Partner in the Spotlight: Fertagus
6 May 2020
Shift2MaaS counts 13 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.
First up is Fertagus, one of the commuter rail operators in Lisbon. We spoke to António Soares, Director of IT-systems at Barraqueiro Group.
Can you explain what the role is of Fertagus in the Shift2MaaS project?
Fertagus is a Portuguese Suburban Railway TSP (Transport Service Provider) and is member of the Lisbon TSP Workgroup. In the project, we will provide a testbed for IP4 technologies.
Why is Fertagus interested in the implementation and deployment of IT-services for passengers?
Fertagus, as a European TSP (Transport Service Provider) is committed to the development of seamless interoperability and usage of well-defined standards as means to lower challenges for passengers using public transport. One of Fertagus’ goals is to help reduce carbon footprint in cities by providing tools that attract car users to public transport.
We believe that leveraging a unified platform, in a MaaS context, will help people in their journeys by providing relevant and real-time information, seamless purchasing and validation methods, lower fares based on trips and usage, easy access to ancillary services and partnerships.
As an inclusive project, TSPs will benefit also from tools that will provide Reduced Mobility Passengers ways to navigate easier towards their destination by using IP4 technologies.
Which IP4 functionalities are the most interesting for you to be tested and implemented?
Our main features of interest are Offer Building, Purchasing, Validation, Inspection and Passenger Information (ex. Disturbances).
In the Lisbon scenario, we have defined the story of a passenger that will use different transport operators, spanning from Light Rail (MTS), Train (Fertagus), Tram (Carris) and Bicycle (EMEL) to go eat a Pastel de Belém by the river in Lisbon. This journey has some caveats that will test the features mentioned in real world context.
To deliver this experience, the Lisbon team is building the required interfaces and ticketing systems modifications to send and receive information from the IP4 projects and interact with real, in production, hardware. So we will leave the lab and go into the real world.
From your perspective, what could boost the deployment of S2R IP4 technologies at European scale?
Shift2MaaS has all the potential to define European standards for public transportation frameworks, IT software and infrastructure that may leverage a fully connected transport network, bringing together actual and future MaaS players and partners to work towards a more green environment. It does this by proving passengers with tools that will make their daily life easier, lower their travel costs, lower stress (and thus improve health) and provide valuable information to TSPs real-time demand and supply.
It’s my personal perspective that IP4 technologies should be promoted as standards in Europe, so that every TSP and Infrastructure owner be bound to the same standards. This approach would benefit all stakeholders. FSM (Full Service Model Initiative) is an important asset in this context.