Bytemark, Inc., a pioneer in mobile commerce ticketing and integration for the mass transit industry, and HaCon, the leading European player for planning, scheduling and information solutions, announced August 31, 2015 that they have been awarded a contract to provide enhanced real-time trip planning for Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro), the regional public transportation provider in Central Texas.
The deployment is the first of many expected contract wins in North America resulting from the recently announced partnership between Bytemark and HaCon. Together, the companies will bring powerful new IT capabilities to transit agencies from coast-to-coast, while putting accurate, real-time, door-to-door transit information into the hands and mobile phones of their riders, Bytemark says.
"The lines between public and private transportation options are blurring, and commuters are increasingly looking for alternatives and up-to-the-minute status for door-to-door routes that most efficiently get them to their destination," said Micah Bergdale, CEO of Bytemark, Inc. "While other mobile applications are handy for quickly accessing bus routes and schedules, riders are looking for much more robust and sophisticated solutions to meet their evolving transportation needs. We are proud to be selected by Capital Metro as the most progressive and robust solution on the market in Central Texas, and we look forward to working with HaCon as we deliver the future of mobile ticketing and enhanced real-time trip planning."
Facilitating multimodal journeys, HaCon's timetable information system, HAFAS, links public and private means of transportation and works as a door-to-door information system with real-time data that helps passengers stay up-to-date on delays, connection status, service alerts or cancellations.
"We will provide Capital Metro passengers with the ultimate in real-time travel planning and a navigation system so comprehensive that it will leave nothing to be desired in terms of multimodal routing covering everything from buses and trains to bikes and ride-sharing," said Michael Frankenberg, Managing Director at HaCon.
In addition to supporting door-to-door real-time trip planning by shortest walking distance, shortest time, minimal transfers or preferred service mode, Bytemark says key functionalities and features will include:
• Detailed maps providing accurate route, detour, street stop and points of interests
• "Next Departure Predictability" based on historical road conditions and distance
• A live timetable showing animated positions of the vehicles
• Ability to customize any of the features including but not limited to landmarks, maps, user profiles, etc.
"Capital Metro is continually working to advance the rider experience," said Linda Watson, Capital Metro's President and CEO. "We are looking forward to making the next generation of enhancements to our app, with new state-of-the-art trip-planning capabilities, and we are excited to work with the teams at Bytemark and HaCon, leaders in transit technology."