EU project tests new technologies in Madrid to improve traffic and travel information

Spanish technology group Indra is implementing the European R&D&i project Harmony, with the collaboration of research groups G@TV and TranSYT from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and with the support of Grupo Interbús and Spain's Traffic Department (DGT). The pilot study is being carried out in Madrid to develop new technologies to integrate real-time data from different transport operators and improve multimodal information services. The three-year project, developed with the Polytechnic University of
July 25, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Spanish technology group 509 Indra is implementing the European R&D&i project Harmony, with the collaboration of research groups G@TV and TranSYT from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and with the support of Grupo Interbús and Spain's Traffic Department (DGT). The pilot study is being carried out in Madrid to develop new technologies to integrate real-time data from different transport operators and improve multimodal information services.


The three-year project, developed with the Polytechnic University of Madrid, is part of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) program, the 1690 European Commission's investment plan for developing transport infrastructures with the goal of completing the trans-European transportation network.

The Harmony project applies current European standards and state-of-the-art technologies to standardise, exchange and integrate data on public transportation in real time and data and information on road network traffic, as well as from other transportation organisations. Based on this data, it aims to develop new multimodal information services that will benefit both transportation operators and citizens and contribute to improving mobility management and information.

A collaboration between transport operator Grupo Interbús and DGT provides Interbus with real time statistical traffic data in standard formats, which will enable the testing of information exchange between public transportation and traffic to improve management and mobility and to offer citizens new, improved services. In addition, by integrating the information from Interbús into Indra's traffic management solution, the buses may be located graphically on a map of Madrid's different roads.

In a second phase, it is expected that DGT will join the pilot project to validate the real-time standardised information exchange. In addition to testing services for improving the city's mobility management and contributing toward a coordinated and speedy incident response, the pilot project is also considering offering new services, such alerts and multimodal route planning, in a third stage.

Once completed, the Harmony project will analyse the real impact that these applications and services could have on both transportation conditions as well as on operators' management and users' satisfaction.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Ford announces winners of Innovate Mobility Challenge
    January 9, 2015
    Ford has announced the winners of its latest Innovate Mobility Challenge series, an open-innovation approach to discovering mobility solutions around the world and a key aspect of Ford Smart Mobility, the company’s program of innovation in mobility, connectivity and autonomy. Winning solutions tackled mobility challenges including the delivery of healthcare, reducing traffic congestion and optimising the transportation of goods – all aimed at helping people overcome growing transportation challenges worl
    Read More
  • NYSERDA, NYSDOT to fund fossil fuel-reducing transport projects
    July 12, 2013
    The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) have partnered to provide funding to eleven businesses, non-profit organisations and research institutions to promote energy-saving technologies designed to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions in New York State.
    Read More
  • Do buses need subsidies in congestion charging areas
    June 20, 2016
    David Crawford takes a look at the debate surrounding bus subsidies. Subsidies for public transport are a well-known and frequently-used policy tool directed at reducing the high environmental and social costs of peak-period traffic congestion. But at the end of last year the Swedish Centre for Transport Studies published a working paper entitled ‘Should buses still be subsidised in Stockholm?’ This concluded that the subsidy levels currently being applied in Stockholm could be nearly halved by setting bus
    Read More
  • Brooklyn eyes Bogota’s BRT system
    June 17, 2016
    David Crawford considers the increased interest in bus rapid transit and looks that the latest trends. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is gaining an increasingly high profile in the US public transport agenda, for two main reasons. One is the potential for ‘trains on wheels’ to save substantially on installation costs as compared with other modes such as underground metros or light-rail transit. Another, highlighted in the case of New York City, is the value of having a rapid surface-based alternative available whe
    Read More

Highlighted Content