GMV modernizes Cyprus’s public bus fleet

All Cypriots who depend on the country’s 800+ urban and interurban buses for their daily commuting journeys are in luck. The technology multinational GMV, fighting off fierce competition from the biggest worldwide firms of this sector, has just won a technology modernization and upgrading contract in a public tender held by the Ministry of Communications and Public Works.

Public bus transport in Cyprus, run under a concession from the Ministry of Communications and Public Works, needed to be brought into line with passengers’ current needs. This called for an integrated real-time advanced fleet-management and fare-collection system for the seven companies running the country’s bus fleet. By coming up with this system, GMV is helping to achieve the goal of streamlining the management of available resources and improving the quality of the service offered to passengers.

The contract awarded to GMV takes in the supply, installation and integration of all necessary software and technological equipment on a turnkey basis for Cyprus’s 800-bus public-transport fleet, including an integrated fare-payment system and an advanced fleet management and passenger-information system.

Among the many advantages of the new fleet-management system feature real-time fleet dispatch and monitoring, the mining of historical service-quality information, ecodriving and real-time information given to passengers onboard the buses, at bus stop panels or by web or handheld app.

This system is rounded out by a common central back-office, diverse onboard equipment to suit vehicle type and use, plus posts of different types throughout the whole island.

All this GPS technology keeps a permanent track of all buses. The bus’s onboard computer maintains permanent communication between bus drivers and the control center, while also swapping information on such varied factors as incidents, the running timetable, personnel services, etc.

The new payment system, for its part, allows for the use of paper tickets and single-use ultralight farecards to phase out the traditional cardboard cards with barcode or magnetic band. All this adds up to a quicker, more user-friendly and securer payment system. Rechargeable MIFARE DESFire EV2 smart cards, moreover, guarantee rapid and secure payment.

MIFARE is a contactless smart card technology that has been widely taken up around the world. Back in 1996 the first transport system using MIFARE was launched in Seoul; since then this technology has gone from strength to strength, phasing in ever more solid security until reaching the latest version of MIFARE DESFire EV2. Its security matches that of bankcards or electronic passports, making it particularly attractive for providers of services such as public transport.

Last but not least GMV will set up 30 points of sale as well as modules for electronic vending, financial control and monitoring, asset management and a fare clearing system.