Integrated solution for Denmark

INIT has been awarded the largest single contract for planning systems

Five regions in Denmark have decided to issue a joint call for tenders regarding the implementation of a new planning and clearing system. INIT prevailed against international competitors and also against the former national system supplier. Therefore, INIT was awarded the contract for the implementation of the largest planning system in the history of the company in terms of the covered geographical area, the number of vehicles as well as the order volume. The integrated system includes strategic and operational planning as well as contract management with the transport operators.

Five Danish transport authorities

The contract was awarded by the five Danish transport authorities BAT, Midttrafik, Nordjyllands Trafikselsekab OB, Sydtrafik and Fynbus, which will follow in 2015. Thus, all transport authorities in Denmark – except from the Copenhagen region – will use INIT systems for their planning. Danish transport authorities will benefit from the experiences of the expert for client based systems in large geographical areas. For example, those gained in previous projects like the multi-company solution for DB Regio Bus Bayern in Bavaria which has built the largest telematics system in Germany.

Besides, the Danish transport authorities were convinced by the integrated solution offered by INIT which will allow them to manage their processes in a highly efficient way: From strategic to operational planning up to contract management for the bus operators. In addition to that, INIT will integrate all interfaces that are required by the customer, like the ticketing system, the journey planner or the ITCS, as well as to future extensions. This has also been an essential requirement of the Danish customers.

Transport authorities have specific requirements

Transport authorities are responsible for planning and managing public transport in their region, whereas transport services are provided by private transport operators. In Denmark, transport authorities are responsible for scheduling, assigning the transport services to the providers and settling payments for the provided services with the municipalities. Scheduling as well as subsequent clearing processes are handled based on so-called “realistic” blocks – vehicle blocks that can be easily transformed into duties. That means that duty rostering requirements with regard to breaks are already considered in the calculation of these blocks.

This ensures that the operator does not need more vehicles to provide the transport service than the quantity which is scheduled. The operator is of course in charge of the subsequent detailed planning.

The transport authorities have already considered the intended implementation of a transport control and passenger information system. In this context, the implementation of the planning system MOBILE-PLAN is already a solid basis since it will be able to provide all downstream systems with the required data as soon as an ITCS (Intermodal Transport Control System) is functional. This is an important precondition for the operation of a client-based transport control and passenger information system as is the import of the detailed blocks from the operators, which INIT implements via appropriate import interfaces.

Management of contracts

Another crucial feature for the customer is the efficient management of contracts between the authority and the operators. The contractual terms can be very different, e. g. per kilometer, per block, all inclusive or mixed. Due to this, it is possible to calculate the planned transport services beforehand in MOBILE-PERDIS. Based on the block data, the expenses can be calculated and different providers can be compared in a convenient way. Thus, planners have a powerful forecasting tool at hand. INIT’s system also makes sure that all providers are paid for the provided transport services. For this purpose, several processes run automatically.

To this end, all credits are calculated, the required receipts are created in PDF format and all data are prepared for the clearing system and transferred to it. Even bonus/malus arrangements fixed in the contract are taken into account and the payment is for instance adjusted to the quality of the used vehicles or the provided service (e. g. in terms of punctuality).

Integration of MOBILE-PLAN, MOBILE-PERDIS and PTV Visum

In order to fulfil all requirements of the Danish transport authorities, the integrated solution provided by INIT consists of the following three products: MOBILE-PLAN, MOBILE-PERDIS and PTV Visum. MOBILE-PLAN is the leading sub-system which is most frequently employed by users in their day-to-day work. MOBILE-PLAN takes care of planning transport services (scheduling and creation of blocks), preparation of publications (stop-specific timetables, pocket timetables, forms for passenger counting, statistics) as well as data provision for all downstream systems (e. g. ticketing or journey planner).

MOBILE-PERDIS takes care of service calculation and clearing of contractors. PTV Visum, a product of the partner company PTV AG, takes care of the strategic planning and different visualisations (passenger load, revenues). For an efficient operation, a secure and smooth data exchange between the three subsystems is provided.

Authorities show growing interest in MOBILE-PLAN

Especially in Germany, planning systems are mainly used by public and private transport providers. But as the two-level-model with authorities and operators is becoming more and more common all around the world, authorities show growing interest in planning systems on a national and an international scale. MOBILE-PLAN convinces also in this context. Up to now, it has already convinced transport authorities in Regensburg/Germany, Ingolstadt/Germany, Turku/Finland, Oulo/Finland, Suffolk/US or Christchurch/New Zealand.

Contact

Ulrich Schmidt

Managing Director
INIT Mobility Software Solutions GmbH
Germany

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This article was published in our customer magazine INITiative, issue 2/2014. If you want to receive the magazine regularly per email, we kindly ask you to subscribe.

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