Skip to main content

Arriva UK partners with HaCon on mobile travel app

Arriva UK Bus has partnered with German transportation software solutions HaCon to launch its mobile travel companion based on HaCon’s journey planner software HAFAS. The new mobile app for iPhones and Android-powered smartphones will provide customers with much greater functionality than before, while the HAFAS vehicle management system Smart VMS will provide the basis for comprehensive up to the minute passenger information.
October 22, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
476 Arriva UK Bus has partnered with German transportation software solutions 5550 HaCon to launch its mobile travel companion based on HaCon’s journey planner software HAFAS.

The new mobile app for iPhones and Android-powered smartphones will provide customers with much greater functionality than before, while the HAFAS vehicle management system Smart VMS will provide the basis for comprehensive up to the minute passenger information.

HAFAS Smart VMS gathers GPS-based real-time data in the buses which can be fed to several channels for passenger information systems, such as the new Arriva Bus app, providing passengers with real time system status information. HaCon claims its software is a cost-efficient, web-based alternative to full-range vehicle management systems, which was recently rewarded by the Association of German Transport Companies for its innovative power.

Mike Woodhouse, marketing manager for Arriva UK Bus, said: “HaCon has been working with Arriva’s parent company Deutsche Bahn in Germany for years and this has allowed us to see the benefits of the system in a real world environment. With HaCon’s experience in delivering success within the industry, we know that our new Mobile Travel Companion will be a hit with customers.”

Stephan Sünderkamp, head of Division HAFAS Internet at HaCon, said: “We are excited to equip more than 4,000 vehicles of the Arriva UK Bus fleet with HAFAS Smart VMS, which will support their new journey planner app for iPhones launched today.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Navigating the data privacy landscape
    July 24, 2023
    If customer data is not protected then the journey towards better, less polluting public transport solutions is likely to be delayed, warns Alexis Suggett of Cubic Transportation Systems
  • Green light for new approach to bus services in Liverpool
    December 4, 2015
    UK public transport operator Merseytravel is to enter into a formal ‘bus alliance’ initially with operators Arriva and Stagecoach, who together operate 90 per cent of commercial bus services in the Liverpool City region, focused on increasing the number of fare paying passengers, improving customer satisfaction and driving up investment for the benefit of all who use bus services. The ambitious growth target of a 10 per cent increase in passenger journeys, the equivalent of over nine million more journey
  • Charging trial tests smartphones for road user charging
    January 26, 2012
    A new project is under way in Minnesota, investigating whether smartphones are technically and publicly acceptable for use in road user charging. Jason Barnes reports. In Minnesota, trials have been launched to determine whether smartphones are technologically viable and acceptable to the public for distance based road user charging (RUC). The Midwestern US state has engaged with Battelle to explore RUC technology options in a project which falls under the auspices of the US Federal Connected Vehicle progra
  • Increasing and improving disabled access to public transport
    January 25, 2012
    An overview of European efforts to increase disabled access to public transport, by David Crawford