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Mobility lab launched

After signing a letter of intent in July last year, five key partners from politics, economics and academia in Valais launched the mobility lab in Sion today. The Canton of Valais, the city of Sion, the EPFL, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO) Valais-Wallis and Swiss Post Ltd are pooling their expertise in order to create, develop and test innovative mobility solutions.

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4 November marks the mobility lab’s launch for a period of five years. With the signing of this framework agreement, the five partners are striving towards the same objective: to develop the interdisciplinary synergies to be found in all aspects of mobility, to showcase experimentation and to implement new mobility solutions for public benefit.

The first projects in the launch phase

The mobility lab is starting by launching a series of four initial projects (see annex attached). The first consists of analysing behaviour when choosing mode(s) of transport in the conurbation of Sion and its surroundings. The aim is to gain an overview of mobility practices in the region so as to implement alternative measures to cars. The second project aims to develop a groundbreaking e-ticketing solution based on smartphones and WiFi technology. Users will be able to travel without buying a ticket, knowing that they will pay for the service afterwards. The third project aims to develop intelligent and innovative solutions in order to optimize management and performance of shared mobility systems. Based on the self-service bike hire network in the city of Sion, the goal is to develop new planning and management tools and customer interfaces to improve usage of the system. Lastly, the fourth project consists of developing carpooling as a complement to traditional transport options, especially in regions that are not as well served.

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Signing of the framework agreement by the partners of the mobility lab (from left to right): François Seppey, Director, HES-SO-Valais-Wallis, Marcel Maurer, Mayor of Sion, Susanne Ruoff, CEO Swiss Post Ltd, Jean-Michel Cina, State Councillor Canton of Valais, Jacques Melly, State Councillor Canton of Valais, André Schneider, Vicepresident EPF

Photo: Signing of the framework agreement by the partners of the mobility lab (from left to right): François Seppey, Director, HES-SO-Valais-Wallis, Marcel Maurer, Mayor of Sion, Susanne Ruoff, CEO Swiss Post Ltd, Jean-Michel Cina, State Councillor Canton of Valais, Jacques Melly, State Councillor Canton of Valais, André Schneider, Vicepresident EPFL (Photograph: PostBus)

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