Objectives
- Develop an app for a public service in the metropolitan area of Valencia, with around 1.5 million inhabitants.
- Facilitate the daily habits of people who use public transport in Valencia and contribute to the promotion of its use.
- Offer useful information about the public transport service: lines, stops, schedules, check routes in real time, etc.
- Group information related to transport services in a single tool: bus, metro, tram, Valenbisi, private bike, etc.
- Top up the EMT Valencia public transport cards.
- Create a channel between the users of the EMT Valencia and the Customer Service Office.
Solutions
- Creation of an assistant for getting around Valencia by public transport and taking it to the mobile phones of people using public transport.
- Redesign of the app in 2017 with new features: create notices about bus services and stops, allow users to view bus positions, and to check for available bikes within the Valenbisi service, among other features.
- Using GPS technology, users can follow the route of a bus in real time, know when it arrives, locate stops and/or calculate how to get to any point in the city.
- Users can personalise the app and make it their own: save their most frequent stops, favourite lines and places, activate notifications, create alarms, etc.
- Service information is provided to users: a map with Metro and Valenbisi stops, warning of notices, lines and stops, incidents and route changes, and the ability to contact the Customer Service Office from your mobile.
- The app allows you to check the balance on your card and top it up.
- View information on the map about nearby buses, stops and arrival estimates, Metro station lines, free terminals, and available Valenbisi bikes.
- Follow the bus route in real time and create notifications about its arrival and/or notifications about the next stop.
- Access information on bus lines, stops, schedules and routes on the city map.
- Check the balance of the card and top it up with Bonobús trips.
- Calculate how to get to a specific address or place of interest using sustainable means of transport.
- Save the most frequent stops, cards, lines and favourite places.
This was a development focused on meeting the needs of users of the Valencia public transport service, and which the EMT puts directly in their hands. With the redesign in 2017 and the latest functionalities added, through the app, the EMT has managed to improve its service, adapt to the needs of its users and turn Valencia into one of the cities with the most popular public transport options across all types (bus, metro, bike, etc.).
Since the beginning of the Cuatroochenta project, we have accompanied and advised EMT Valencia on how to adapt the app to the latest technology and to the demands of users. In addition, through participation in an RRI project with Jaume I University (Castelló), we have determined, through surveys and focus groups, what people who use the technology developed by Cuatroochenta for public transport think and expect from it.