Partner in the Spotlight: EMT Malaga
20 October 2020
Shift2MaaS counts 12 partners, who all have a different role in the project. In the coming months, we'll be putting the spotlight on all of them, asking about their role in the project, their interest into Shift2Rail IP4 technologies, and their commitment to enabling seamless passenger experience.
Second up is EMT Malaga, one of the bus and public transport operators in Malaga. We spoke to Jose Manuel, Systems Engineer at EMT Malaga.
Can you explain what the role is of EMT Malaga in the Shift2MaaS project?
EMT operates the urban public bus network in the city of Malaga. We are providing our knowledge and infrastructure, in a major tourist city, as a testing ground for the implementation of a transport interoperability service to the Shift2MaaS project.
Why is EMT Malaga interested in the implementation and deployment of IT-services for passengers?
Our passengers are our main concern. There is no doubt that IT-services are a growing demand and an essential part of a comprehensive service. In recent years the complexity and requirements of transport companies have increased considerably. Constant changes in the market, as well as in the political guidelines regarding mobility in cities, require a transformation of transport companies to become mobility service providers, optimizing the execution of services and, therefore, customer satisfaction. The user just needs to know that he wants to go from point A to B in the most convenient way possible. Journey planning, warnings in case of delays, etc. must be automatically managed by the system.
As operator, which IP4 functionalities are the most interesting for you to be tested and implemented?
We think all of them are really interesting but if we had to choose only one it would probably be Business Intelligence. It is essential that transport companies have accurate information from a myriad of different data systems, in order to be able to make quick and informed business decisions to adapt supply to demand. Having indicators that allow obtaining data from the different IT systems, evaluating and analyzing large volumes of information, is one of the great current challenges of transport companies. EMT’s services generates huge amounts of data that can not be processed by humans beings.
From your perspective, what could boost the deployment of S2R IP4 technologies at European scale?
People are not really aware of these technologies. More publicity and the involvement of public operators is essential.