The Abertis Foundation, Barcelona city council, the Catalan Down’s Syndrome Foundation, the public transport operators Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGC) and Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), toghether with Telefónica close the school year giving a positive assessment of the second edition of the KanGo! Project, promoted by the Abertis Foundation.
A total of 210 students from 12 schools and 18 young people from the Catalan Down’s Syndrome Foundation took part during the 2015-2016 school year. KanGo!’s main goals are to ease mobility in the school areas of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district, to boost and encourage the kids to use public transport and at the same time to foster the workplace integration of young people with intellectual disabilities or Down’s Syndrome, which act like “Cooperants”.
The meeting held at the end of the academic year was attended by Daniel Mòdol, councillor for the district of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi; Sergi Loughney, Director of Institutional Relations and CSR of Abertis and Director of the Abertis Foundation; Catalina Trias, General Manager of the Catalan Down’s Syndrome Foundation; Enric Ticó, Chairman of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya; Enric Cañas, CEO of Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona; and Enrique Santiago, Director of Companies and Public Administration for Teléfonica in Catalonia.
KanGo! will take place again next academic year and the goal is to reach even more children and schools. This 2015-2016 year the number of students and schools doubled the figures of the previous year. The schools taking part of the project are IE Costa i Llobera, Jesuitas de Sarriá-Sant Ignasi, La Salle Bonanova, Jesús-Maria Sant Gervasi, Tàber, Projecte, Lleó XIII, l’Horitzó, Decroly, Canigó, Le Lycée Français and Dolors Monserdà-Santapau schools.
In spite of the evaluations from the participant families are not still closed, the surveys carried out since now point out a high index of satisfaction, especially regarding the initial expectations from parents. 91% of parents give the project a good or very good evaluation and 96% thinks that it much helped to develop children’s autonomy.
The KanGo project!
The KanGo! project seeks to take advantage of new technologies and mobile devices to encourage children to become more independent and improve mobility while at the same time increasing peace of mind for parents and promoting the use of public transport to reach school.
KanGo! “Cooperants” with NFC-enabled devices on hand wait for the kids at a total of 10 bus stops and 4 train stations closest to schools to ensure that children check-in with their ID cards, which feature an NFC chip. Card readers were also installed at the entrances to the schools. As soon as the card is checked-in, parents automatically get an SMS or an email informing on their kids’ location.
To take part in this project children must be between 8 and 14 years old, hold the T12 travel pass, carry an ID card with an NFC chip, and make sure they swipe their passes when they board transport and arrive at school.
The KanGo! project is an example of an initiative that adopts a practical approach to a mobility issue while also delivering social and environmental benefits. Its goal is to achieve mobility that minimises negative impacts on the environment and life quality whilst at the same encouraging the use of public transport.
The Abertis Foundation is active in three key spheres (road safety, culture and the environment) and works to mitigate the impact of the Abertis Group’s activity in the countries in which it operates.
Its commitment to society encompasses an extensive road safety programme aimed primarily at the most vulnerable groups: schoolchildren, inexperienced young drivers and older motorists. In the sphere of culture, the Abertis Foundation collaborates with the world’s leading cultural institutions. In the environmental arena, its Castellet Castle headquarters is a UNESCO world centre for Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves and hosts a wide range of conferences and activities.
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