With the launch of transport app Gaiyo in the Utrecht districts of Leidsche Rijn, Vleuten and De Meern, the first ‘mobility as a service’ (MaaS) pilot of the Netherlands will start today. The app allows users to see which (shared) transport options they have in their neighbourhood and to plan, book and pay for all journeys from one app.
All your transportation arranged with one app
Gaiyo is a personal travel assistant and gives a real-time overview of all available travel options and combinations, complete with departure and arrival times, travel time and costs. This varies from train, streetcar or bus to places where people can pick up a shared bike, electric scooter, car or other shared transport. The app also shows the available parking spaces on P+R sites, combined with the times of connecting public transport. Finally, the app shows the travel time by car, traffic jams and parking costs. In this way the user can discover for himself which transport is faster or cheaper at which moment.
Accessibility of Leidsche Rijn, Vleuten and De Meern
The pilot deliberately chose to start in the districts Leidsche Rijn, Vleuten and De Meern, because this area is growing rapidly and car ownership and use is relatively high. Up to 2030 there will be an additional 105,000 inhabitants. This has consequences for the liveability and accessibility of this part of Utrecht. With this app, people can easily choose the way they want to travel. We hope that they will more often choose something other than the car, such as bicycle and public transport. That helps to keep the city liveable and accessible,” says Lot van Hooijdonk, alderman for Mobility.
Access to all transport options
The app connects different forms of transport, so people only need to register once and can pay for all the transport via the app. Our mission is to keep cities liveable and accessible for everyone,” says CEO and founder Lucien Groenhuijzen of app developer Innovactory. ,, Great that we can offer this app to the inhabitants of Leidsche Rijn and Vleuten- De Meern first. We expect through our experiences with the pre-test that the people in this part of Utrecht will experience the added value of Gaiyo”.
Smart Mobility
Gaiyo comes from Gaiyō – which means in Japanese overview – and was already tested by 150 users, then under the former name Tripps. It showed that thanks to the app, people are inclined to leave their car more often and opt for alternative forms of transport, because they are faster or cheaper. With this, Gaiyo fits seamlessly into our Smart Mobility program. We like to use smart developments to stimulate healthier, cleaner and safer travel within the province of Utrecht,” says Arne Schaddelee, deputy mobility officer for the province of Utrecht.
Part of seven national pilots
Gaiyo is the first of the seven Mobility as a Service (MaaS) pilots to go live. The MaaS pilot is expected to run until the end of 2021. As of today, the app can be downloaded throughout the Netherlands via the App Store and Google Play.
The MaaS pilots are an initiative of the government, together with market parties, to investigate whether services in the field of mobility appeal to users, are commercially viable and contribute to policy. With the data obtained through the privacy proof, the Ministry of I&W, regional governments, MaaS providers and carriers learn together how the total mobility system can be optimized. This can contribute to solutions for CO2 targets, congestion problems and congestion in public transport.
In Utrecht the pilot falls under the program of Goedopweg, in which the province, the municipalities of Utrecht and Amersfoort, Rijkswaterstaat and the ministry work together on good accessibility and a healthy living and working environment of the region.
