Transport hubs
Transport hubs are key elements in the transport/tourism/mobility chain. Bus/Coach counts up to 90 % of public transport trips in Cantabria and it is the essential mode to get to the main tourist attractions.
Santander Bus & Coach Station is the link between different transport modes (air transport, railway, ferryboat), providing transport & tourist information as well as some other public services. It has become the main entrance gate of our region and it should be the digital intermodal transfer hub to both public transport services and tourist destinations.
Our pilot aims at creating an AR & mobile guide to enable citizens & visitors to navigate inside the bus/coach station helping them to easily find the different desks and public offices either to buy tickets, reload smartcards, get tourist information, get public transport timetables or just find their quay to get on-board.

Pilot Development
Cantabria pilot is evolving as foreseen. After contacting the main stakeholders (Regional Transport Department, Tourism Bureau, bus station manager) in order to define the needs and operational requirements of the AR tool, CTL team carried out a comprehensive study of every floor of the pilot building, identifying hotspots, waypoints and potential tours to be provided to the visitors.
Resulting from the aforementioned study, our team mapped the building using ARway app under Android 12 system on different devices to test the accuracy of the application. Later on, the maps were improved with details using the desk version (Arway kit map studio) including 3D elements.
3D maps have been tested and QR codes have been defined with the guided tours, waypoints and hotspots to guide visitors inside the bus station. As a result, travellers will be able to find the main public services (information desks, ticket sale offices, luggage storage, etc) through AR technology and navigate inside the building just scanning the QR code.
So far, we have defined the following elements:
- Hotspots: 12
- Waypoints: 5
- Virtual tours: 8
In collaboration with the bus station managing company, TPL team in Cantabria has spotted the best locations to place the QR displayers. 6 spots have been chosen and currently we are working on the design of the QR displayer to get an appealing result.

CTL Cantabria Team
The CTL Cantabria TPL Team includes: Paz López Casar, Marín Sánchez González, María González Pereda, David Hernández Macías , Rubén Alcega Martínez and Orestes Cendrero Aso (stakeholder)