Moventia successfully concludes bus operations in Mecca for Ramadan season

In February, Moventia launched its urban transport service in Mecca with a shuttle line between Masjid al-Haram (the Great Mosque of Mecca) and Al Haramain Station (the high-speed train station).

In April, the company faced its greatest trial by fire on this project because Ramadan fell in that month this year, a period during which a vast number of pilgrims travel to Mecca (12 million this year). For this Stage of the project (Stage 1), Moventia operated 120 buses on up to four lines carrying up to 50,000 passengers per day in recent days. The shuttle between Masjid al-Haram and Al Haramain Station (Stage 0) was joined by the corridors leaving Masjid al-Haram: the western corridor, the south-eastern corridor and the northern corridor.

Jordi Castells, Head of Operations at Moventis and Manager of Moventis for Saudi Arabia, said he was “very pleased to have been able to successfully operate this service during the month of Ramadan. This was one of the main trials by fire for us and demonstrates that we are on the right path to completing our roll-out of this operation with 400 buses. It is important to stress that Moventia is the first international operator to launch an urban transport service in Saudi Arabia”.

Agustí López at the Series of Economic Affairs Debates

 

On 4 May, Moventia once again took part in these conferences organised by the Chamber of Commerce of Sabadell. On this occasion, they focused on the topic of employee absenteeism; one of the problems currently being faced by companies in terms of human resources management.

 

Our Corporate Director for Human Resources, Agustí López, attended the event forming part of the Series of Economic Affairs Debates of the Productive Economy Council (CEPA), made up by CIESC, PIMEC Vallés Occidental and the Chamber of Commerce. His talk focused on the importance of good management in employee absenteeism.

Absenteeism rates have been raised to unprecedented levels by COVID-19. Absenteeism also leads to reduced productivity, increased costs and can impact the working environment.

 

Pedro Pablo Sanz, Managing Director of the Association of Occupational Accident Mutual Insurance Companies (AMAT), also took part in the event.

Moventia sponsors II Itinera Parlem Festival

Moventia is pleased to be a sponsor of the II Itinera Parlem Festival this year, a project created by the Catalan Association of Microtowns and Aktive. The project was launched in 2021 to raise the profile of Microtowns and their attractive features. This festival consisted of quality music in micro format.

Microtowns are municipalities with fewer than 500 inhabitants in Catalonia. There are a total of 337, of which more than 200 are members of the Catalan Association of Microtowns.

Itinera seeks two objectives: to raise the profile of the reality for Microtowns in Catalonia and to bring quality culture to iconic spaces in these towns. The festival includes musicians from the genres of Jazz, Blues, Gospel and Soul, among others, and also hosts important benchmark performers from the Catalan music scene, as well as collaborations with conservatoires and music schools in Catalonia, such as Liceu and Esmuc.

This open and inclusive project is taking place for the second time in 2022. It began on 1 May and will conclude on 30 October after more than 120 concerts.

Following its first edition in 2021, the Itinera Festival was given an Impulsa Award by the Catalunya Cultura Foundation. Its incredible work was recognised by this project for de-ruralisation through culture and, more specifically music, in turn demonstrating that culture fosters social transformation.

Moventia shares this vision and understands culture as a tool for conveying values that encourages critical thought and becomes an instrument for social cohesion and development in a more active society. That is why, Moventia promotes and supports actions and projects that seek to bring quality culture from this region to everyone.

Moventia holds the Seal of Recognition for Commitment to Culture from the Cataluña Cultura Foundation in recognition of its ties to and involvement in promoting Catalan culture.

 

Moventis, mobility partner of the TRAM Barcelona Open for second consecutive year

Silvia Martí, Vice-President of Corporate Affairs at Moventia, attended an event earlier today to present the V TRAM Barcelona Open, the International Wheelchair Tennis Tournament that Moventis supports as mobility partner. The event took place at the Barcelona Royal Tennis Club under the slogan of “El nostre únic límit el marca la pista” (“The court sets our only limit”).

The TRAM Barcelona Open has consolidated its position as a benchmark tournament on the international Uniqlo Wheelchair Tennis Tour and some outstanding players have already registered to take part this year. Confirmation from the numbers 1, 2 and 3 in the world (both men and women) positions this event as the best ITF2 category tournament by the International Tennis Federation and, once again, stands as the first tournament on the clay tour before Roland Garros. Having made these achievements, the tournament is ready to make the leap to the highest international category (ITF1) next year.

In line with the commitment from Moventia, Moventis continues to play its part and expresses solidarity with social and sports projects in order to maintain our support for the elimination of physical barriers that restrict mobility for persons with disabilities.

Moventis Sarfa recognised at Girona Tourism Awards

The award ceremony for the Girona Tourism Awards organised by the Costa Brava-Girona Tourist Board took place yesterday, Thursday 7 April, at the Church of Sant Pere in Ripoll. These annual awards seek to strengthen internal relations within the tourism sector, recognise the expertise of professionals and business leaders, and stimulate competitiveness from the tourism sector on the Costa Brava and Girona Pyrenees.

 

Moventis Sarfa received the “Xiquet Sabater Award for business projects”, which recognises those public or private institutions, entities or businesses that design, operate or consolidate projects or proposals that clearly contribute to enriching the attractiveness of the Costa Brava and/or Girona Pyrenees brands and stand out for their activity in support of developing tourism in the various parts of Girona.

 

The event, at which a video commemorating 100 years of the company was shown, was attended by the following on behalf of Moventis Sarfa: Josep Maria Martí, Vice-President and CEO of Moventia. Executive Vice-President of MOVENTIS; Juan Giménez, General Manager of Moventis; Enric Gimeno Aragonés, Manager of Moventis SARFA: Ana Gil, Head of Marketing at MOVENTIS, and a number of employees from Moventis SARFA.

 

According to Enric Gimeno, Manager of Moventis SARFA and the person responsible for collecting the award, “we want to dedicate this award to many people; first of all, to the public sector and especially the local council authorities of the 100 municipalities to which we currently provide our transport service, to the county councils, to the Regional Government of Catalonia, to Girona Provincial Council, to the Girona-Costa Brava Tourism Board, to the Chambers of Commerce of Palamós, Sant Feliu and Girona…; and, secondly, to the private sector, which has always supported us, and to our passengers, who have trusted and continue to trust in us.

And, as well, to all those people who, over the last 100 years, have dedicated or dedicate a good part of their life to SARFA, to the drivers of the present and past. This recognition is very much yours because, without you, this long journey would not have been possible”.

 

 

 

 

Moventis launches vélitY electric assisted bike rental service in Montbéliard

Moventis officially launched the “vélitY” electric assisted bike rental service in Montbéliard, France, on 19 March. This new service from vélitY forms part of the proactive policy adopted by the P.M.A. (Pays de Montbéliard Agglomeration) to promote and develop the use of bicycles in the region. As the authority in charge of mobility and responsible for public transport in the region, the P.M.A. has delegated the implementation and operation of this service to Moventis Pays de Montbéliard under a Public Service Delegation arrangement. Moventis will therefore manage this new service on behalf of P.M.A. and has renovated part of the workshop at its premises in Voujeaucourt so that it can house the 120 electric assisted bicycles

 

 

 

 

Moventia supports “Magic Line” and “I Run Against Cancer” initiatives

March was full of very special solidarity initiatives, such as the now traditional Magic Line walk and the I Run Against Cancer event in Sabadell, two projects that Moventia did not want to miss. 

Magic Line is a solidarity event organised by the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital to help vulnerable people by promoting solidarity and commitment. 

Moventia began supporting this solidarity event several years ago. This year, a team of 20 employees from the company walked the 10 kilometres that make up the Islam Trail in Barcelona. 

The team completed the trail to support the initiative by Sant Joan de Déu and successfully raised a total of € 1,380 through donations, which will all go to help vulnerable people. 

 

Furthermore, we also took part in the “I Run Against Cancer” event in Sabadell. Regularly sponsored by Stern Motor, this is a day of sports and games that is open to all and in no way competitive. Employees from the company also came together to walk and run at the event.

Following a two-year hiatus, this event returned to life stronger than ever and with the same goal in mind: to raise awareness, and to raise the profile and break taboos around cancer.

 

Moventia continues to play its part and express solidarity with social and sports projects in order to maintain our commitment to building a better world together.

Moventia presents latest edition of We Love Learning

A new edition of We Love Learning was organised on 22 and 23 March, an event by Netex Learning on Training and Technology at which ideas, experience and knowledge from authorities on the topic were presented. The event focused on such issues as the future of work, the latest learning trends and challenges in the post-COVID world of remote working, the use of micro-learning and agile learning to improve the learning experience in general, and how marketing is essential for e-learning initiatives.

Our Head of Internal Development and Communication, Susanna Vidal, attended the event to share a success story about the virtualisation process that our Training Department is currently undertaking as we continue adapting to changes in our environment.

Susanna said that “changes in the environment have forced us to adapt. New technologies, the way we communicate and the arrival of new generations with new values have also forced us to change how training is provided at companies if we want it to have an impact and be attractive”

Moventia is proud to take part in these conferences organised by Netex Learning, which have brought us closer to the latest trends in the e-learning sector and at which we have learned about experiences at other organisations. 

 

Josep Maria Martí takes part in session on Sustainable Mobility by Chamber of Commerce of Sabadell

Josep Maria Martí, the CEO of Moventia and Executive Vice-President of Moventis, took part in a session on Sustainable Mobility at companies organised by the Chamber of Commerce of Sabadell, an event that was also attended by Sergi Jiménez, Sales Manager at Circontrol.

Various topics were discussed at the conference: mobility and improving how we look after the environment; mobility in the Metropolitan Region; current regulations; and the latest trends emerging in the various mobility sectors.

Based on an analysis of the current mobility situation in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona, a focus was placed on the average number of journeys made by the population standing at 21.83 per person per week. Two out of every three inter-municipal journeys are made using a private vehicle. One million journeys per day to enter and leave Barcelona. That’s why we need to boost public transport while also decarbonising private vehicles at a feasible and viable pace. In Catalonia, there are 5.4 million private vehicles, of which 3.5 million are cars, 889 million are motorcycles, 750,000 are lorries and 172,000 are buses, among others.

Bus transportation is third on the list of chosen travel methods among the public, with a total of 172,003 movements throughout Catalonia and behind cars, motorcycles and lorries and vans, it being the most widespread form of public transport. Josep María also mentioned the letter from British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, which he started by saying “I love buses”.

In terms of sustainability, a number of issues were discussed with direct links to regulations and the environment, as well as the transition towards clean energy with the disappearance of diesel and petrol, and the presentation of various active recovery, transformation and resilience plans promoted by the Government of Spain and the Regional Government of Catalonia, among others.

The latest trends emerging in the various mobility sectors – Public Transport, Private Transport, Goods Transportation, and Active Mobility and Micromobility – were among the other main topics highlighted by the group’s CEO at the conference, as well as the trends currently driving the entire automotive sector.

After the huge success of this sustainable mobility session, the Water, Energy and Environment Commission of the Chamber of Commerce is already planning the next event, which will take place in May to follow up with a second series of conferences. Moventia continues to play its part in promoting sustainable mobility and greater care for the environment on all our journeys.