Integra portal to foster transnational travel across the Atlantic area beyond the START project

To improve travel accessibility in the Atlantic area, nine cities and regions implemented projects within START to make it easier to travel to, from, and around the Atlantic regions using environmentally friendly, collective modes of transport.

In May 2012, the START project will end. However, the Integra concept and web portal will live on through the soon to be developed Integra Association. Since the success of the Transnational Forum in Lisbon in October 2011, eight members have now signed the Integra letter of intent, incl. Merseytravel and Burgos, La Rochelle, Lisbon, Cantabria, Águeda, Entroncamento, Région Bretagne.

Untill May 2012, the START project now focuses to promote Integra to attract new cities and local authorities to become members. Furhtermore, the Integra portal is now actively promoted towards European travellers.

The partners are also planning to develop the portal further and the Portuguese partner ISEL is developing a Facebook application which will complement and be linked to the existing Integra portal. This application will allow users to rate existing routes, add new routes and provide comments on their journey experiences and provide a true collaborative experience for the user.

Seamless Travel across the Atlantic area Regions using sustainable Transport (START for short) is a project implemented within the European Commission’s Transnational Territorial Cooperation Programme from January 2009 to May 2012.

The START project: http://www.start-project.eu/
The Integra portal: www.integra-travel.eu