ctb reports

85% of the 3,500 interventions registered were to do with Barik card procedures.

In September, the Bizkaia Transport Consortium (CTB) recorded double the number of queries through its Customer Service Office (OAC) in San Mamés. 85% of the 3,500 interventions registered were mainly to do with Barik card procedures, information requests and claims. In September, Monday was the day of the week with the greatest number of procedures with an average of 195. The average number of actions per day in June was 94, 87 in July and 85 in August.

The two main tasks to be performed are the partial replacement of the tracks and the upgrading of the platform for track 2 at Plentzia station. The budget estimate is €557,893 and the work is expected to take three months.

In its meeting today the General Board of the CTB also approved the tender for the contracting of private insurance for CTB and Metro Bilbao SA, to the tune of €1,950,000 per annum.

Also approved was the awarding of the work for updating and upgrading the Metro Bilbao rail transport offer generator package (GOT), with a budget of €374,016 and a completion date of 12 months.

The last point approved at today’s CTB General Board meeting was the decreasing of interest rates on a number of commercial loans, which will save €5 million per annum from now to 2026.

The aim is to bring together the terms used in the sector in four languages and make them available to the public. The dictionary has been drawn up in collaboration with the Terminology Department of Fundación Elhuyar.

These primary and secondary pupils took part in the fourth Actívate+ programme, an initiative set up by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia to encourage public engagement in the field of sustainability. The scheme is supported by the Basque Government, Consorcio de Aguas Bilbao Bizkaia (the local water board), CTB (the Bizkaia Transport Consortium), the Eroski Group and Metro Bilbao

The board of CTB has agreed that lines 1 and 2 de Metro Bilbao and line 3 of Euskotren are to operate as a single public service.

The agreement reached by CTB (the Bizkaia Transport Consortium), rail operator Eusko Trenbideak/Ferrocarriles Vascos (ET/FV) and Metro Bilbao means that when the new line comes into service the same tickets and fares will be used by both operators.

The entry into service of line 3 and the way in which it is to be run will mean that decisions must be made concerning the fare structures of the operators, so that the new route, which will become operational in 2017, can be used as just one more line on the Metro, regardless of the fact that it is run by different operators.

CTB (the Bizkaia Transport Consortium) has set up a helpline on nº 94 685 50 00 for people seeking information on matters concerned with the use of the Barik contactless card and public transport in the province.

This number (with local area code 94) has been incorporated this week into the public information services provided by CTB from its customer information office at the San Mames intermodal station, in line with a mandate from the General Assembly of Bizkaia.

The contracts offered by most telephone operators now offer free calls to landlines, so this service will mean big savings for callers. The CTB information switchboard received around 11,000 calls in 2015.

The new 94 685 50 00 service will coexist with the earlier 901 123 123 helpline for several months as the old number is phased out gradually, leaving only the local number.

On its first day of availability the app, which can be found in the Google PlayStore, obtained a total of 2414 downloads. Users who have installed the app, which lets them top up their Barik contactless cards from a smartphone running on Android 4 or higher, made 6758 queries and carried out 572 top-up operations (563 for the Barik purse card and 9 for monthly passes). The total amount paid out in these operations was €5607.20.

http://www.ctb.eus/sites/default/files/Barik2016Cast.mp4

As from Monday 29 February you can top up your Barik card via a smartphone. To begin with the CTB app will be available via the Google PlayStore, and will be for NFC-enabled phones running on Android 4.0 or higher. It will be extended to other operating systems at a later date. http://www.ctb.eus/sites/default/files/Barik2016Cast.mp4

Approval has also been given for the Bilbao Bizkaia Card tourist ticket to be used as from 1 March on Euskotren rail lines in Bizkaia and on the funicular railway in Larreineta.

The CTB has also agreed to invite bids for two new contracts to continue the work to eliminate the level crossing and transfer the line underground in Urduliz and build a new station below ground. The go-ahead has also been given for the project for signposting, furnishings and the technical office at Urduliz station.

CTB’s Barik contactless card for public transport in Bizkaia was used for 120,065,100 journeys last year. It now accounts for around 73% of all public transport journeys in the province.
Barik cards were also used on 73,895 journeys on the tramway system in Vitoria.

This scheme, promoted jointly by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the Basque Government, Consorcio de Aguas Bilbao Bizkaia [the Bilbao-Bizkaia Water Board], Consorcio de Transportes de Bizkaia [the Bizkaia Transport Consortium], Metro Bilbao and Grupo Eroski, proposes simple ideas and practical actions for changing people’s life habits in regard to water, energy, mobility, purchasing and waste management, and fosters the engagement of schools and families at home.

A standout point among the issues approved by the General Board of CTB in its meeting today was the approval of the organisation's budget for the coming year. In all, CTB is to have €200,002,884 at its disposal to enable it to meet its various obligations as a local organisation. Approval was also granted for the budget allocation for Metro Bilbao S.A., which is to be €74.5 million.

Initially, the app will work only with smartphones that run on Android 4.0 or higher and use NFC technology, though it will later be extended to other operating systems. As from Wednesday 9 December Barik cards can also be topped up online

The winners of the raffle of three mobile phones among the participants in the “Recharge the Barik with your NFC mobile” pilot project, held last 27 November at the CTB’s offices before a public notary, are the following:
- Mikel Santamaría Guerrero
- Marta Gonzalo Moja
- Mª Eugenia Moro Abascal.
The prizes will be presented to the winners next Friday 4 December at the CTB’s offices.

Having concluded this first phase of the pilot project, the CTB has decided to continue it, maintaining the Barik card consultation and recharge service with NFC mobile telephones operative.

The CTB has practically completed the reforms and adaptation works of the Mamariga shaft, the access to the Metro Bilbao Santurtzi station that was closed on 14th June due to an accidental fire that affected its interior. The opening has taken place one month and a half before the initially scheduled date.
The total cost of the repairs has been calculated at 1,375,000 euros, which will be covered almost in their entirety by the insurance company.

The works, which will take three days, will free space occupied by a building in state of ruin.
The works will not affect the surroundings of the station where, since last Easter, the shuttle buses that link the stations of Plentzia and Sopela stop.

In accordance with the terms and conditions of the raffle of three mobile telephones for the participants in the “Recharge the Barik with your NFC mobile” pilot project, the raffle will take place at the offices of CTB next 27 November at 12.30 pm, before a public notary.
Having concluded this first phase of the pilot project, the CTB has decided to continue it, maintaining the Barik card consultation and recharge service with NFC mobile telephones operative.

This morning the President of the Provincial Council, Unai Rementeria, has presided over his first General Assembly of the CTB, after the Basque Government decreed his appointment as the president of this entity. The Mayor of Basauri, Andoni Busquet, has been chosen as the vice-president of the same entity.

The meeting dealt with, among other matters, the appointment of the institutional representatives of the Provincial Council of Biscay and of the City Councils for their positions in the decision-making body of the Biscay public transport coordination entity.

Among the matters agreed upon today by the CTB’s highest decision-making body were the approval of the governing agreement for the use and maintenance of the new access to the wastewater treatment plant in Galindo of the Bilbao Bizkaia Water Consortium, built in the Urbinaga station of Metro Bilbao. Likewise, the CTB has ratified a new collaboration agreement with the Integral Logistics Technological Centre Foundation (Fundación Centro Tecnológico en Logística Integral de Cantabria, CTL) to provide advice on the implementation of a contactless payment card in this Community’s public transport system, following the experience of the Barik card, as it represents an “ideal” model for the development of the ticketing system in Cantabria, according to the senior management of the CTL.

Users of the 28,000 cards issued free in September 2011 to begin trials on the system and other cards not yet updated can extend the expiry dates at any of more than 500 points in the Bizkaia public transport network: automatic ticket machines on Metro Bilbao, Bizkaibus and Bilbobus ticket booths, tobacconists’, newsagents’ and retailers registered for the system. Just ensure that you complete the process before the date on which your Barik card expires.

The CTB is looking for a group of users of personalised (photo-type) or registered Barik card users to help test a mobile app over the next 4 months. The app is for Android 4.0 & higher OSs, and uses NFC technology.

Today the CTB (Bizkaia Transport Consortium) is starting a pilot scheme to enable Barik fare cards to be recharged via mobile devices. The CTB is currently seeking users to help test the system with a view to improving it to the level where it can be phased in on a large scale by the end of the year. Volunteers wishing to join this group should have a personalised (photo-type) Barik card or a registered card and a mobile phone with NFC technology and an Android 4.0 or higher OS.

Users who meet these requirements can sign up via the “PILOTO NFC” tab in the “acceso a mi barik” [“Access to my Barik Card”] section of the CTB website (ctb.eus). The CTB will then e-mail them a link where they can download the app onto their phones. This new app will enable users to top up any Barik card as many times as necessary just by selecting the ticket to be recharged and entering the details of a bank card (secure e-commerce) for payment of the relevant amount.