin) – Mapflow Avego has been selected to work with a consortium of
leading European R&D organizations to develop an innovative location-based mobile traveler information
and guiding system in Madrid, Spain. The OPTI-TRANS (Optimized Transport System for Mobile Location
Based Services) project, funded by the European Commission, will introduce for the first time a system that
enables commuters to plan a trip based on combining real-time passenger information for public transport
services with private carpools (“shared transport”).
“Madrid has one of the busiest public transport systems in the world, and now includes one of the largest bus
networks in Europe. Even so, we want to expand public transport even further, and this ʻshared transportʼ
concept could help by expanding the reach of our public transport system to places the buses don’t run,”
said Enrique Diego Bernardo, Head of Technology Projects for EMT, the transport operator for Madridʼs bus
service.
The system, which will be available via mobile phones, will serve as a personal transportation navigation tool
for Madridʼs commuters. Users will be presented with the optimum route for their trip, based on their current
location and the real-time availability of seats on buses, metro trains, and on the shared transport network of
private vehicles carrying GPS-enabled mobile phones.
“With global warming, geopolitical uncertainty of oil supplies, and ever-worsening congestion problems, we
are looking to provide ways to encourage people to get out of their single occupancy vehicles and extend the
public transport network to reach every street in every city,” said Mapflow Avego Managing Director Sean
O’Sullivan. “Madrid shares this vision of a society which is less enslaved by dependence on cars for all
personal travel, and we hope to help Madrid enable more efficient transport through better information
availability.”
Mapflow Avegoʼs contribution to the OPTI-TRANS project highlights the potential for the Shared Transport
concept, a version of which was released earlier this year as a free iPhone application. Avego Shared
Transport uses iPhone GPS technology and web services to dynamically match spare transport capacity in
private vehicles with transport demand from commuters. The integration of real-time passenger information
for shared transport with public transport will dramatically expand commuting options in Madrid by enabling
private cars to become part of the public transport network.
“The EU is looking to promote a sustainable transport environment through the use of innovative location
based applications”, said Boris Kennes, Galileo Applications Officer at the European GNSS Supervisory
Authority. “Everybody can benefit from advances in satellite technologies. The introduction of location-based
information and guiding services in Madrid will help commuters to plan their journeys in an efficient manner,
but it will also reduce traffic congestion and urban air pollution.”
Mapflow Avegoʼs shared transport expertise and capabilities will be strengthened through its collaboration on
this project with some of Europeʼs leading R&D organizations.
“The OPTI-TRANS project provides us with a unique opportunity to demonstrate the potential for a mobile
route navigation application in a truly multimodal urban environment. Madridʼs commuters will be able to
conveniently access real-time passenger information from public transportation services and private ʻshared
transportʼ services, at any time and from any location”, said Mr José Antonio Jimenez of Telefonica I&D.
The OPTI-TRANS project, which kicked off in January 2009, is hosted by EMT and Telefonica I&D, one of
the worldʼs leading telecommunications companies.
ABOUT MAPFLOW AVEGO
Mapflow Avego introduces efficient methods for dynamically matching available transport capacity with
transport demand and communicating real-time passenger information (RTPI) to passengers. Mapflow
Avego combines GPS devices, mobile phones and Internet technologies to provide drivers and transport
operators with reduced costs and higher efficiencies, while expanding transport options for passengers.
Mapflow Avego’s transportation expertise spans customers as diverse as Transport for London, the
Ministries of Transport for the UK and the Netherlands, the European Space Agency, cities and public
transport operators from Dublin to Madrid, and thousands of individual consumers and private transport
operators. Led by a multinational team of transportation experts in the US and Europe, the company is
headquartered in Ireland. To learn more, visit www.avego.com or contact info@avego.com.
ABOUT OPTI-TRANS
OPTI-TRANS is a collaborative project partially funded under the European Commission’s 7th Framework
research program. Led by Denarius Professional, the OPTI-TRANS consortium brings together the
capabilities of companies and public transport agencies across Europe. The project aims to demonstrate the
potential for Location Based Services (LBS) and GSS technology, particularly through the development of a
dynamically updated and location aware pedestrian and public transport navigation tool.
