Bus transport company Qbuzz has been awarded the contract for bus transport in the Groningen and Drenthe regions for the next ten years. The contract will come into force on 15 December. Qbuzz’s tender includes Maas services. Qbuzz signed a contract with ICT Group for providing the Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform TURNN in the Groningen-Drenthe region.

Intermodal travel planning and tracking

TURNN reduces the uncertainty for travellers during their journey and combines all available modes of transport into an optimised travel plan that is aligned with personal circumstances. This means that from 15 December, Qbuzz allows travellers to plan their entire journey from door to door, and track their journey with the intermodal TURNN app. The app sends real-time notifications and change notices to travellers informing them if the bus or the next mode of transport is not leaving on schedule. Qbuzz wishes to enter into a long-term partnership with ICT Group, and during this partnership, both parties will gradually add more functionality to the TURNN app. Work on the first addition has already started, and this entails the expansion of the travel planner with an intermodal booking platform. A further plan is to enable payments by means of the app.

TURNN as leading platform

The objective of Qbuzz is to combine forces. “You can’t get anything moving unless you do something” says Gerrit Spijksma, Qbuzz’s General Manager. He doesn’t want to wait for government policy but is taking the lead himself. “We have opted for the best MaaS platform currently available in the Netherlands. With TURNN we want to show the positive impact of MaaS for the traveller and for public transport service providers.”

Accelerate MaaS developments

Taking the lead implies a risk for Qbuzz, but this does not bother Spijksma. “Innovating means taking risks. Our industry has been talking about MaaS for years, but the developments are very slow because of the large number of opposing forces in the world of public transport. Our mission is to combine forces and thus create a natural and ground-breaking movement. We’re going to use the Groningen and Drenthe region to show that it actually works, and we hope that after seeing this example, others will also choose the TURNN platform.”

The Groningen-Drenthe region is extremely well suited for this showcase because it comprises the complete range of dynamics: from a large town with a large number of public transport movements to smaller villages that haven’t had any bus services for years. “If MaaS is successful in this region, it will be a success everywhere”, says Spijksma with conviction.

Expansion with booking and payments

ICT Group’s Dirk Grevink is very happy with the contract. “We have been working together with Qbuzz for a number of years. Both parties are convinced that the way people travel is going to change during the next couple of years, and that MaaS will become a real alternative for travelling by private transport. A crucial factor in this transition is a high quality level of service that connects all links of the chain (bus, train, (shared) car, (shared) bicycle and taxi), and that fully supports the journey. Everyone at TURNN is fully committed to this belief.”

Media source: OV-bureau Groningen Drenthe