16 New VILLAVESA Buses

At an event held this morning at the Pamplona City Transport bus depot, the Association of Municipalities of the Region of Pamplona presented the 16 new hybrid buses that will join the company’s bus fleet from today. The event was attended by the Councillor for Territorial Cohesion of the Regional Government of Navarre, Bernardo Ciriza, the President of the Association of Municipalities of the Region of Pamplona, David Campión, and the Managing Director of Moventia Group, Josep María Martí.

Of the 16 new vehicles, seven are ‘Lions’s City 18C EfficientHybrid’ articulated MAN vehicles measuring 18 metres in length. They are fitted with hybrid 265 kW motors. Each vehicle can carry a total of 152 passengers (37 seated), plus two wheelchairs.

The other nine vehicles (12 metres in length) are the ‘Lions’s City 12C EfficientHybrid’ model from MAN. They are also fitted with 206 kW hybrid motors. Each of these vehicles can carry a total of 105 passengers (23 seated), plus two wheelchairs.

It should be stressed that all 16 vehicles meet the EURO VI pollution limits set by the European Union. They are all fitted with safety screens and security video cameras, meaning that the entire fleet has this system.

The purchase of these vehicles was awarded in 2019 and they are scheduled to enter service during the first fortnight of July once the vehicle registration process can be completed following a delay due to the coronavirus crisis.

A fleet of 159 vehicles with an average age of 6.75 years

The addition of these 16 new vehicles and the withdrawal from service of the five oldest means that the TUC fleet now consists of 159 vehicles with an average age of 6.75 years. Of all the vehicles in the fleet, 57 are articulated (18 metres), 100 are 12-metre buses and two are 10-metre buses. In anticipation of future needs due to possible capacity restrictions over the coming months as a result of COVID-19, 11 of the buses that should have been replaced by the new vehicles are being kept in temporary reserve and will be withdrawn from service at a later date.

It should be noted that the addition of these new vehicles into the fleet operated by Pamplona City Transport means there are now 56 hybrid vehicles and six electric vehicles running in the region; in other words, 39% of the fleet consists of environmentally efficient vehicles.

Sant Cugat launches ‘Carles’ on-demand transport pilot scheme

This new smart and shared form of transport will adapt itself to the journeys that its passengers need to take

The service, which can be booked using an app developed by the start-up Shotl, seeks to offer a more flexible alternative to improve local mobility

As from Friday, 10 July, the local council and Moventia will launch a pilot scheme to test a new flexible and smart on-demand transport service that will connect passengers and drivers in real time.

Over the course of 21 days, a fleet of four 9-seater vehicles will travel the city adapting their routes to the demand from users who have previously requested the service via the ‘Carles’ app.

The goal for this trial, which will be free for its users, is to study the results from a temporary urban transport service aimed at complementing the municipal public transport service in order to respond to new mobility needs in the city.

The impact on demand from this new service as an alternative to using private vehicles will be measured between 10 and 31 July. The results will then be analysed to assess the possible continuation of the service or another with similar characteristics. 

How it works

To request the new service, users will need to first download the ‘Carles’ app developed by the start-up Shotl and available for iOS and Android. Using this app, people will be able to enter the details of their journey (origin and destination) and book a seat. They will then need to travel to the collection point (start of the journey) and complete their journey in the vehicle.

Based on a series of algorithms, the ‘Carles’ app will distribute and optimise the journeys and routes taken by the vehicles and inform users about seat availability at all times.

Timetables

The pilot scheme will run between 10 and 31 July at the following times:

  • Mondays to Thursdays from 07:00 to 21:00
  • Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00 to 00:00

The service will be provided by experienced drivers in passenger transport and under a strict health and safety protocol. The seats will be disinfected after each journey and the vehicle interiors and air filters will be subject to ozone treatment every day to prevent contagion.

More information about the pilot scheme can be found at: https://prova-pilot.gocarles.com/

 

 

Moventis awarded safety certificates

Moventis now has the main quality certificates applicable to the tourism services and transport sector thanks to action protocols established in response to the risks stemming from COVID-19.

On the one hand, it has obtained APPLUS+ certification on Hygiene and Control Protocols to guarantee compliance with new requirements in terms of cleaning, hygiene, control and organisation of its business.

This certificate, which is issued following external assessment by an independent entity such as APPLUS+, covers issues related to the physical environment and basic hygiene measures, technical measures, organisational measures, workforce control and access control measures at every company forming part of Moventis, both in terms of their regular line business and the discretionary and tourism services they provide.

On the other hand, Moventis has also been given the ICTE Tourism seal of quality by the Institute for Spanish Tourism Quality, which is focused on activity by the companies within the group that provide tourism services and transportation, covering the more than 500 vehicles in the fleet, employees and work centres.

The goal behind efforts to obtain these certificates is none other than to build confidence among customers, employees and users of Moventis mobility services by helping to reduce risks and comply with the strict hygiene and control protocols put in place by the company in response to the extraordinary situation caused by the recent health crisis.

 

 

Fleet of 20 Moventis buses to promote Costa Brava

An event was held at lunchtime today at the Port of Palamós to present the Costa Brava Proximity Tourism Stimulation Campaign promoted by Moventis Sarfa in partnership with the Costa Brava-Girona Tourist Board of Girona Provincial Council and 20 municipalities on the Costa Brava: Cadaqués, Calonge, Castell-Platja d’Aro, Castelló d’Empúries-Empuriabrava, el Port de la Selva, Figueres, Girona, la Bisbal d’Empordà, l’Escala, Llançà, Lloret de Mar, Palafrugell, Palamós, Pals, Roses, Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Santa Cristina d’Aro, Torroella de Montgrí-el Estartit and Tossa de Mar.

The event was attended by Miquel Martí y Escursell, Chairman of Moventia; Miquel Noguer, President of Girona Provincial Council and the Costa Brava-Girona Tourist Board; Lluís Puig, Mayor of Palamós; and Damià Calvet, Councillor for Regional Affairs and Sustainability of the Regional Government of Catalonia.

During the presentation, Miquel Noguer said that “this campaign stems from a series of partnerships and synergies between the private and public sectors. It encourages mobility on public transport and highlights the partnerships being forged to attract visitors and promote tourism on the Costa Brava”. He went on to add that the Costa Brava-Girona Tourist Board is making “its strongest effort ever” to promote tourism in proximity markets. He concluded by saying that “we now have an opportunity to focus on our local audience and show them the natural, landscape, cultural and tourist attractions and values they can enjoy close to home”.

Councillor Damià Calvet explained that certain destinations have been compromised by the pandemic this year and that “the campaign being launched today is calling on safe and exciting local tourism to take up the baton. We are all ready to welcome these tourists. Local councils as the destinations, the regional government as mobility guarantor and our ports as providers of sailing and sports tourism. All this will help reactivate Catalonia”.

Miquel Martí said “at Moventis Sarfa, a one-hundred-year-old company with strong roots in this region, we are promoting and strongly welcome this understanding as yet another demonstration of the excellent results that can be obtained from public-private partnerships. In a situation such as this, we should all be pulling in the same direction to offer a service with the highest standards of quality for travellers, as demonstrated by the APPLUS+ seal of quality on Hygiene and Control Protocols and the ICTE Tourism seal of quality. If we all work together, we will also ensure that the number of visitors to the Costa Brava increases this season, synonymous with proximity tourism and quality at home”.

Lluís Puig said “we should congratulate ourselves because, in these difficult times and with the tourist season dependent on an uncertain health situation, we are joining forces to work together on stimulating our coastline, committing to a tourism campaign that focuses on landscapes but also recognises the work undertaken by the sector at large, which is represented by our tourism companies, which constantly strive for excellence, guaranteeing the Costa Brava as a safe destination, with the highest quality of service and all the necessary health requirements in place”.

The event was also attended by mayors and councillors from the 20 local council authorities taking part in the campaign, members of the Girona Provincial Council, senior members of the Regional Government of Catalonia and other representatives from local society and businesses around Girona.

 

A two-pronged promotion and communication campaign
The campaign aims to encourage mobility on public transport for proximity tourism and raise the profile of the Costa Brava brand throughout the region where the passenger transport company has been operating for close on 100 years. At the same time, it is an initiative aimed at creating ties, a sense of belonging and regional unity through participation by the main local council authorities in the area.

It is specifically targeted at inhabitants of the metropolitan area of Barcelona; some three million potential users. Moventis connects the regions of La Selva, El Alt Empordà and El Baix Empordà in Girona with Barcelona and the airports of Barcelona and Girona, as well as numerous towns throughout Girona. In 2019, it carried close on 2.5 million passengers. As from this year, passengers will be able to access a new website that is faster and more efficient for timetable information and to buy tickets. The company has also obtained APPLUS+ certification on Hygiene and Control Protocols and the ICTE Tourism seal of quality.

Under the slogan “T’esperem amb il·lusió. Vine a la Costa Brava (We look forward to seeing you. Come to the Costa Brava)”, a fleet of 20 Moventis buses will travel around Catalonia showing 20 iconic images of the municipalities in Girona taking part in the campaign.

The campaign is accompanied by radio ads that will feature participating local councils in a spot linked to the ‘Via Lliure’ programme on Rac1 during the weekends in July and August. Using interviews with municipal representatives, they will be used to raise the profile of the values and tourist attractions, gastronomy and landscapes to be enjoyed in each town covered by the initiative.

Additional actions will take place on social media to communicate content related to the campaign. The Costa Brava Proximity Tourism Stimulation Campaign promoted by Moventis Sarfa is an unprecedented action stemming from the coronavirus crisis and supported by the public authorities. The initiative clearly demonstrates the strength of the Catalan business sector and the unified approach being taken to reactive the country’s society and economy.

 

CityBike announces investment by Sherpa Capital in the company

Sherpa Capital, a private equity fund manager for investments in medium-sized enterprises with 300 million euros behind it, has announced its decision to invest in CityBike, a Spanish company set up by the Moventia Group in 2014 and a benchmark in the European micro-mobility market, specifically in the field of public bicycle system operation.

 

CityBike was set up in 2014 as a micro-mobility division of the Moventia Group, one of the country’s leaders in the transport sector, after being awarded the public bicycle system tender in Helsinki. Since then, CityBike has consolidated its position as one of the European benchmarks in this field and is the operator of another three concessions in Finland and Peru.

 

CityBike excels because of its unique offer in the European market as an independent operator of shared bicycle systems, its excellent track record in the concessions it already operates and a network of technology and trade partners that allow it to offer a unique solution tailored to meet the mobility needs of specific cities. This value proposition is supported by an outstanding human team led by Jordi Cabañas, General Manager of the company since it was set up and formerly Head of SmartBikes at one of the historical leaders in the shared bicycle segment.

 

At a sectoral level, public (or shared) bicycles offer an urban mobility alternative that is environmentally friendly and enables traffic congestion to be reduced in cities. This interest in shared bicycles has now been heightened by the search for non-massive environmentally friendly mobility solutions and alternatives to private transport and conventional public transport due to the COVID-19 situation. All this, in combination with the attractive CityBike proposal, mean they show significant growth prospects.

 

In this context, the investment by Sherpa Capital is aimed at further strengthening CityBike as a company and driving even faster growth in its international business by implementing new shared bicycle systems.

 

Jordi Cabañas, General Manager of the Public Bicycles Division of Moventia, CityBike, believes that “the investment by Sherpa in our company consolidates our international growth project and puts us in an excellent position to target the implementation of a large number of shared bicycle systems in cities across Europe and Latin America.”

 

Miquel Martí Pierre, Head of Expansion at Moventia, says “Moventia is extremely happy with this opportunity to continue growing one of our strategic divisions, public bicycles, now in partnership with Sherpa Capital. This is another opportunity for the group to consolidate the efforts and investments it has already made over the last 10 years in the micro-mobility sector, essential for any city and country wishing to make a clear commitment to sustainable mobility that can complement existing models.”

 

Lars Becker, a Partner at Sherpa, believes that “the investment by Sherpa in CityBike will give the company access to resources for implementing its expansion plan and will also serve to support the senior management team at an organisational level with a focus on commercial development and business scalability. Moventia’s extensive experience will also provide support throughout this process, as it will continue to offer highly valuable backing for the development of CityBike.”

 

Arcano and Scala Legal provided financial and legal consultancy services to Moventia-CityBike for the deal, respectively, with DLA Piper and KPMG acting as legal and financial advisers to Sherpa.

Staff from Moventis Pays de Montbéliard support community projects

The entire human team at Moventis Pays de Montbéliard has always worked hard every day to bring together the various areas that make up our local community, providing a meeting place for the wide variety of people who live and work here.

This area has a large number of associations and local residents that are actively involved in many projects by cultural, religious and sports associations, encouraging the spread of values and integration among the young population. For that reason, and through a wish to bring the service closer to its neighbours and for them to see its transport service as an ally, Moventis Pays de Montbéliard sponsored a boxing match in the region last week. The various lines of the Evolity network run by Moventis connect the entire region with the sports centre where the fight took place. Moventis thus showed its support for local projects in demonstration of its desire to continue being a quality service that makes it easier for people and the various communities to get around.

 

Moventis joins the Women in Transport platform

Moventis, the business unit of the Moventia group engaged in collective passenger mobility, is maintaining its commitment to people and society by joining the Women in Transport – EU Platform for Change. This initiative seeks to foster equality and parity between men and women in the transport sector.

By signing this manifesto promoted by the European Commission, Moventis has demonstrated its commitment to encouraging women in work and sharing the best practices and ideas in this regard with the other transport companies forming part of this platform. Joan Giménez (Managing Director of Moventis) explained that “the goal set by the company is for 30% of all new employees to be women”.

This action forms part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Policy, which is focused on a commitment to people, society, the environment and quality of service.

At the same time, efforts continue to maintain a workplace Equal Opportunities Plan for men and women at all companies within the Moventia group.

Department for Regional Affairs and Sustainability improves connection with UAB-exprés.cat (e3)

The Department of Regional Affairs and Sustainability is increasing public transport in the corridor between Barcelona, Cerdanyola and the UAB, with 15 new outbound services and 16 new return services on school days. The number of services is also being increased in August, with 30 new services in each direction for the first week of August and three new services in each direction for all other working days in August. Finally, the number of weekend services is being increased with one additional service in each direction on working Saturdays and eight new services in each direction on Sundays and public holidays.

These new timetables require an investment in two new environmentally certified vehicles. These efforts mean that a bus will run every 15 minutes on average between Barcelona and Cerdanyola del Vallès on school days.

The line between Barcelona and the UAB carried 1,103,095 passengers in 2019, an increase of 20.75% on the previous year.

The Department of Regional Affairs and Sustainability is thus continuing its efforts and maintaining its commitment to improve mobility in the low emissions zone of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (Spanish acronym: ZBE) that has been in effect since 1 January 2020.

Moventis Casas improves links between Teià, Alella, El Masnou and Barcelona

From Monday, 2 March, Moventis Casas will improve the service offered on its C8 line (linking Teià, Alella, El Masnou and Barcelona) by adding another vehicle and allowing six more services to run in each direction every day Monday to Friday.

At the presentation held earlier today at Teià Town Hall, details were provided about the new services that will run from Teià towards Barcelona at 07:15, 08:45, 12:45, 14:15, 15:45 and 17:15, passing through Alella and El Masnou. The additional return services from Barcelona will run at 08:00, 10:00, 13:30, 15:00, 16:30 and 18:00.

The event was attended by the Transport and Mobility Manager, David Saldoni; the Mayor of Teià, Andreu Bosch; the Mayor of El Masnou, Jaume Oliveras; the Mayor of Alella, Marc Almendro; the Managing Director of Moventis, Josep Maria Martí; and the General Manager of Casas, Miguel Angel Salas.

According to the Department of Regional Affairs and Sustainability, a total of 69,202 passengers used this line last year – four times more than four years ago.

Celebrations at Moventis Pays de Montbéliard

The employees and senior management team at Moventis Pays de Montbéliard held their traditional end-of-year event in the last week of January to take stock of the last 12 months and define the main lines of action for 2020. The Manager of Moventis Pays de Montbéliard, Gregory Carmona, was in charge of leading the event, accompanied by the Executive Deputy Chair of Moventis and CEO of Moventia, Josep Maria Martí, the Corporate Deputy Chair of Moventia and Communication and Institutional Relations Manager, Silvia Martí, and the Managing Director of Moventis, Juan Giménez.

Three main priorities have been set for this year: consolidating the work done in 2019; focusing the company on the customer; and reconciling the business to improve relations between the company’s services, defining 2020 as the year of harmony and reconciliation. A number of political representatives from the Pays de Montbéliard Agglomération were also there, led by its President, lending added significance to the event organised for employees and their families.

Furthermore, the event was used to introduce the new Operations Manager, Marc Joigneau, and present medals to those employees with more than 20 years of service to the company. Certificates were also handed out to a total of nine new drivers who joined the company this year, who will now become part of the experienced team of drivers in charge of the fleet in Montbéliard.