A new transport initiative using IoT to speed up public transport in Birmingham has been given the go-ahead.
Dubbed Smart Routing, the project is a public transport routeing and monitoring system that will use analytics and data caching to offer travel information even when there is no connectivity.
The collaborative project will start on 1 July and will go on for 18 months aiming to create a mobile app for the public. The project was awarded by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.
The project was proposed by five partners comprising of the University of Aberdeen, Ayoupa, Birmingham City Council, Caution Your Blast and InterDigital Europe. The goal of Smart Routing is to deliver improved user experience, reduced industry and local authority operational overheads and innovative new business models. Smart Routing is a part of Birmingham’s smart city strategy.
The project partners will develop and trial a personalised, real-time journey routeing service using the oneTRANSPORT backend system and data management model, which will also enable local authorities to better understand transport users and have more control over the data they produce.
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“Birmingham City Council sees Smart Routing as an excellent opportunity to open existing data streams for the improvement of resident’s transportation experience through the development of an effective transport application,” said Nikki Spencer, digital projects manager at Birmingham City Council.
“Birmingham is committed to leveraging modern technology to drive the development of the region for the benefit of residents and companies, and this project is a great example.”
Alan Carlton, vice president of InterDigital Europe, said that the IoT project underscores Innovate UK’s role as a global leader in driving smart city initiatives that can benefit individuals, companies and regional authorities. “As the project’s platform provider, InterDigital looks forward to bringing our IoT data and analytics expertise to this collaborative project,” he said.
Simon Moffatt, solutions architect at ForgeRock, told Internet of Business that the transport and travel sector will realise the benefits of the smart city initiative enormously.
“Connected smart traffic systems will be able to monitor and collect real-time traffic information, traffic volume/flow, speeds, and hazards,” he said.
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