Moventis takes part in an event to present on-demand transport service in Calonge

The Chamber of Commerce of Palamós and Calonge i Sant Antoni Local Council organised an information day entitled “On-demand transport: the Shotl service, your bus closer to you and only a click away” at Calonge Castle this morning. The goal was to raise the profile of this kind of flexible transport services in which the vehicles adapt their route in real time to meet demand. This is a service offered by Moventis that has already been successfully implemented in other municipalities around Catalonia, such as Sant Cugat.

The event discussed the need for this Shotl service in municipalities such as Calonge and Sant Antoni, as well as other towns on the Costa Brava with numerous geographically disperse urbanisations and areas with no conventional public transport services, in order to facilitate mobility for their residents.

The event was attended by Pol Fages, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Palamós; Miquel Martí Pierre, Managing Director of Moventis; Roger Cumeras from Shotl; Pere Aguilar, Head of the Public Transport Department of Sant Cugat del Vallès Local Council, the first municipality where Shotl was launched; David Saldoni, the Director-General of Transport and Mobility of the Regional Government of Catalonia; and Albert Ros, Mobility Councillor for Calonge i Sant Antoni.

The main advantage of the Shotl service lies in that it enables public transport to reach areas with very little demand at present while also representing an economic saving and generating less pollution given that the bus only operates when there is a demand for the service. This avoids bus journeys with no passengers, reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The advantages also include the ease with which users can request a pick-up by the bus – using an app or the telephone – and reduced waiting times.

The second part of the event consisted of a Shotl demonstration on the streets of Calonge and Sant Antoni: how a pick-up is requested, how the service is confirmed, how the driver is told about the shortest route and how the user can see on the app where the bus currently is and their current waiting time.

Visit by the Director-General for Transport and Mobility of the Regional Government of Catalonia

The offices of Moventia HQ were visited this morning by a delegation from the Department of Regional Affairs and Sustainability of the Regional Government of Catalonia. The Director-General for Transport and Mobility, David Saldoni, was accompanied by the Deputy Director-General for Transport Planning and Sectoral Development, Josep Maria Fortuny, and the Deputy Director-General for Public Transport, Benjamín Cubillo.

The visitors received a tour of the new Moventia offices and its control centre, and were shown the new work culture implemented by Moventia since the end of last year when it relocated to the new corporate HQ in Sant Cugat.

The visit was initially planned for March this year but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 health crisis and could not be rearranged until July. On behalf of Moventia, the visitors were welcomed by: Josep Maria Martí, Executive Vice-President of Moventis and CEO of Moventia; Sílvia Martí, Corporate Vice-President of Moventia; Miquel Martí Pierre, Managing Director of the Discretionary Transport Division; Joan Giménez, Managing Director of the Regular Transport Division; and Jordi Castells, Operations Director of Moventis.

Comprehensive answers were provided during the visit to all the questions and concerns expressed by both the regional government representatives and Moventia regarding the current situation in the transport and mobility sector.

A lo largo de la visita, se ha podido dar respuesta exhaustiva a todas las consultas e inquietudes mostradas tanto por parte de los representantes de la Generalitat como por parte de Moventia en relación a la situación actual del sector del transporte y la movilidad

Bla Bla Bus renews contract with Sarfa

Following several months of negotiation, Sarfa has signed a partnership agreement with the company BlaBlabus – the operator of several intercity lines in France – to operate the routes starting or finishing in the city of Barcelona. The specific lines subject to this agreement are:

 

Marseille – Montpellier – Barcelona

Marseille – Nîmes – Montpellier – Perpignan – Barcelona

Bordeaux – Toulouse – Perpignan – Barcelona

Lyon – Montpellier – Perpignan – Barcelona

Paris – Lyon – Barcelona

Barcelona – Perpignan – Carcassonne – Toulouse – Paris

 

The agreement will last four years, during which time Sarfa must provide the service according to the image and quality standards and measures defined by BlaBlaBus. The buses are fully identified with the service image and the drivers are especially chosen for their quality and skill, as well as because they can speak to passengers in French, Spanish and Catalan.

 

This agreement consolidates Sarfa’s presence in France, with services it has been providing non-stop since 2014.

 

Movento awared certificate as “dealership protected against COVID-19″

All Movento centres have been awarded the “Dealership Protected against COVID-19” seal of quality from Faconauto, guaranteeing compliance with the Protection and Prevention Protocol and aimed at highlighting a commitment by official dealerships to employee and customer health.

This seal of quality forms part of a pioneering initiative guaranteed and supported by the certification company TÜV SÜD ATISAE that specialises in the management and validation of certificate issue and subsequent audits to ensure commitments are maintained.

 The Protection and Prevention Protocol forms the basis of this seal of quality and was produced by Faconauto, Anfac and Sernauto, the employers’ association and main business associations in the sector, respectively, together with the two main trade unions in Spain, UGT and CCOO, and subsequently validated by the Spanish Ministry of Health.

The hallmark guarantees the level of safety, confidence and professionalism being offered by Movento to its customers since its premises reopened.

Moventis awarded safety certificates

Moventis now has the main quality certificates applicable to the tourism services and transport sector thanks to action protocols established in response to the risks stemming from COVID-19.

On the one hand, it has obtained APPLUS+ certification on Hygiene and Control Protocols to guarantee compliance with new requirements in terms of cleaning, hygiene, control and organisation of its business.

This certificate, which is issued following external assessment by an independent entity such as APPLUS+, covers issues related to the physical environment and basic hygiene measures, technical measures, organisational measures, workforce control and access control measures at every company forming part of Moventis, both in terms of their regular line business and the discretionary and tourism services they provide.

On the other hand, Moventis has also been given the ICTE Tourism seal of quality by the Institute for Spanish Tourism Quality, which is focused on activity by the companies within the group that provide tourism services and transportation, covering the more than 500 vehicles in the fleet, employees and work centres.

The goal behind efforts to obtain these certificates is none other than to build confidence among customers, employees and users of Moventis mobility services by helping to reduce risks and comply with the strict hygiene and control protocols put in place by the company in response to the extraordinary situation caused by the recent health crisis.

 

 

Fleet of 20 Moventis buses to promote Costa Brava

An event was held at lunchtime today at the Port of Palamós to present the Costa Brava Proximity Tourism Stimulation Campaign promoted by Moventis Sarfa in partnership with the Costa Brava-Girona Tourist Board of Girona Provincial Council and 20 municipalities on the Costa Brava: Cadaqués, Calonge, Castell-Platja d’Aro, Castelló d’Empúries-Empuriabrava, el Port de la Selva, Figueres, Girona, la Bisbal d’Empordà, l’Escala, Llançà, Lloret de Mar, Palafrugell, Palamós, Pals, Roses, Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Santa Cristina d’Aro, Torroella de Montgrí-el Estartit and Tossa de Mar.

The event was attended by Miquel Martí y Escursell, Chairman of Moventia; Miquel Noguer, President of Girona Provincial Council and the Costa Brava-Girona Tourist Board; Lluís Puig, Mayor of Palamós; and Damià Calvet, Councillor for Regional Affairs and Sustainability of the Regional Government of Catalonia.

During the presentation, Miquel Noguer said that “this campaign stems from a series of partnerships and synergies between the private and public sectors. It encourages mobility on public transport and highlights the partnerships being forged to attract visitors and promote tourism on the Costa Brava”. He went on to add that the Costa Brava-Girona Tourist Board is making “its strongest effort ever” to promote tourism in proximity markets. He concluded by saying that “we now have an opportunity to focus on our local audience and show them the natural, landscape, cultural and tourist attractions and values they can enjoy close to home”.

Councillor Damià Calvet explained that certain destinations have been compromised by the pandemic this year and that “the campaign being launched today is calling on safe and exciting local tourism to take up the baton. We are all ready to welcome these tourists. Local councils as the destinations, the regional government as mobility guarantor and our ports as providers of sailing and sports tourism. All this will help reactivate Catalonia”.

Miquel Martí said “at Moventis Sarfa, a one-hundred-year-old company with strong roots in this region, we are promoting and strongly welcome this understanding as yet another demonstration of the excellent results that can be obtained from public-private partnerships. In a situation such as this, we should all be pulling in the same direction to offer a service with the highest standards of quality for travellers, as demonstrated by the APPLUS+ seal of quality on Hygiene and Control Protocols and the ICTE Tourism seal of quality. If we all work together, we will also ensure that the number of visitors to the Costa Brava increases this season, synonymous with proximity tourism and quality at home”.

Lluís Puig said “we should congratulate ourselves because, in these difficult times and with the tourist season dependent on an uncertain health situation, we are joining forces to work together on stimulating our coastline, committing to a tourism campaign that focuses on landscapes but also recognises the work undertaken by the sector at large, which is represented by our tourism companies, which constantly strive for excellence, guaranteeing the Costa Brava as a safe destination, with the highest quality of service and all the necessary health requirements in place”.

The event was also attended by mayors and councillors from the 20 local council authorities taking part in the campaign, members of the Girona Provincial Council, senior members of the Regional Government of Catalonia and other representatives from local society and businesses around Girona.

 

A two-pronged promotion and communication campaign
The campaign aims to encourage mobility on public transport for proximity tourism and raise the profile of the Costa Brava brand throughout the region where the passenger transport company has been operating for close on 100 years. At the same time, it is an initiative aimed at creating ties, a sense of belonging and regional unity through participation by the main local council authorities in the area.

It is specifically targeted at inhabitants of the metropolitan area of Barcelona; some three million potential users. Moventis connects the regions of La Selva, El Alt Empordà and El Baix Empordà in Girona with Barcelona and the airports of Barcelona and Girona, as well as numerous towns throughout Girona. In 2019, it carried close on 2.5 million passengers. As from this year, passengers will be able to access a new website that is faster and more efficient for timetable information and to buy tickets. The company has also obtained APPLUS+ certification on Hygiene and Control Protocols and the ICTE Tourism seal of quality.

Under the slogan “T’esperem amb il·lusió. Vine a la Costa Brava (We look forward to seeing you. Come to the Costa Brava)”, a fleet of 20 Moventis buses will travel around Catalonia showing 20 iconic images of the municipalities in Girona taking part in the campaign.

The campaign is accompanied by radio ads that will feature participating local councils in a spot linked to the ‘Via Lliure’ programme on Rac1 during the weekends in July and August. Using interviews with municipal representatives, they will be used to raise the profile of the values and tourist attractions, gastronomy and landscapes to be enjoyed in each town covered by the initiative.

Additional actions will take place on social media to communicate content related to the campaign. The Costa Brava Proximity Tourism Stimulation Campaign promoted by Moventis Sarfa is an unprecedented action stemming from the coronavirus crisis and supported by the public authorities. The initiative clearly demonstrates the strength of the Catalan business sector and the unified approach being taken to reactive the country’s society and economy.

 

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.

 

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 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.