Jesse: Digitalisation is an important part of the country's mobility offensive
On Thursday, 18 January 2024, State Secretary for Transport Ines Jesse handed over a grant notification to Managing Director Torsten Grahn of Mecklenburg-Vorpommersche Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH (MVVG). The funding is intended to support investments in the development of digital sales and control structures. The aim is to provide customers with the option of state-wide information and simultaneous ticket purchase for the most important fare offers for a state-wide mobility platform. The first functions are to be provided in the state-wide timetable app "MV fährt gut", which is already available today. "We are supporting the transport companies in the state with their investments in digitalisation. Public transport services should be made more attractive and customised. This is an important part of the state's mobility offensive," said Ines Jesse, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Tourism and Labour, in Demmin.
The introduction of the Deutschlandticket as a digital ticket has created new framework conditions and increased pressure to push ahead with digitalisation in public transport as quickly as possible. The "(((eTickets-Deutschland" standard introduced by the Association of German Transport Companies fulfils all the necessary requirements for issuing electronic travel authorisations nationwide in a uniform, digitally standardised format and for monitoring them across companies. This standard is to be successively implemented throughout the state by all public transport companies in the state.
"The investment in the development of digital sales and control structures in local public transport in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is not only a pioneering measure for the future, but also a significant step towards networked, climate-friendly and more efficient mobility," emphasises Daniel Bischof, Managing Director of VMV-Verkehrsgesellschaft Mecklenburg-Vorpommern mbH.
"Without the funding from the state, many transport companies, including MVVG, would not be able to further digitalise their sales and control technology. We hope that this will create added value not only for the company, but first and foremost for our customers," says Torsten Grahn, Managing Director of Mecklenburg-Vorpommersche Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH (MVVG).
Ministry of Economic Affairs provides local support
The total investment amounts to around 860,500 euros. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is supporting the project via VMV-Verkehrsgesellschaft Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with budget funds totalling around 652,000 euros.
The grants from the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern under the InvestDigiÖPNV guideline support the transport companies in setting up a nationwide technical infrastructure in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern that makes it possible to issue and monitor electronic travel authorisations.
Joint declaration on improving public mobility services in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Together with the administrative districts and independent cities, the state has signed a "Joint Declaration on the Improvement of Public Mobility Services in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern". Together with the municipal authorities and transport companies, the state would like to improve the public mobility services in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Among other things, further instruments are to be implemented by the state and local authorities in the long term in order to make local public transport more attractive. This includes considerations regarding the introduction of a state fare network and the pooling of expertise and structures in the area of digitalisation of local public transport. Individual aspects of the digitalisation of local public transport in the state - such as the digital sales and control capabilities of companies in the course of the introduction of the Deutschlandticket - are already being implemented.
Mobility offensive Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
The aim of the state's mobility offensive - accompanied by favourable ticket prices and the introduction of modern, digital fare and sales structures - is to create a state mobility network with nationwide, fast, interlinked rail and bus services and on-call buses that also provide access to the smallest villages in the state. To this end, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has defined three fields of action that are currently being implemented: Expansion and performance strategy for local rail passenger transport, introduction of a state-wide bus network (Regiobus MV) with regular services and the introduction of a standardised state-wide on-call bus system.
The state-wide journey planner can be found at fahrplanauskunft-mv.de. An app version can be downloaded for iOS and Android.
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