Travels in my country

What do a mathematician and an architect get up to together? In the case of Ricardo Reis and Nuno Lopes, they have created a route calculator for public transport routes in Portugal. They include all vehicles in it and offer people the possibility of coordinating timetables in order to reduce waiting times.

Formed following a competition by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, with the aim of solving social problems in Portugal, the company Mais Perto set up the project TransportesPúblicos.PT. Here, you can find different means of transport – road, rail or river –including tourist lifts and urban buses. You can also plan journeys just by bicycle, taking into account factors such as speed and safety, or complement the use of a bicycle with public transport. At present, the project only covers the areas of Porto and Braga.

According to Ricardo, “the biggest difficulty has been getting official information from the public transport companies,” as, to date, only Maia Transportes and Transportes Urbanos de Braga have done so. Ricardo also told us that the aim was to move Portugal closer to the Dutch example, as there is only one ticket in that country for all means of transport, making them easier to use. He adds that “it would be in the interests of the transport companies to provide users with as much information as possible in order to promote their use”. Owing to its interactive nature, the project makes it possible to raise citizens’ awareness about the gulf that exists at present between the timetables of different types of complementary transport, which could makes users more demanding, Ricardo adds.

As a way of keeping the company going, which at present receives no funding of any kind, Ricardo and Nuno have accepted the support of volunteers, both through crowdfunding (1), and OpenStreetMap and the recording of journey times.

About the author

Hugo Filipe Lopes:Has a degree in sociology and a post-graduate qualification in clinical nutrition from the Egas Moniz Faculty. Collaborates with a number of online publications, a trainer and nutritional therapist. Honourable mentions in the Casa da Imprensa and Lisboa à Letra competitions..