The Cabildo presented this Thursday the new GuaguApp application for smartphones. This computer tool is intended for users of intercity public transport to make its provision "more efficient, comfortable and of higher quality." To complement this service and reach people who lack this type of mobile phones, a full-color paper leaflet has been edited, presented "in a simple but very complete way," according to the Cabildo.
The presentation of the application was given by the Minister of Transport, Joaquín Caraballo; the manager of the company Arrecife Bus, concessionaire of the intercity public transport service in Lanzarote, Esther Cabrera; and Nauzet Plasencia, one of the technical developers. Efrén Pérez, Alexis Dámaso and Magdalena Dolna have also worked on the development of this application.
GuaguApp is an application for daily use that provides updated information on the routes and stops of the buses (public intercity) of the island of Lanzarote, as well as the service schedule of each line on weekdays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. In addition, it allows the user to check the minutes that are approximately left for their bus to pass through the stop where they are.
Available for Apple and Google Play
It is currently in use for Apple and Google Play, although it will soon be available for Android as well. Other particularities of this application are that it does not need to be connected to the Internet for its use and that it works automatically with the language in which the terminal is configured. In addition to Spanish, and English (the language it adopts by default), it recognizes German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, and Catalan.
GuaguApp includes a map with all the bus stops on the island, geolocation of the user with the mobile's GPS activated to know the bus stops closest to the place where they are at each moment. You can also see in real time the routes of the buses and has a satellite view and map of Lanzarote, in addition to a list of buses with automatic search by line number or by origin and / or destination and memory of the latest queries of both buses, stops or bus schedules.
The user can also make a menu of favorite stops. If you press and hold a stop, you can change the name from this view. This application is in permanent development and will incorporate improvements, such as the search engine, which will come into use soon and will serve the user to know at all times which buses to take to get from one point to another in Lanzarote. GuaguApp will inform via WhatsApp messages about last-minute news regarding the bus service.
Second island to have this application
The application is already in use in Tenerife and Lanzarote is the second island of the Archipelago to incorporate it to improve the quality of public transport service. Soon it can also be used in Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro.
In his speech on this application, the Vice President of the Cabildo highlighted "the effort that is being made from the Institution and from the concessionaire company, Arrecife Bus, to improve the public transport service of Lanzarote, both in infrastructure and efficiency as in quality."
The manager of Arrecife Bus, for her part, expressed her "gratitude to the Cabildo, the workers of Arrecife Bus and the team that has developed GuaguApp." Cabrera stressed that "the times indicated in the application are approximate, although quite accurate," and announced a forthcoming development "adapted to deaf and blind people."
Four new buses
At the end of the presentation of the application, the vice president and the representatives of the company Arrecife Bus have moved to the bus interchange, a building adjacent to the Cabildo, to see the four new buses that have recently been incorporated into the service. The incorporation of two more is planned, the first towards October and the other in December.
"The first four units acquired by Arrecife Bus and put into service recently are the first in the Canary Islands that comply with the Euro 6 regulations regarding the emission of polluting gases, of recent implementation. With the commissioning of these units, both Lanzarote and Arrecife Bus, are placed at the forefront in the use of vehicles that comply with the most demanding environmental measures and also take care of the accessibility and comfort of passengers," said Cabrera.
