Software tools for mobility management actions in industrial areas
Thematic areas
Collective passenger transport & shared mobility
- Ride sharing
- Car sharing
- Bike sharing
- Accessibility
- Intermodality
- Ticketing and tariffs
- Service improvements
Summary
Commuters comprise a major part of traffic in urban areas. Craiova will introduce a special public transportation service for work-bound travellers as an alternative to private cars.
Implementing sustainable mobility
The Craiova public transport company RAT offers transport services on a contractual basis to 23 big companies in the city. More than 150 passengers are transported two to three times a day depending on the company’s work schedule. This measure will provide an extended service for big companies from Craiova, based on a more detailed analysis of their needs. Ten buses will have GPS/GPRS devices installed and will be connected with the dispatcher.
The digital maps system for the special transport in industrial area will be designed to configure the routes for companies that require this type of service. Depending on the collection points the company defines and on the working programme, RAT together with company’s representatives, will analyse different routes using digital maps installed on the dispatcher and will select the best route. New routes could be connected with other routes on some sections, leading to a decrease in the transport costs for companies.
The system will also change the route between two collection points if traffic conditions are difficult and could cause delays. These types of services should be improved and extended to a large number of companies in order to develop a more efficient transport system. Better co-ordination of these routes, especially in peak hours, will increase traffic fluency in the city and result in more employees using public transport instead of their own cars. The implementation of the measure includes four phases: research, dissemination, demonstration and evaluation activities.
Progress
This measure is connected with the infomobility tools for fleet management measure. The connecting feature is the dispatch centre, which will be developed as a result of the other measure As a result of the planning and design phase, it was found that the best solution to optimise the special transport in industrial areas is to use a mix of digital maps and GPS software solution. All the contracts signed by RAT with companies in industrial zones were analysed and the routes, collecting points, departures points and destination were reported on the digital maps. The functions that digital maps must support were defined and the maps were installed at the central control and dispatch centre. Functional tests were also carried out and the measure will be completed at the end of 2011.
Outcomes
Craiova expects that the measure will:
- Optimise fuel consumption and route times;
- Eliminate delays and reduce traffic jams and congestion.