Managing public transport and how to move safely during Phase 2 of the COVID-19 pandemic represents one of the most significant challenges for our country. algoWatt has developed a series of solutions to respond to the need to effectively manage upcoming mobility developments, in compliance with the regulations and directives that will be issued and the safety of citizens.
For the management of flows on urban public transport lines, starting from its eMaaS platform, algoWatt has put in place two different solutions that can be used individually or come together in a third powerful solution consisting of the integrated platform Hybrid Local Public Transport (H-LPT ).
Let’s see in detail what it is.
eMaaS – Urban Safe Bus
Access to collective transport services certainly constitutes one of the phases of the production cycle of the service that will be most affected by precautionary measures and health security control. The goal of this solution is to allow users informed and responsible travel choices, making it possible. for their movements, identification of the less crowded bus, thus contributing to compliance with collective safety parameters.
To this end, algoWatt offers an app intended for users, for:
- Pre-trip: know the flow rates for transport lines and plan the best times to take public transport throughout the day. Based on the choice of the color of the chosen time slot, the information functions relating to the occupation status of the vehicle are shown.
- On-trip: access information relating to the presence of travelers within the vehicles on the various lines and get a real-time overview of the available seats
The system collects and integrates the position and occupation (attendance) data of the vehicle at the previous stop, integrating the data of the passenger counter system for the balance of arrivals and departures. Through the app, it transmits data to the user at the stop which will thus be able to assess the capacity of the vehicles that will travel that route in the next half hour.
The app provides qualitative information on the availability of seats (red, orange, green light) while the passenger counter system allows you to precisely manage the number of seats occupied in real time.
The application uses Deep Learning algorithms to “train” to assess the degree of crowding at the stops and manage the lines of greatest turnout. The interaction is based on statistical data at the main “nodes” relating to ascents and descents from the vehicle in a time range. The algorithm self-learns on the basis of the data it gradually receives and learns to give an increasingly precise estimate.
eMaaS – Demand Responsive Transport
The impacts on collective mobility deriving from the application of security policies may be mitigated by a transformation of the offer towards greater “flexibility” of the service to effectively grasp the changed needs of users. Reservation and demand-responsive services offer an ideal solution in new mobility scenarios. In fact, they naturally combine the advantage of being able to flexibly adapt the offer to the actual demand with the intrinsic feature of facilitating the control of access to the service, helping to meet the objectives of social distancing and security.
Based on the eMaaS PersonalBus® platform, consolidated by years of experience in various Italian and foreign realities and completely renewed in the eMaaS platform, algoWatt offers a solution that allows advanced management of totally dynamic flexible services, on call and booking. The product allows to:
- limiting the number of seats on vehicles, reserving a seat and effectively managing extemporaneous users who can request access to the service directly on the street;
- manage the booking of the ride and seat through the Call Center or via the App, with a fully automatic assignment of the ride and seat and the issuance of the electronic ticket;
- program and manage on-demand service modes of different characteristics, from on-call systems between stops in the area, to systems with feeder function to / from “force” TPL lines, to special door-to-door services;
- integrate with traditional TPL services with different degrees of flexibility, from the management of fixed line trips with call diversions (Fixed Line to Diversion model, LFD) to the addition of vehicles used for the flexible transport service in parallel with the line service, the gradual replacement of fixed lines with flexible routes managed in a totally dynamic way.
eMaaS | Hybrid Local Public Transport
The goal of this latter solution is to offer a complete platform for the efficient management of local public transport by combining efficiency of operations, flexibility of service and safety of people. This is achieved by taking advantage of the functionality and features offered by the two previous solutions, Urban Safe Bus and Demand Responsive Transport, which flow into the Hybrid Local Public Transport (H-LPT) platform.
Through the platform offered by algoWatt it is possible to efficiently manage:
- the reservation of fixed lines (replacing or in addition to the urban lines)
- Android / IOS app (preferable by younger users)
- Call Center (preferable by users less inclined to the use of digital devices)
- the issue of the Electronic Ticket, QRCode or booking code
- the places available on the vehicle provided to the user by means of:
- Mobile application
- Electronic sign at the stop
- the state of occupation of vehicles, through the passenger counter system or the management of reservations.
- smart integration and management of traditional LPT travel, by importing the static (and / or dynamic) GTFS model.
- no map import or complex system.
- ascent and descent control through:
- Controller app (smartphone / tablet) to view, in real time, the booked, to enforce the ascents / descents and to mark the reservations, or
- if provided, turnstiles on board to guarantee the ascent / descent to the holders of electronic tickets or electronic reservations (eMaaS App), or
- on-board device (tablet / smartphone) for the driver, to manage travel and user operations
Thanks to the numerous functions completely integrated in a single platform, the Hybrid Local Public Transport platform allows, on the one hand, user satisfaction (minimization of waiting and security of the reserved seat) and, on the other, the continuity of service (service planning, fleet optimization, spacing of seats, minimization of queues at the stop)
