TMB Hackathon 2022 – Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain)

Deadline to register: 22nd of November 2022 (23h59, GMT+2)
We are looking for designers (industrial / graphic / urban / automotive / etc.), architects, makers, engineers (mechanical / transport / civil / urban / automotive / architectural / energy / robotic / mechatronic / computer / electromechanic / electronic / electric / etc.), and other innovative and creative citizens in order to build up all together both Barcelona’s next bus-type vehicle and brand-new bus stop pole.

Are you interested in advancing mobility in Barcelona to create a more sustainable city?
Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) (https://www.tmb.cat/) is proud to invite you to its Local Transport Hackathon, taking place in Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain) between 25-26 November 2022!
TMB is the main public transit operator in Barcelona. A combination of two formerly-separate companies, Ferrocarril Metropolità de Barcelona S.A. and Transports de Barcelona S.A., it runs most of the metro and local bus lines in Barcelona and its metropolitan area.
The bus network serves Barcelona and its metropolitan area through 106 lines that cover a total distance of 839.21 kilometres. The Barcelona metro network has 165 stations. It is formed by 8 lines and a funicular railway. In 2021, TMB carried 425.51 million passengers and had 8.489 employees.
TMB, supported by Youth For Public Transport (Y4PT) (https://www.uitp.org/y4pt), is looking for bright minds who could help advance mobility, benefitting all citizens.
Read below how you can participate!

The Challenges
#TMBhackathon2022 is a 2-day on-site event for multinational and multidisciplinary teams of students, developers, entrepreneurs, etc. to brainstorm and develop innovative solutions to increase user acceptance and user benefit of mobility, focusing on 2 challenges:
- Design a new bus that adapts to the current needs of passengers.
- Design a new bus stop pole, to make it a key element of the city.
For details on each challenge, please check below.
HOW?
- An in-person event will take place in Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain) between 25-26 November 2022 where teams will pitch their ideas to a specialised jury panel and work on their solution with guidance of mentors.
- Both designing and developing innovative applications advancing mobility with new solutions that will improve user acceptance and passenger benefit.
- Appropriate mentoring will be provided to all participants by experienced TMB-Y4PT staff.
- Deliberately utilising, training-in and exploring the best aspects of in-presence and remote collaboration. Transforming every disadvantage into an opportunity to learn, grow, connect, solve and inspire.
PRIZES
Winners will be entitled to the following prizes:
1st Place Winner:
- Courtesy of Y4PT: One (1) selected person, member from the 1st place winning team will participate at the 4th Y4PT Global Transport Hackathon Barcelona 2023 (https://www.y4pt.org/projects/hackathon/), in the framework of the 64th UITP Global Public Transport Summit Barcelona 2023. (https://www.uitpsummit.org/).
- Courtesy of Vueling: Each member from the 1st place winning team will receive 1 (one) air ticket, round trip, economy class, one (1) underseat bag included, from any Spanish city (served directly by Vueling only) to Porto (Portugal, Europe).
- Courtesy of TMB: Each member from the 1st place winning team will receive one (1) TMBinnova merchandising gadget pack, among other surprises.
- Courtesy of ESADE: Each member from the 1st place winning team will enjoy a guided tour at Fusion Point Lab – Rambla of Innovation, a site of experiences and creation, part of the learning, innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem of ESADE (https://www.esade.edu/en/learning-innovation/rambla).
2nd Place Winner:
- Courtesy of Fábrica Moritz: Each member from the 2nd place winning team will receive a gastronomic experience (beer tasting included) for two persons at Fábrica Moritz in Barcelona.
- Courtesy of TMB: Each member from the 2nd place winning team will receive one (1) TMBinnova merchandising gadget pack, among other surprises.
- Courtesy of ESADE: Each member from the 2nd place winning team will enjoy a guided tour at Fusion Point Lab – Rambla of Innovation, a site of experiences and creation, part of the learning, innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem of ESADE (https://www.esade.edu/en/learning-innovation/rambla).
TMBinnova Mention (selected runner-ups only):
- Courtesy of TMB: Each member from selected runner-up teams will receive one (1) TMBinnova merchandising gadget pack, among other surprises.
- Courtesy of ESADE: Each member from selected runner-up teams will enjoy a guided tour at Fusion Point Lab – Rambla of Innovation, a site of experiences and creation, part of the learning, innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem of ESADE (https://www.esade.edu/en/learning-innovation/rambla).
All participants:
- All participants will receive a participation certificate signed by TMB and Y4PT.
- Winning teams and other selected teams will be interviewed and featured prominently on TMB and Y4PT websites. They will also be publicized via the extensive media networks of TMB and Y4PT, including newsletters, which reaches millions of people.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
Please note that currently TMB Hackathon 2022 invites:
- Any youth and young professionals from Europe and all over the world; travel and accommodation expenses ARE NOT covered.
- Applications from TMB staff
- Up to 4 members per team
Participants can be individuals of any age, groups or teams of people, youth of any age, young professionals, robotics experts, etc., who will demonstrate their commitment, creativity, or enthusiasm for sustainability in their application. Are you one of those innovative and creative individuals or teams with a great ability to get the most out of limited resources? Then this call is for you!
During the TMB Hackathon 2022, participants need to bring and use their own laptops and tools.
Health rules on COVID-19 will follow legal requirements of the Spanish authorities in Barcelona.
Submissions will be reviewed by TMB and Y4PT, and assessed relative to creativity, value and potential for immediate or fast sustainability and replication.
SCHEDULE AND REGISTRATION
- Registrations are open until the 22nd of November 2022. Subscriptions acquired first are disposed of first (TMB and Y4PT will perform a shortlist).
- Winners will be announced during the TMB Hackathon 2022 finale, on the 26th of November 2022.
- By registering, it is understood total acceptance of the TMB Hackathon 2022 Rules (Catalan version prevails over other languages).
- For details on the agenda, please check below.
CHALLENGE 1: BUS-TYPE VEHICLE
Vehicles have gradually evolved in terms of accessibility, comfort, safety and especially in propulsion technology. On the other hand, mobility networks have undergone a vertiginous transformation, produced especially by the appearance of personal mobility vehicles and shared mobility networks. This challenge is focused on rethinking the bus in the face of this new reality.
How can we conceptualize and redesign the bus, both externally and internally, adapting it to the current needs of the passengers and to the coexistence with new mobility networks, including aspects such as:
- Identifiability
- Accessibility
- Security
- Safety
- Comfort
- Sustainability
- New uses
- Provision of handy information for the passengers
CHALLENGE 2: BUS STOP POLE
Taking into account the evolution of different environments that are needed for providing bus services to the citizens, this challenge deals with bus stop context.
How can we rethink and redesign the bus stop pole as a key element of the city in order to provide a higher quality in the bus service that enhances its use in virtue of meeting conditions such as:
- Identifiability
- Accessibility
- Comfort
- Security
- Safety
- Sustainability
- Provision of handy information for the passengers
AGENDA
The TMB Hackathon 2022 final pitch will be entirely run in English; team members who will lead the pitch must be able to communicate, interact with the jury panel during the question and answer session. Teams might work in Catalan and/or Spanish/English during the development of the TMB Hackathon 2022 projects. The other plenary sessions (TMB, Y4PT introductions, instructions, presentations, etc.) will be performed in Spanish solely; in case of further clarifications, TMB and Y4PT staff will be pleased to interact with any participant in English/Catalan/Spanish in private.
Day 1: Friday 25th of November 2022
Time/Duration | Description | Responsible(s) |
09:30 – 10:00 | Arrival of participants / Registration / Welcome Breakfast | Everybody |
10:00 – 10:15 | Welcome and opening remarks | TMB |
10:15 – 10:30 | Inspiring and motivating speech: What is Y4PT and what do we do? The Y4PT Global Transport Hackathon initiative and the mentors | Y4PT |
10:30 – 10:45 | TMB corporate introduction / Meeting the TMB mentors | TMB |
10:45 – 11:15 | TMB bus-related challenges specifications (intro, problems, available information, possible solutions, etc.) | TMB |
11:15 – 11:30 | Presentation of the hackathon agenda day 1 | Y4PT |
11:30 – 13:30 | Plenary session: Get to know all the participants and their hackathon project ideas: “elevator pitch” (1 minute per participant) + Team-forming finalization | Y4PT |
13:30 – 14:30 | Lunch break | Everybody |
14:30 – 19:15 | Group session: All teams start working on their hackathon projects with the guidance of all mentors | Developers |
19:15 – 20:30 | Group session: 1st check-point of hackathon projects with all mentors: “What is your idea missing so far?” / One team at a time while others keep working | TMB & Y4PT |
20:30 – 20:45 | Plenary session: Wrap-up (information on scenario of final day) | Y4PT |
21:00 | End of the 1st day hackathon meeting (teams might keep working remotely on their projects at home) | Everybody |
Day 2: Saturday 26th of November 2022
Time/Duration | Description | Responsible(s) |
09:30 – 10:00 | Arrival of participants / Registration / Welcome Breakfast | Everybody |
10:00 – 10:15 | Presentation of the hackathon agenda day 2 | Y4PT |
10:15 – 11:00 | 2nd check-point of hackathon projects with all mentors: “What is your idea missing so far?” / One team at a time while others keep working | TMB & Y4PT |
11:00 – 13:30 | Group session: Teams keep working on their hackathon projects with the guidance of all mentors | Everybody |
13:30 – 14:30 | Lunch break | Everybody |
14:30 – 15.30 | Group session: Teams keep working on their hackathon projects with the guidance of all mentors | TMB & Y4PT |
15.30 – 16.30 | 3rd and last check-point (rehearsal) of hackathon projects with all mentors: “What is your idea missing so far?” / One team at a time while others keep working | TMB & Y4PT |
16:30- 18:30 | Group session: Terminating all hackathon projects with the guidance of all mentors | Developers |
18:30 – 20:00 | Plenary session: Final presentation to the TMB Jury Panel (3 minutes pitch & 3 min Q&A) / TMB Jury panel deliberating / Hack TMB 2022 winners announcement | TMB Jury Panel |
20:00 – 21:00 | Cocktail party at the hackathon premises / Networking meeting | TMB |
21:00 | End of the 2nd and final day hackathon meeting | Everybody |

CONTACT
For further information, contact:
- Mrs. Margarida LÓPEZ ROMERO, Director of Innovation and Digital Transformation, TMB
- Mrs. Alessandra GORINI, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Y4PT-UITP Foundation
Hack TMB 2022 is possible thanks to all the partners:
Hosted by:
- TMB: https://www.tmb.cat/
Co-organized by:
- Y4PT-UITP Foundation: https://www.y4pt.org/
In collaboration with:
- MAN Bus: https://www.man.eu/
- Irizar e-Mobility: https://www.irizar-emobility.com/
- Volvo Buses: https://www.volvobuses.com/
- Evobus (Mercedes-Benz): https://www.evobus.com/
- BYD Bus: https://www.bydeurope.com/
- Caetano Bus: https://caetanobus.pt/
- Solaris Bus: https://www.solarisbus.com/
With the kind contribution of:
- ESADE: https://www.esade.edu/
- Moritz: https://www.moritz.com/
- Vueling: https://www.vueling.com/
- Cacaolat: https://www.cacaolat.es/
- Movistar: https://www.movistar.es/
