Gaiyo launches today in the Utrecht districts Leidsche Rijn, Vleuten and De Meern. The first mobility as a service pilot (MaaS) of the Netherlands will be launched. Via the app, users can see which (sub)transport possibilities they have in their neighbourhood. In addition, they can plan, book and pay for all trips 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. You can see departure and arrival times, travel time and costs. This varies from public transport to places where a shared bike, electric scooter, car or other partial transport can be picked up. 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. This allows the user to discover for themselves 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. 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 this will help them 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. Because of this, people only need to register once and can pay for all transport via the app.
It is our mission to keep cities liveable and accessible for everyone,” says CEO and founder Lucien Groenhuijzen of app developer Innovactory.
It’s great that we can offer this app first to the inhabitants of Leidsche Rijn and Vleuten- De Meern. 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 overview in Japanese. The app 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 MaaS pilots to go live. The mobility as a service 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. Here the province, the municipalities of Utrecht and Amersfoort, the Department of Public Works and the ministry work together to ensure good accessibility and a healthy living and working environment in the region.
