Connected Public Transit
RTC
Overview
Collaboration Goal
Because it placed integrated mobility at the heart of its mission, the Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC) wanted to provide its users with a digital tool that could allow them to better plan their trips using public transport, carsharing and bike-sharing services.
The nventive Solution
To take up this ambitious challenge, we created an app supported by iOS and Android that was based on a hybrid web technology. The app allows users to connect in real time to both RTC’s bus system and Communauto’s self-serve cars to better plan their trips in the City of Québec.
Secondly, we reached an agreement with the Société de Transport de Lévis (STLévis) that lead to the development of additional features integrated to the original app, for example a functionality that gave access to ‘‘àVélo’’, a bike-sharing service.
Collaborate to Create
The major shift undertaken by the RTC deserved knowledgeable guidance on our part. Not only to place the user at the centre of the digital strategy, but to testify the RTC’s evolution through an app that is just as innovative.
The Functionnalities
First, the app has a real time collaborative platform that enables the RTC users to see the network’s bus schedules, routes and passages. Using geolocation has also allowed users to find the location of a bus and to follow it in real time. Personalized alarms have also facilitated each user’s trip management. The platform also enables the users to rent a self-serve car from Communauto.
Integrating a Third Party
After an agreement between the RTC and the Société de Transport de Lévis (STLévis), we overcame a sizeable challenge; we integrated STLévis’ API and new data sources in the ‘‘Nomade Temps Réel’’ app. We were able to do so in spite of the divergent data structure of the two apps and in such a way that they could evolve in a synchronous matter. Concurrently, we added access to the bike-sharing app ‘‘àVélo’’ directly in our app.
A Flexible Architecture
We successfully put in place an architecture sufficiently flexible and scalable to enable the app to still be evolving seven years later. Indeed, we added several functionnalities over time, including STLévis, Communauto and àVélo add-ons. The RTC Nomade temps réel app is still in use and appreciated by millions of users.
Results
Efficient Commute
This significant technological partnership with the RTC has allowed us to develop a simple solution accessible by all types of users, whether they have an internet connection or not. Thanks to its personalized alerts system, the RTC Nomade app has become the public transit users’ essential tool to travel around the City of Québec.
Awards
Lastly, the Nomade RTC app won the Leadership prize, awarded by the Canadian Urban Transit Association during the Global Public Transport Summit in 2017. As for the Mobilité intelligence – STI prize, presented by the Association québécoise des transports, it highlights RTC Nomade’s functionnalities’ innovative qualities.
