Do you have WhatsApp?
You are going to love public transit!
BeTomorrow launches Ally 💛 IDF: a full-scale test of the AI mobility assistant on the Île-de-France Mobilités network
Product Strategist @BeTomorrow
Introduction
From June 10th at 10 a.m. until July 10th, travelers in the Île-de-France region will be able to ask Ally directly on WhatsApp for schedules, itineraries, and real-time traffic information across the Île-de-France Mobilités Metro, Bus, and RER networks. This deployment is being launched as a real-world test: BeTomorrow invites users to try it out and share their feedback.
Context
Traveling in Île-de-France remains a stressful daily experience. The network is dense, disruptions are frequent, and the available information is often fragmented across multiple applications, websites, and display boards. Most travelers have developed a resigned relationship of waiting when it comes to transport information.
BeTomorrow is testing a concrete idea: making real-time information accessible through a simple conversation, like a message sent to a WhatsApp contact.
Ally is a mobility assistant built on open data from Île-de-France Mobilités, accessible via the Regional Mobility Information Platform (PRIM). It aggregates in real time scheduled times, route calculations, and traffic information messages for Metro, Bus, and RER lines.
A test, not a product launch
Ally 💛 IDF on WhatsApp is not currently announced as a permanent service.
The Cities Hub of the Digital Services Agency BeTomorrow wishes to measure, in real-world conditions and on a large scale, how travelers interact with an AI assistant integrated into their daily messaging.
"We designed ALLY with a focus on simplicity and data protection: only the information necessary to process the request is used, personal data is filtered before processing by the model, and traces can be anonymized or purged according to project requirements," specifies Romain Deflo, AI Product at BeTomorrow.
The feedback collected via a short form offered at the end of the conversation and shares under #AllyIDFM will directly feed into the next evolutions of the product, which is also available through other channels such as mobile apps, web, or callbots on the phone.
"We do not claim to have the definitive answer on what the mobility interface of tomorrow will be. Our role is to explore, to pit technologies against real-world uses, and to help organizing authorities and operators identify what truly creates value. With ALLY, we have a conviction about the direction to take: more readable, more contextualized, and more reassuring mobility. We are now opening it to testing, to gather feedback from travelers in the Île-de-France region and to continue developing the solution," explains Anne Malagié, Product Strategist at BeTomorrow
What Ally actually enables on WhatsApp
By adding Ally IDF to WhatsApp, users can easily access key mobility information without installing an additional application or navigating a complex interface.
Among other things, they can:
request a door-to-door itinerary, including transfers, across the entire IDFM network;
know the next departure times at a stop in real time;
be informed of active or upcoming disruptions, as well as their potential impact on a line or route;
obtain an alternative route in the event of a major incident or significant service modification.
The experience is based on a simple principle: users express their request in natural language, in writing or by voice, just like in a regular conversation. ALLY then uses the available data to provide a clear, contextualised and directly actionable response.
The service is accessible to any traveler with WhatsApp, via a QR code or by adding the dedicated number directly to their contacts.
Revelation of the mobile app version at the MOBCO show
In parallel with the general public launch on WhatsApp, BeTomorrow is previewing the new version of the ALLY mobile application at the Mobco show.
The user experience is completely redesigned around a strong principle: prioritizing what really matters to each user. The interface brings daily routes, upcoming departures, relevant alerts, and information likely to directly impact the journey to the forefront. The AI assistant completes this ultra-personalized approach by allowing users to explore a situation, understand a disruption, test an alternative, or ask a more specific question.
Demonstrations are taking place at the BeTomorrow booth (booth 42B) from June 9 to 11, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Data source: PRIM Île-de-France Mobilités.
Data reused in accordance with applicable licenses: Etalab Open License and ODbL.
Privacy Policy – WhatsApp Ally Experiment on the Île-de-France Mobilités Network.
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