OneTransport, a IoT-powered smart city initiative aimed at improving British transport links, was deployed at the British Grand Prix MotoGP last weekend to enhance visitor experience.
The organisers used the project to gain traffic insight to improve transport flows for people who attended the Silverstone Circuit, which is in Northampton, England. It’s also using the tech to improve experience for future events.
According to the creators of the initiative, data that can impact traffic flow already exists, although it’s fragmented and fails to give organizers a holistic picture for them to analyse. The idea is to improve operations.
The OneTransport solution aims to put all these pieces together. During the event on the weekend, the technology provided the event teams with information on how to manage traffic peaks coming in and out of the Grand Prix MotoGP.
This follows a successful trial held at the British Formula One Grand Prix, which took place in July. Again, the solution measured traffic slows before, during and after the event to provide organizers with sophisticated insights.
Several other Silverstone events have been planned to take place over the next few months, and OneTransport will be used throughout them – helping to create detailed analysis and test the solution even further.
OneTransport is a two-year project launched by Innovate UK, and includes the support of eleven partners including Arup, Buckinghamshire County Council, Clearview Intelligence, Hertfordshire County Council, Highways England, Imperial College London, Northamptonshire County Council, Oxfordshire County Council, Traak Systems, Worldsensing and InterDigital Europe.
The partners have contributed different technologies to make the project happen and will assist transport authorities in the future. It’ll become an integral part of the UK’s smart city movement.
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A better MotoGP experience
Alex Lacey, head of events at Silverstone Circuits Limited, explained that the events attract thousands of visitors annually and the company’s aim is to provide the best possible visitor experience.
“As one of the UK’s leading sporting venues, Silverstone Circuit attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year who arrive at the venue utilizing a number of transport modes, and we are constantly looking for ways to improve our visitor experience, which includes the journey to and from the venue,” Lacy said.
“In order to improve the customer experience and as part of our evolving traffic management plan to accommodate our customers and provide accurate travel information, it is vital that we have the latest transport data available to us and our partners.
“Silverstone fully recognizes the value that the oneTRANSPORT project will bring in the future, enabling strategic and local transport data to be made available via a single data platform.
“The potential to build on this platform and create tailored transport information solutions is of interest to Silverstone, and we look forward to continuing our participation with the project in the future.”
Alan Carlton, vice president of InterDigital Europe, said of the MotoGP project: “The use of the oneTRANSPORT project’s technology at Silverstone is designed to provide greater access to, and analysis of, traffic data.
“All of the oneTRANSPORT partners have worked together to open up previously closed data sets that can help to reduce congestion and deliver a better travel experience for all at Silverstone. As the first step towards a live commercial deployment of the technology, we are thrilled with the results that we have seen so far.”
Tim Gammons, global Intelligent transport systems leader at ARUP, said: “We are firm believers in harnessing data and enabling technology to create new levels of convenience for organizations and the customers they serve.
“The oneTRANSPORT project offers a simple to use customer dashboard that clearly presents carefully analyzed data to deliver maximum possible value to all concerned.”
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