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/

 

 

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.

TCC Pamplona uses Is-Pure antibacterial seats

Coaches and buses are enclosed spaces that contain an ever-changing and significant number of people. For that reason, cleaning and disinfecting these spaces is an essential task for both manufacturers and operators. Seats are one of the on-board items most prone to getting dirty.

Fully aware of the current situation, TCC Pamplona has been committed for some time to the Is-Pure system for its seats. These seats provide antibacterial protection, slow the formation of odours, offer protection and improve hygiene and comfort. The Is-Pure system is based on action by silver ions (Ag+).

According to Ramon Palau, General Manager of TCC Pamplona, “we are pioneers in this regard, because we conducted tests with the fabric even before it was brought to market, some seven years ago. Furthermore, the new units we will receive in June will also include this technology”, he explained.

In terms of seat cleaning, Ramon Palau said that “we’re talking about something you can’t see, that passengers don’t notice, but forms part of our ongoing improvement efforts. We constantly research and introduce anything that can help improve our customer service. It’s just another safety feature”.

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.

Sarsa Skoda opens new facility in Sant Cugat del Vallès

Sarsa, the official dealership for Seat, Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and Cupra, has opened a new facility focused on selling and providing after-sales services for Skoda vehicles in Sant Cugat del Vallès.

Located at 16-32 Calle Mercè Rodoreda in the city, where Sarsa already sells Volkswagen vehicles, the space measures over 300 m2, has 9 vehicles on show and provides 3 jobs.

The new space is fitted with the latest technology and based on an innovative concept. “We’re sure this facility will be highly popular with our customers”, explained Jordi Domenech, the Manager of Sarsa Seat Skoda. “Adding a new Sarsa space in the city is great news”, he added.

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.

Shotl comes to Munich Airport

Shotl, the on-demand mobility platform set up in 2017 in which Moventis is a partner, is now fully operational at Munich Airport in Germany. Since October, people working at the airport have been able to move between the various installations using the Shotl service.

A total of three Shotl vehicles operate from first thing in the morning until last thing at night Monday to Friday. So far, the service has been a complete success and highly popular among airport employees. In only two months (October and November), the number of trips per week has risen from 169 to 498.

This service improves sustainability, reduces dependency on cars and encourages companionship and a positive atmosphere among workers.

Third Shotl in Sant Cugat

The third on-demand bus in the city of Sant Cugat del Vallès started operating last month. The service is being offered in the Can Trabal district, covering an area of 1.6 km2 with a total of 24 stops. In only six weeks, the number of passengers has risen 12%. The service is provided via a 16-seater bus with space adapted for wheelchair users.