One City, One System: Integrating Public Urban Transportation in Coimbra CIVITAS MODERN Study Tour Luis Santos, SMTUC Luis da Vinha, Municipality of Coimbra 8-9 November 2012 Coimbra
Situation before CIVITAS Park & Ride system integrated with PT fares, since 1997 (first Portuguese city); Combined pass with private bus operators since 1988 (free travel in SMTUC lines) and multimodal pass railway bus; Door-to-door mini buses for reduced mobility, since 1985; Lift / funicular since 2001 to connect lower and upper city centre; Sightseeing tours since 2004; Management of parking spaces since 1988; Historic centre line with blue line operation concept, with electric mini buses, since 2003 (first Portuguese city); 1997 - introduction of new ticketing system with magnetic validation of tickets; 2000 expansion of ticketing system to contact less pass validation;
Implementation of the Measure Model's conception and definition of technical specifications for the new e-ticketing system: December 2005 - November 2008 initial study of creation of an Inter-municipal pass demanded by Municipality to SMTUC in December 2005. Several meetings with political representatives of surrounding Municipalities and PT operators took place to asses pass specifications and agreement conditions; July 2007 decision to purchase the new e-ticketing system (after the end of the call for CIVITAS plus funding); SMTUC began procedures to claim for national funding [delivery of documents to the National Institute of Mobility and Inland Transportation (IMTT) and response to IMTT inquiries]; October 2007 - November 2008 technical specifications of the new e-ticketing system and definitions of new fares and other products/services to integrate in the ticketing system [Contacts, meetings and demonstrations with all interested suppliers; Specification of the Validation Model (contact less type); Specification of transport fares structure, types, its integration with other PT bus and rail operators as well as with the future tram train system, and other means of transportation and mobility services, such as parking and Park & Ride; Specification of vending/accounting processes and automatic transactions; Specification of new concepts for tickets acquisition/cards loading (Internet, ATM, Pay shop, Mobile Phones); Planning the installation of the system on board of the PT vehicles; Planning the information that the system should produce; Specification of the integration with other SMTUC systems; Coordination of system transition; Planning of maintenance]; July 2008 - November 2008 Release of the technical specifications for the tender procedure and the working document Operation concept report and terms of references of equipment acquisitions
Implementation of the Measure Purchase and installation of the new e-ticketing system: July 2008 onwards Launching of the purchase and installation procedure and claiming for national funding and loan contract for municipality financing: October 2008 - opening of tender proposals; December 2008 - claim for national funding process authorized by IMTT; May 2009 - Analysis of tender proposals; April to December 2009 - contacts with IMTT to press national government to send official communication for authorization of co-financing; December 2009 - National funding authorized by the Government; March 2010 - Adjudication of the e-ticketing purchase (delayed due to a tender applicant contention of the final results); June 2010 - Analysis of proposals and final adjudication of the loan contract for co-financing the purchase of the e-ticketing system and validation by the Municipal Assembly; August 2010 - Loan contract signed and sent to the National Court of Accounting for validation; December 2010 - Loan contract authorized by the National Court of Accounting (allowing the celebration of the purchase contract); December 2010 - Contract for purchase and installation of the new e-ticketing system signed and sent to the National Court of Accounting; February 2011 - National Court of Accounting authorized the purchase. Installation process initiated; August 2011 - Installation process finalized.
Implementation of the Measure New e-ticketing system in action: September 2011 - Launch of the new e-ticketing system in test conditions for the on-board tickets in the blue line operated by electric mini-buses equipped with the new console to provide the on-board tickets (thermal paper) together with the old tickets. The tests were conclusive and no major problems detected; December 2011 Communication to citizens of Coimbra about the changes through door-to-door infomail; January 2012 - Launching of the e-ticketing system for entire SMTUC fleet and network. Sale of on-board tickets was done using the new console as well as the validation of the new contact less tickets, while existing magnetic tickets and contact less passes were validated with the older equipment; January 2012 launching of new intermodal ticket, designated for the employees/students of large entities that use the park & ride system (ticket provided by the entity with 25% discount and allows the user to park for free during one day in any park of the system and to make 2 trips of 1 hour in the urban PT network - transfers allowed). February 2012 - Transition of the old cards for the new cards initiated and the gradual change of the old validators for the new ones in the bus fleet. The investment for the purchase of the New e-ticketing system was 1 119 163,57 (~50% granted by national government)
Innovative Aspects 1) Use of new technology /ITS (National): The possibility on-line loading of contact less cards, allowing people reload cards at home and then travel without passing through point of sales. Card loading through ATM machines will be also innovative because only Lisbon and Oporto are implementing this system. The system will be prepared to allow the use of mobile phones with NFC technology in alternative to the contact less card. The ticketing system will be integrated with other SMTUC systems, (e.g., Exploitation Data Management System, GPS Operation Support System and Integral Transport System Management). Geo-referencing of passenger entry information for supporting demand studies and real time monitoring of on board validation and vending. The electronic panels at bus stops will be equipped with another module that allows for the loading of the transport e-tickets and confer its balance.
Innovative Aspects 2) New policy and economic instrument (Regional): The e-ticketing system will use Calypso technology and the same data model and API used in OTLIS (Lisbon Metropolitan Area Entity of Public Transport Operators) facilitating and giving more credibility and security to issues of intermodality and interoperability. Accordingly it is now possible for the creation of an inter-municipal pass through which the resident population of the municipalities around Coimbra, transported by private operators, will be able to use SMTUC lines with discounts and the same card. The partnership with OTLIS will also allow SMTUC to benefit from discounts in the purchase of cards from the manufacturer due the large amount of cards involved (summing Coimbra users with Lisbon Metropolitan Area users).
Innovative Aspects 3) New policy and economic instrument (National): The SMTUC bus drivers will be able to provide automatically the provision of accounts for the on board sales in dedicated payment machines distributed throughout the city, reducing the staff currently needed for this activity.
Integration of systems Systems: E-Ticketing + GPS/GPRS Automatic Vehicle Management + vending and accounting Driver console serves as the interface for the GPS/GPRS AVM system (to avoid duplication of tasks for the drivers); The GPS/GPRS AVM system gives real time Driver sales console + validation and reloading module information to the e-ticketing system allowing for the geo-referencing of passengers entries; Validator The transfer of data of the e-ticketing system to the central database is carried out through the AVM system; and
Integration of systems at the bus stops (e-panel with real time information) Buy on internet and reload Dual card for ATM reloading in the buses
Integration with the parking and special services The Historic Centre pass includes travel in the lift and in the blue line (electric mini-bus) and is free for the residents in this centre (to avoid it desertification ). The monthly standard pass (card) for PT users allow also free daily parking in the parks integrated in the ECOVIA (Park & Ride system) and free access to the Historic Centre service (lift and electric mini-bus) 35 per month; The Park & Ride e-ticket allow free parking during a day and 2 or 4 trips on of 1 hour on PT, including the possibility of transfering between lines (2,60 and 4,20 ). There are partnerships with entities to promote the use of PT in the city center that allow 25% discount in these P&R tickets; The e-card also is applicable to door-to-door service for the handicap.
Major Obstacles and Challenges Bureaucratic impediments; Financial constraints (aggravated by financial & economic crisis); New legislation (e.g., commitment law); Cultural barriers (aversion to innovation and failure to appreciate long-term benefits); Political constraints (lack of regional political perspective regarding mobility and regional authority on mobility); Technical constraints;
Future of the Ticketing System New Products and Services: Integration with other PT bus operators, rail operators, tram operator, etc Integration with future Car sharing and Bike sharing system; New Event Ticket; New Hourly Ticket; Implementation of NFC technology for use of mobile phones; Implementation of ATM and internet card reloading (on-going); Integrate other public parking facilities and spaces;
Thank you! For further information, please contact: luis.santos@smtuc.pt luis.vinhas@cm-coimbra.pt