Zurich: Smart bus stops create new out-of-home offering

The stops "Albisriederplatz", "Hardplatz", "Hardbrücke", "Schiffbau" and "Escher-Wyss-Platz" will be equipped with free WiFi hotspots from May 15, 2018 as part of a pilot project. The landing page, which appears after successful registration, also offers additional services. It provides access to the next departures for the stop in question and disruption reports, the online timetable, the city magazine vbzonline.ch and the VBZ job exchange, while passengers and passers-by can surf the internet within a radius of 30 meters at the stops mentioned. All they have to do is activate WLAN reception on their smartphone, laptop or tablet and select the @VBZ network. After the first login, the network and the available services can be used immediately. "With the offer at the stops, we want to further expand the services for our customers and at the same time take up the idea of the smart stop and gain important insights for a possible rollout as part of this pilot," explain the two VBZ project managers Beat Wildhaber (Head of Real Estate Management) and Martin Suter (Head of Stop Management). 

About the pilot operation

The aim of the pilot operation is to gain insights into the technical feasibility and to identify the needs of users. The pilot operation will also serve to examine the development of further stops. The project was developed and implemented together with the partners Clear Channel, which markets the advertising space at VBZ bus and streetcar stops, and ewz, which implements the technical infrastructure and provides its nationwide fiber optic network. The initial ideas were developed at a joint workshop.

Opportunities for advertising clients

Advertising clients can use the new technology to- combine their out-of-home campaign with offers on the landing page- place targeted offers for VBZ users in a precisely defined spaceThe first advertising clients to get involved are the bookseller Orell Füssli and a large Zurich cinema. Both want to create added value for public transport passengers: Orell Füssli, for example, offers free reading samples and exclusive discounts.