15th customer for MICROBUS® in Italy

The ARPA bus company in Chieti has ordered the best-selling planning and scheduling system for public transport service.

ARPA (Autolinee Regionali Pubbliche Abruzzesi) has ordered the complete MICROBUS system covering all aspects from timetable planning through operation schedules to driver rosters, and in future this will be used in Chieti to organise the operation of more than 500 vehicles and more than thousand drivers. Another feature to be utilised allows the integrated planning of duty rosters and vehicle deployment. This has been specially developed for regional public transport companies running cross-country routes and services to outlying areas, and it makes it possible for driver schedules and vehicle blocks to be planned in one step.

IVU won the Europe-wide bid in December, and the contract was signed just a few days ago. According to ARPA’s management, the public transport company chose MICROBUS because it is the best system for special requirements on the market. ARPA is the largest regional public transport company in central Italy. From seven depots, it connects all the major cities as well as most of the villages in the region. The network covers five Italian regions. “We are very pleased to have received this order, which means that – together with the recent order from ARST in Cagliari – we won two of the largest public transport companies in central Italy for the MICROBUS system”, said Mario Stefani, who heads IVU’s office in Rome. “This puts us in an excellent position to attract other public transport companies in other parts of Italy for MICROBUS.”

MICROBUS now has more than 200 users, making it the most important planning system for public transportation. It supports and optimises the timetable planning, the planning of vehicle deployment and servicing, and driver duty schedules for public transport companies, and makes it possible to provide information for passengers quickly and efficiently. In addition, it also organises the daily deployment of drivers and vehicles and data for payroll processes. Its optimisation algorithms can be used to run through a range of planning scenarios, so that a given timetable can be operated with the best possible cost-efficiency. IVU has continually developed and updated MICROBUS in recent years and added new functions. The system, which was originally conceived with urban bus transport utilities in mind, now also meets all the needs of regional transport companies, as well as rail transport providers in the MB-rail version. It is also suitable for very large transport companies.

"MICROBUS is now more comprehensive than any other system on the market “, said Prof. Dr. Ernst Denert, CEO of IVU. The strategy adopted two years ago of developing MICROBUS to meet the special requirements of regional operators and rail transport companies has once again proved to be the right one.

Contact:
Thomas Vogt
Corporate Communications
IVU Traffic Technologies AG
Bundesallee 88
12161 Berlin
Germany
Tel: +49 30 85906-800
E-mail to Thomas Vogt

IVU Traffic Technologies AG is a supplier of IT systems for planning, operating and optimising transport and logistics processes. Over 25 years of experience developing hardware and software systems for more than 300 public transport companies has also made IVU the market leader for IT solutions in other segments: monitoring truck fleets, setting up retail networks in geo-marketing, election processing. This is IVU's approach to transportation and beyond.

MICROBUS® supports and optimises timetable, vehicle and duty scheduling in public transport companies, efficiently generating information for passengers, drivers and management. The system also carries out daily operations scheduling and accounting processes for drivers and vehicles, transferring the data to payroll accounting. MICROBUS is used by municipal and regional public transport companies as well as railway, commuter train and light rail operators. Equipped with an integrated company database, the system helps save money. MICROBUS is already being used in 15 countries and is available in different local languages.