Strasbourg, 12/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - Four companies - Italian, French, German and Czech - have been rewarded for their effort to make multi-modal mobility in Europe easier. After a competition in June 2011, the European Commission designated, on Monday 12 March, the best initiatives for multi-modal journey planning.
In the category of “operational journey planners”, the two winners are Idos (Czech Republic) and Trenitalia (Italy). In the category “innovative ideas”, the winners are Penelope Ventures GmbH (Germany) and SNCF (France). These companies will also be invited to the upcoming ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) World Congress in Vienna (22 to 26 October 2012).
For now, there is no single internet site allowing the purchase of all the tickets needed for travel throughout all European countries using public transport (rail, air, coach, boat) or car sharing, a situation that is often criticised by the European Commission or Parliament. The four winning projects particularly make up for this failing, although they do not cover the whole of Europe, and offer the traveller the possibility to choose an itinerary that is best suited in terms of time, mode, and environmental impact.
European Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas has said: “I strongly believe that these winners, but also all other participating projects, will help to widen the choice of multi-modal travel for all Europeans. This contest has also confirmed the remaining challenges ahead, and most notably the need for opening up access to travel data”. (MD/transl.jl)