Xerox announced the Xerox Mobility Companion, an innovative travel solution that interfaces with the systems of different transport operators and providers in a city or region to offer citizens door-to-door trip planning. The solution combines all available travel options such as bus, train, tram, bicycle, car sharing, carpooling and electric car battery recharging services and thus supports Mobility as a Service (MaaS) operations.

The Xerox Mobility Companion makes travel intuitive and user-friendly via the web or a smartphone app. The traveller inputs the departure and arrival points, desired travel time and individual preferences such as cost, carbon footprint, maximum walking time and number of connections. The application then offers the traveller the best routes, multi-modal travel options and prices established from a wide variety of mobility partners, both public and private.

The Mobility Companion uses two modules to compile and update its information:

  • The Trip Planner, invented at the Xerox Research Centre Europe, computes complex options from the data it receives from the different operator and provider networks across the city or region. It calculates and adjusts travel itineraries that combine multiple kinds of transport based on up-to-the-minute schedule information and individual user preferences. It notifies the traveller of any delays, and suggests alternatives to reach their destination.
  • The Repository Manager continuously updates the schedules for the Trip Planner based on the knowledge the provider has and the information they have received from travellers. The platform interfaces with the ticketing systems of the operators and partners.

“Cities and regions are increasingly looking for ways to improve the traveller experience and promote the use of sustainable modes of transport,” said Jo Van Onsem, group president, International Public Sector, Xerox. “Xerox has developed a single solution that enables us to address both these challenges. The power of the solution lies in its ability to combine complex travel options and multiple operator networks across a whole geographic region.”

The Mobility Companion is part of a suite of urban mobility solutions that Xerox provides around the globe. This platform will soon be deployed in France.

The Xerox Mobility Companion was demonstrated on Xerox’s stand (2.304) at Intertraffic Amsterdam 2016.