Bombardier Announces Winners of its Innovation Contest on the Future of Urban Mobility

• YouCity competition attracted 215 entries from 74 countries
• Almost 900 students and professionals with a vision for the future of urban mobilitytook part in the online competition at www.youcity.bombardier.com
• Winners will work on a joint proposal to help shape the future of mobility in cities around the world, to be presented at the InnoTrans 2012 rail trade show

(3BL Media) Berlin - August 15, 2012 - Rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation has announced the winners of its interactive YouCity innovation contest. The competition demonstrates what smart, interconnected urban mobility could look like in the future to move more people than ever before quickly and efficiently. By 2050, more than two out of every three people in the world are expected to be living in cities.

“Sustainability is central to our goal of providing market-leading mobility solutions today and in the future,” said Martin Ertl, Chief Innovation Officer for Bombardier Transportation. “Many of the 215 proposals we received since launching the YouCity contest in March this year are visionary ideas aimed at shaping the future of how we travel in and between cities. Alongside our proven products and technologies, some of these ideas could help to make public transport even more passenger-, operator- and eco-friendly.”

Bombardier invited candidates to develop their concepts in one of three workstreams: engineering (product definition, technical concept), business (business model, stakeholders, financing strategy) and urban planning (network layout, urbanism concepts, integration). To focus the contest, candidates tailored their proposals to one of three cities that represent the different markets for urban mobility around the world: London, UK (mature market), Belo Horizonte, Brazil (BRIC[1] market) and Vientiane, Laos (emerging market). A jury of experts at Bombardier evaluated the concepts, which were voted for by YouCity’s online community as well as on social media.

In the engineering workstream, the winning concept is the AutoShuttle rail transport for motorways in mature markets such as London. Individual transparent cabins would transport cars along motorway routes on dedicated Maglev (magnetic levitation) lanes at 180 km/h. Drivers would be able to choose at any time to take the next exit and join the conventional road network. The proposal is based on existing transport technologies and offers shorter door-to-door travelling times, higher levels of safety and lower emissions than conventional motorway travel.

The winning business concept is called Liquid Oyster and is based on London’s existing Oyster pay-as-you-go card. In a two-step approach, Liquid Oyster would start by automatically applying daily, weekly and monthly price caps when their cost is reached. Travellers would no longer have to choose to pay weekly or monthly travelcard prices instead of using daily pay-as-you-go. In the second phase, a continuous pricing scheme would limit the total of all fares paid over a 12 month period to the cost of an annual travel card. The proposal is based on the existing system and offers simpler and more flexible public transport pricing.

In urban planning, a proposal for different coloured zones identifying different parts of Vientiane won the contest. Travellers could more easily agree fares and vehicle sharing for taxis and tuk-tuks (motorized rickshaws) by using different colours to identify the different villages (administrative areas) that make up Vientiane. These vehicles are the main means of public transport in the city because they are quicker and more flexible than the public bus system.

Bombardier has invited the three winning teams to its head office in Berlin, Germany to collaborate on a final proposal for the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. They will present their joint proposal in Berlin at the world’s largest rail trade show, InnoTrans, on September 20, 2012.

The members of the jury that selected the winners were Professor Hubert Klumpner, Chair of Architecture and Urban Design at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich university; André Navarri, President and Chief Operating Officer, Bombardier Transportation; Josef Doppelbauer, Chief Technical Officer, Bombardier Transportation; Katrin Luger, Vice President Group Strategy, Bombardier Transportation, Sharon Christians, Vice President Group Communications and Public Affairs, Bombardier Transportation and Dagmar Blume, Senior Director Strategy and Sales Governance, Systems, Bombardier Transportation.

For more information about the YouCity contest, visit www.youcity.bombardier.com 

About Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation, a global leader in rail technology, offers the broadest portfolio in the rail industry and delivers innovative products and services that set new standards in sustainable mobility. BOMBARDIER ECO4 technologies – built on the four cornerstones of energy, efficiency, economy and ecology – conserve energy, protect the environment and help to improve total train performance for operators and passengers. Bombardier Transportation is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and has a very diverse customer base with products or services in more than 60 countries. It has an installed base of over 100,000 vehicles worldwide.

About Bombardier
Bombardier is the world’s only manufacturer of both planes and trains. Looking far ahead while delivering today, Bombardier is evolving mobility worldwide by answering the call for more efficient, sustainable and enjoyable transportation everywhere. Our vehicles, services and, most of all, our employees are what make us a global leader in transportation.  

Bombardier is headquartered in Montréal, Canada. Our shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD) and we are listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America indexes. In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, we posted revenues of $18.3 billion USD. News and information are available at bombardier.com or follow us on Twitter @Bombardier.

Follow Bombardier Transportation on Twitter @BombardierRail.

BOMBARDIER and ECO4 are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.

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