Lítačka app will combine public transit with shared bikes and cars in Prague

People using the PID Lítačka application will also be able to pay directly for shared bikes or cars. Prague is launching a pilot project for unified registration and payment for mobility services.

The app was designed for use with Prague’s transit system. It can hold transit coupons and allows people to buy transit tickets. It also has up-to-date schedule information and maps.

The pilot project’s goal is to create a system to verify users of the PID Lítačka application for all participating mobility providers in the metropolitan area and also in the region served by the Prague Integrated Transport (PID) line, which includes parts of Central Bohemia.

The pilot project, which is being implemented by the municipal company Operátor ICT, will create, test, and operate a system for unified registration and payment for mobility services. This will greatly simplify using these services. Users will be able to access bikesharing, carsharing, taxis, parking, and public transport by using one application.

The system will also enable multi-level registration, thanks to which user identity verification for all participating mobility providers will be unified. It will take place online and in a matter of minutes, so it will be possible to do it at any time via a mobile phone. The proposed solution supports the creation of Mobility as a Service (MaaS).

"Thanks to the connection of all involved providers with Prague Integrated Transport within one PID Lítačka application, the use of alternative modes of transport will be significantly facilitated for all citizens of Prague, and that's how it should be in a modern, developing city," Hřib added.

In practice, the user makes a single registration, plans a route, chooses a means of transport, and pays directly for all the services used from the participating providers in one mobile application. The current situation is that for each mode of transport users have to use the applications of individual service providers or other standard means to pay the fare, and for carsharing services, for example, they have to register their driver's license separately with each provider.

The pilot project will have four stages and will last 28 months. "The first stage will focus on the detailed processing of the system architecture, which will be based on mutual functional and operational requirements," Operátor ICT project manager Vojtěch Štěch said.

"The development of software for uniform registration and payment for mobility services and subsequent integration into the PID Lítačka application is part of the second stage. The third stage will be devoted to actual testing, and the final stage is intended for trial operation," Štěch said.

The PID Lítačka app, which is available for free on Android and iOS, was launched in 2018 as an electronic version of the Lítačka card, which was launched in 2016 to replace the scandal-plagued Opencard. The app was expanded to hold annual coupons in 2019.

The city is already making it easier to combine public transit and shared bikes. People who have electronic coupons will be able to use a shared bike from Rekola or Nextbike for 15 minutes twice a day for free, for at least the next four years. The idea is that people can use public transit to get to the stop closest to work or some other destination, and then finish the journey with a shared bike.