With the funding approval of €1.6 million, the foundation was laid for the pilot project “Big Bird Westfalen” in the Soest district, where the eTariff is to be introduced in regular operation. The goal of the project is to provide barrier-free and digital mobility chains.
Using a Check-In/Be-Out system, passengers will in the future be able to check in at their starting stop via an app on their smartphone. The Be-Out process works via existing Bluetooth technologies in the buses or through an assisted check-out, where the passenger manually confirms the automatically detected final stop. To enable monthly best-price billing for single, 4-trip, and day tickets, AMCON’s UFHO backend system will be integrated. The tariff basis is the WestfalenTarif.
The project is being implemented in the districts of Soest, Hochsauerland, and Unna, with the aim of gaining insights for eTariff synchronization across North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). For this reason, the trial is also being funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of NRW.
First pilot project with a large number of participants
Many stakeholders are involved in this first pilot project of its kind in all of Germany. In addition to the Soest district, which is leading the project with support from BLIC, participants include Westfälische Verkehrsgesellschaft (WVG), Regionalverkehr Ruhr-Lippe (RLG), Verkehrsgesellschaft Kreis Unna (VKU), Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe (NWL), Westfälische Tarifgemeinschaft (WTG), the Hochsauerland district (HSK), and the Unna district, as well as the companies Mentz GmbH, GeoMobile GmbH, and AMCON.
First pilot project with a large number of participants
The friendly user test of the pilot project in the Soest district is being carried out using the app developed by Mentz. For the regular operation phase, the functionalities of GeoMobile’s apps mobil info and fahrtwind are to be integrated, as they already include accessibility features and navigation for the visually impaired, as well as the technical capabilities required for check-in and be-out functions. Background: As early as last year, GeoMobile, LogPay, and AMCON collaborated with WVG on enhancing the mobil info, BuBiM, and fahrtwind passenger apps. Since August 2019, passengers have not only been able to access timetable information, but also purchase tickets — making it easier to use public transport in the WestfalenTarif region with just a few clicks. Travel authorizations or tickets in the form of 2D barcodes are provided by AMCON for the GeoMobile apps and issued as static travel authorizations in accordance with the VDV-KA standard. In the background, the apps communicate via AMCON’s Base API. Users can register through an input form, update their personal data, and store their preferred payment method. All payments are processed directly by the payment service provider LogPay immediately after ticket purchase. To enable this, AMCON’s Base API transmits all required information to the payment service provider. The three apps will also be expanded in the future to include multimodal transport options. The fahrtwind app already offers a feature for reserving and booking rental bikes.