Swiss Rail Intermodal Routing by HaCon and PTV

19 June 2008, 11:11am

Swiss Rail (SBB) have chosen intermodal routing technology made by HaCon and PTV for its comprehensive travel information system. SBB customers can now easily plan their journey from door-to-door on the Web, including maps displaying the routes and public footpaths. This travel service has also been available for mobile phone users since May 22, 2008. The two German solution partners have supplied these systems to numerous transportation operators in Europe and the US.

Since 2002, SBB has been providing travel information services based on HaCon technology which go far beyond standard timetable information from train station to train station. SBB’s journey planner includes timetables of local transport services, which means bus, tram or underground as well as pedestrian routing. A remarkable feature is that the address data for Switzerland provides coverage down to the house number. In addition to train stations the customer can enter bus stops or any address as starting point or destination. The journey planner computes detailed door-to-door routing including all train and public transport connections as well as the footpath.

The travel route and the footpath can be displayed on a detailed map which includes a wealth of additional information to help travellers easily navigate their way through unfamiliar places. This includes 65,000 points of interest and information about hotels, restaurants and car rentals. The user can zoom in and out of any part of the map and print the selected map section for the journey.

Since May 22, 2008, SBB has been using PTV’s pedestrian routing and map technology for their online service. SBB NaviGo, the new mobile public transport navigation system for mobile phones is based on HaCon’s Hafas2go software. It also uses PTV’s map software.

HaCon and PTV continue their success with the intermodal routing solution adapted to SBB’s specific needs. The two solution partners, who have worked together very closely over the past few years, also implemented intermodal journey planners for the national rail services in Germany (DB), Belgium (SNCB), Austria (ÖBB) and for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA.

PTV’s mapping and routing applications

SEPTA’s travel information services

Geo: International