Genoa transport app gets full rollout after successful trial

Branded locally as GoGoGe for the Italian city, the app is bult around Hitachi Rail’s 360Pass, claimed to be the first of its kind to enable all-city frictionless travel without the need to tap in and out at stations and on vehicles. The app allows commuters to plan, book, and pay for multimodal trips by integrating the city's public and private transport systems, tracking the user’s journey via a network of Bluetooth beacons.

In Genoa, a total of 663 buses, 2500 bus stops, the city’s metro line, two funiculars, one hillside railway, 10 public lifts and two suburban bus routes that span 50km, have all been integrated into GoGoGe. The app also enables users to hire electric cars, pay for parking or find an e-moped, and newly added functionality with national operator Trenitalia now integrates regional and inter-city train travel to ensure commuters get the lowest weekly fares.

“This is a major achievement in our ground-breaking work to digitally connect a city’s entire public transport infrastructure,” said Alessandro de Grazia, group head of Digital Sales and Smart Ticketing, Hitachi Rail. “Our completely-free to use, 360Pass app is transforming how people travel. For the first time, a person can plan, book and pay for a multi-modal journey involving inter-city trains, trams, buses, metros and e-scooters all through one app.

"This app facilitates travel from the private car to public transport for both the 600,000 residents of Genoa and the 3,500,000 visitors who flock to the city. Its power and simplicity is helping the city reduce emissions and congestion.”

According to Hitachi Rail, the app will automatically detect when the cost of a user’s travel across Genoa’s bus, tram and metro services has reached €17.50 – the price of a weekly travel card in the city. At that point, the user will then essentially travel free of charge for the rest of the week. Hitachi Rail and Genoa’s transit authority AMT believe this should enable regular transport users to make substantial savings. For example, a passenger that takes the bus and metro to work and back five days a week would automatically save €12.50 by automatically having the travelcard discount applied to their journeys.