Deutsche Bahn Mobility Portal with New PTV xServers: German Rail Relies on Intermodal Routing Solution by HaCon and PTV
18 October 2006
The travel and mobility portal www.bahn.de provides travellers not only with timetables but also with route information across all transportation modes. HaCon's inter- and multi-modal routing services are now based on PTV's xServers offering travellers a faster und user-friendlier way to access travel information services.
Having arrived safely at the central station travellers wish to know how to get to their destination. Extended search options on www.bahn.de offer more than just train times. Since 2000 Deutsche Bahn has been using an intermodal and multimodal routing system developed by HaCon.
The routing method is now based on routing and map applications provided by the new PTV xServers. HaCon and PTV have been working together for many years. In addition to Deutsche Bahn, there are many public transport companies, such as Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund or Stockholm's public transport operator that rely on solutions made by HaCon and PTV.
Intermodal routing allows the user to choose different transport modes (e.g. railways, public transport and automobile or walking). The user can select stops, addresses or POIs as starting points and destinations. Multi-modal routing also allows the user to compare private transport and public transport in terms of travelling time, costs and environmental impacts - with often surprising results. Users benefit from fast routing and new features such as route displays on interactive maps. Routes are now displayed on interactive, zoomable maps. New maps are continually added. At present, travellers can use maps of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux countries. Additional functions will be included within the next few months.
More than 60 customers in 16 countries use HaCon's timetable information system HAFAS. The Windows- and Linux-enabled xServers provided by PTV can easily be integrated into existing applications. Even applications with high access rates, like the www.bahn.de portal, run reliably on PTV's xServers. Maps are immediately displayed without using plug-ins.
The solution has been implemented as an distributed application with XML interfaces. This means that the user benefits from the advantages of both systems by providing separate data management. As a result, HAFAS and the PTV xServers perfectly complement the travel information services of the Deutsche Bahn.
