Press release: Viajeo: towards efficient travel and transport planning

Supported by the European Commission the project was officially launched on 25 September at the ITS World Congress in Stockholm, Sweden. Coordinated by ERTICO –  ITS Europe, the project brings together various stakeholders who decided to join their forces under the Viajeo umbrella for a period of 36 months. They will design, demonstrate and implement an open platform to collect and process data for transport planning and travel information in cities in Europe, China and Brazil.

An increasing number of cities and urban areas have to cope with serious demands of their transportation systems which require an effective planning of public transport, good management of urban traffic and provision of a wide range of traveller information services.

Viajeo aims to create, demonstrate and validate an open platform which will enable information exchange and sharing among various stakeholders. This open platform will be able to facilitate data exchange, centralise process data from various sources, thus improving traveller information services, support transport management and more sustainable transport and city planning. “With the fast development of new data collection and dissemination technologies, integration of new data sources and services is becoming a  real challenge for data management strategies; therefore Viajeo’s objective is to offer a comprehensive solution to enhance efficiency of data collection and usage, thus improving overall urban transport services and planning”, says Patrick Mercier-Handisyde, Viajeo’s European Commission Project Officer.

The demonstrations are planned to start from 2010 in a number of selected cities:  Athens, São Paulo, Beijing and Shanghai, which have been carefully chosen to ensure they can become national role models. “We hope that the successful results of the demonstration cities will be extended to other cities in these countries or even to other countries in the respective continents”, states Vincent Blervaque, ERTICO’s Director of Development and Deployment.

The implementation of this open platform in Europe and in its partner countries China and Brazil is expected to contribute to a more inclusive urban transport system with better access for all travellers, increased acceptance and take up of new urban transport solutions and technologies, to reduce pollution from road transport and to improve energy efficiency as well as safety in urban mobility. Viajeo’s partners believe that informed travellers, transport operators and city planners, who are given comprehensive and high-quality information, will actively help reduce congestion and negative environmental impact in urban areas.

Viajeo involves end users, traffic managers, public authorities, transport operators, equipment manufacturers, service providers, application and service developers, content owners and providers and research organisations. This multi-sector approach will allow for a comprehensive social, economical and environmental assessment of the implementation of the Viajeo’s open platform. 

For more information about the project please contact:

Project information – Irina Silva, Project Assistant; Tel: +32 2 400 07 30; Email: i.silva@mail.ertico.com

Press enquiries – Alina Cornea, Communications Officer; Tel; +32 2 400 07 27; Email: a.cornea@mail.ertico.com

Notes to the editor:
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About Viajeo:
Viajeo, The International Demonstrations of the Platform for Transport and Travel Information is a project co-funded by the European Commission, DG Research for Specific International Cooperation Actions (SICA) and supported by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea.

Website: www.viajeo.eu

Duration: 36 months, from September 2009 until August 2012
Total budget: €5.9 million
European Commission contribution: €3.6 million
Project coordinator: ERTICO – ITS Europe

Partners: