Vasttrafik explores new intelligent services ideas for public transport

Swedish transport authority Vasttrafik held its first meeting to make plans for integrated mobility procurement in Gothenburg.

Vasttrafik, the transport authority for the region surrounding Gothenburg in west Sweden, held its first meeting on 16 May 2016 to make plans for integrated mobility procurement in Gothenburg.  The meeting proved that there is a lot of interest in working with Vasttrafik in order to create new intelligent services for public transport.  Over 60 innovative organisations took part – from international companies to small start-ups.

Vasttrafik is the first authority in Sweden to procure a service which will assist customers to better organise their lives by offering new smart solutions connected to public transport. This can, for example be car-pool bookings, taxis, car-sharing services or bike-hire. Vasttrafik began by inviting innovative companies for discussions at the Lindholmen Science Park in Gothenburg. 

Lars Backström, Managing Director at Vasttrafik, commented that: “The interest really exceeded our expectations. It was very encouraging to see the variety of interested companies and the level of engagement in integrated mobility. Our continued work will benefit from the expertise and experience of the attendees.”

Several of the participants also took the opportunity to present themselves and their thoughts on integrated mobility.

“We ourselves are not integrated mobility experts but if Vasttrafik can act as a catalyst for development in this area, then we will be very content,” said Lars Backström.

Company chosen by Vasttrafik will create a digital platform integrated with smart services

Over the next few weeks Vasttrafik will hold individual meetings with interested companies to explore technical capabilities and possible business models. The intention is to collect as much information as possible in order to create a good procurement process.

The company which is eventually selected through the procurement process will be tasked with creating a digital platform and populate it with smart services in collaboration with Vasttrafik. The work is being carried out in cooperation with the sector organisation Samtrafik in order to create a standard which can be used nationally.