Using open data to improve urban mobility and public transport
Mobility demand in urban areas is expected to increase tremendously due to population growth and the need to interconnect neighbourhoods.
Mobility Urban Values (MUV), an ongoing CIVITAS project focused on sustainable neighbourhood mobility planning, is helping to measure and understand the efficiency of local public transport services in neighbourhoods by looking at residents' mobility habits.
This is being achieved through a mobile application “game”, which aims to provide a complete view of players’ mobility flows.
By following users through their daily commutes, it paints a picture of their public transport usage and how they otherwise travel.
Data relating to factors like GPS position, speed, trip distance, and transport mode is collected by each user through their phone. In turn, this is analysed by the MUV data centre.
The information is set to help municipalities shape public transport services according to citizens’ needs.
One place where this is happening is the city of Dudelange (Luxembourg), which became an associated city in the MUV project following a call launched last year.
The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), an MUV project partner, is now working with Dudelange to maximise the impact of MUV services.
In particular, a series of specific interfaces are being created to exchange information between MUV and the government information systems already in place in Dudelange.
On the one hand, this collaboration will enable MUV to use public data – such as the location of bus stops, public transport schedules, data on air quality, sound pollution, and traffic density – to design mobility solutions tailored to Dudelange’s specific challenges.
On the other hand, it will also generate new open data relating to user behaviour, activity and engagement with the app, with environmental data also collected through MUV’s monitoring stations.
This information will be freely accessible (in an aggregated and anonymous form) and shared with other MUV cities via a dedicated city dashboard.
The tool will enhance municipal decision-making and allow cities to measure the impact of local mobility policies on factors including air pollution, congestion, and noise more accurately.
Read a longer blog article on MUV open data here and visit the project website.
Photo credit: MUV
