Public transports in data age

Public Transports in Data Age

Teresa Galvão Dias -FEUPDezembro 2011

Too much data, not enough knowledge

Citizens mobility is a major problem

Cities are increasing very fast which demands a well structured plan for mobility and transportation planning.

Transportation and traffic issues are major concerns for governments, authorities and municipalities.

Promoting the use of public transports is vital for environmental sustainability and to reduce carbon emissions.

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The Data Age• Data has became central to all activities and

business areas.

• Concerning mobility and transports, data may come from different data sources, with different owners, providers and users.

• Mobility and Transport Data is› dispersed

› complex

› Valuable

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There is some gap between the amount of data and information available and the knowledge that we can extract from it.

Data sourcesRaw data› GPS data

› Mobile data

› Sensor data

› Publicly available planning data (e.g., GTFS)

Proprietary systems› GIS (Geographic Information Systems)

› Operational Planning Decision Support Systems

› Fleet Management Systems

› Fleet Maintenance Systems

› Ticketing Systems

› ERP Systems

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Data providers

Who owns the data?› Public transport operators

› Transport authorities

› Government organizations

Who has access to the data?› Software houses

› Public transport operators... sometimes…

Who will provide the data?› Data owners... however…

› Software houses …. however…

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Data usersAll these data is useful to:

• Politicians

• Urban planners and policy makers

• Public Transport Operators

• Passengers and Citizens

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What for?

• Defining the offer

• Understanding the demand

• Income distribution among operators

• Resources planning and management

• Controlling the operations

• Evaluating the operation

• Public Information

Public Transport new challenges

Better resource planning allows the company to control costs and to offer a better service.

Passengers are more and more exigent concerning public transport services.

Updated and real time passenger information promotes the use of public transports

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Resource planningCurrent trends

Interaction› Good Usability

› GUI based

› Flexibility

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Information› Integrated

› Consistent

› Online

Solutions› Interactive

› Smart

› Robust

› Fast

Passenger InformationCurrent trends

Mobility› Flexibility (customization:

paths, timetables, vehicles)

› Integration (intermodality)

› Environment (consumption, air, noise)

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Information› Integrated

› Intelligent

› Interactive

› Visual (graphics, map based)

› Online

Technology› Geo-referenced data (GIS)

› Position (GPS)

› Portability (smartphones)

› Mobile (GSM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, infrareds, ...)

› Informatics (processors, graphics)

SOME EXAMPLES IN PLANNING AND SCHEDULING

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Planning and scheduling GIST 3 – Network module

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Optimization and Transportation Planning

Planning and scheduling GIST 3 - Vehicle and driver scheduling

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Optimization and Transportation Planning

Operations ControlGESBUS

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Optimization and Transportation Planning

SOME EXAMPLES IN PASSENGER INFORMATION

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SMSBUS ® - Real Time Information with Text Messages

› 40.000 messages a day during initial month of free usage (4.000, after 0.20€ cost).

› 2005: 1st prize IV Fórum Telecom “Public Services of Information”.

› 2006: 1st prize Deloitte/DiárioEconómico “Electronic Services

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Optimization and Transportation Planning

INFOBOARD: real time informationusing large displays for Porto Metropolitan Area

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Optimization and Transportation Planning

INFOBOARD: real time information using large displays for Porto Metropolitan Area

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Optimization and Transportation Planning

SPIDER MAPSAutomatic production of Spider Map Posters› Schematic maps with all bus

routes available from one specific area

› An optimization approach being applied in partnership with FWT, UK

› It is already being used by STCP (Porto) and Carris(Lisbon) but it can be extended to a metropolitan area

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Optimization and Transportation Planning

Move-me.com - Real time multimodal route planner

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Internet Application ANDROID System

Optimization and Transportation Planning

www.rotapartilhada.com -carpooling web platform

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Optimization and Transportation Planning

Too much data, not enough knowledge

There is a huge amount of data collected by heterogeneous data sources that are successfully used for specific purposes.

However, to take full advantage of the available data there is the need of:

› Systems INTEGRATION

› COLLABORATION among operators and organizations

› POLITICAL commitment

› Resources QUALIFICATION

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ConclusionsA new era requires innovative solutions for public transport services.

Most of these solutions involve complex problems often requiring intelligent approaches.

Solid knowledge and innovative ideas for transport planning and public information are needed.

Political and institutional commitment play a major role in this new generation of products and services.

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