Horários do Funchal (HF) introduced its new integrated ticketing system today. The process, which will take 32 months to complete, represents a total investment of around 3.8 million euros, is contactless, and uses a system which will provide public information in real time.
According to Horários do Funchal press release, the new system allows for the provision of integrated services to several operators, through different modes of transport using common supports and tariffs, thus simplifying the equipment used, data processing and information to the public.
In practice, this is a technological and management evolution of the current ticketing model that is in force at HF, but which is extended to other operators, whether regional, national or European.
Once this system has been implemented, HF will provide a single card (ticket or pass) valid for all public transport operators.
Expected to be fully operational by mid-2025, it will also make it possible to aggregate, in a single portal, information on various operators and public transport services, and create simple and easy user access.
“This evolution also allows public transport users to monitor in real time, online and on on-board monitors, information about trips carried out by the various road operators, such as, for example, the location of buses and travel times.”
In this way, the company moves towards universal ticketing solutions, whose implementation will be done gradually, and where, through a computer application, (GIROGO app), it will be possible to buy tickets and, later, validate them on the bus, without need any physical support.
This technological evolution requires changes in the field, and will be implemented gradually, namely, in the replacement of all ticket offices and payment methods used by the various operators. A work that will take place in the first 12 months, from the beginning of the process, and a transitional period of four months will be defined, during which both ticketing systems will be operating simultaneously in order to allow a smooth migration from the current system to the new one.
Regarding the current public information panels at some stops, they will also, in a phased manner, be replaced by new equipment capable of disseminating (through software that communicates with each other), data to passengers regarding the circulation of buses by the various operators.
The implementation of the new system relies on the important partnership of the company Transportes Metropolitanos de Lisboa (TML).
Faustino Gomes, President of TML, highlights his pride in being able to support HF in this process of acquiring skills, either through the technical collaboration he can give to help make this project a success, or through the provision of technological tools for ticketing management. One of these tools that we will share is the API APEX, an application associated with the ticketing system that makes it possible to introduce an abstraction layer between transport cards and business applications, allowing for a logical standardisation in different systems and equipment even when they have different origins, and settings, significantly improving the interoperability model.
The close collaboration between the companies HF and TML, initially based on the commercialisation of cards, is now also reinforced by the sharing of the application for the integration of ticketing components, and possibly, in the near future, by the extension of this sharing to the global management platform of the TML system, such as passenger relationship management or partner management.
Faustino Gomes, underlines the desire that this partnership and its teachings are an important part of a supralocal logic, perhaps regional and ideally national, of a unified ticketing system, simple to use and without technological or geographical barriers.
The process that once again revolutionizes the way public transport travels in Madeira starts this Tuesday with the presentation of the companies that make up the consortium, LINK CONSULTING; NEVES & NEVES, LTD; POWERQUBIT, at a meeting that takes place at the headquarters of Horas do Funchal.
This ceremony is attended by the members of the HF Board of Directors.
The implementation of the integrated ticketing system already has a timetable defined for the various phases and, by the middle of next year, users will already be able to benefit from the first advantages of this new system.
Concluding, it was declared that “for this operation to be a success, understanding and collaboration are essential.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
