In most large cities, the public transportation system can get overwhelming, inefficient, and expensive—particularly during rush hour when the roads are at their busiest and the subways are packed with commuters. The good news is that some innovative public transport solutions are available to help ease congestion and make life easier for travellers and commuters alike. Here are the nine innovative public transport ideas currently in place around the world today.
1] Autonomous vehicles
Are there cars and trucks that can drive themselves down our highways and city streets without any human input? The idea might seem like science fiction, but it’s also closer than you think. Many companies are working hard on autonomous vehicles for cars, buses, trains, trucks, and more. Google Inc. (GOOG) has been testing driverless cars in Austin since the summer of 2014, while auto-parts supplier Delphi Automotive Plc (DLPH) just put a new self-driving minivan on public roads in Detroit last year. Many transportation experts believe that fleets of autonomous vehicles—combined with public transit—will be crucial in solving some of today’s most complex challenges around urbanisation, environmental degradation, and social injustice. This will be the best innovation in public transportation that can change the transportation industry.
2] Automated parking systems
People spend hours in their cars every day, and most of that time, they’re driving somewhere. What if they could store their cars at a central location—perhaps at work or a shopping centre—and then get picked up by an automated car service when needed? Think of it as automatic valet parking for your entire life. It’s definitely not a new idea, but it could make life much easier for people who need to drive, park and transport themselves. Of course, there are many obstacles, including cost and technology challenges. But with advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence, there’s reason to believe self-driving cars will one day be commonplace.
Integrated tickets
Smart ticketing systems are starting to make waves in cities across Europe and Asia. In South Korea, for example, a national card scheme has been in place since 2004. Stored-value cards—such as Seoul’s Tmoney, Paris’ Navigo, and Singapore’s Ez-Link—can be used on almost any public transport network in their respective city, including subways, buses, and taxis. Since London introduced its Oyster Card system in 2003 (smart cards also exist for Melbourne and Hong Kong), more than 10 million people have travelled on its Tube with an Oyster or contactless payment card. This innovative public transportation idea saves the time and effort of both service providers and customers.
3] Mobile Ticketing
One of the public transport innovations that will become common in the future is called mobile ticketing. It will be done by installing e-fare validators on vehicles. The transport companies will use them to activate the tickets you purchase through your mobile application. With Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology, this passenger does not need to have any physical cash or tickets to buy their ticket and doesn’t need to deal with the driver to pay for their fare. This technology has already become common in retail and in-person commerce. The virus threats are made this technology adoption necessary for every business.
4] Data Insights & Route Optimization
Data is revolutionizing the world as we know it, and it has the potential to change public transportation as well. Utilizing the aggregated data from technology like mobile ticketing and fare collection can help create efficiencies and enhance the accessibility of public transportation
AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location ) is an excellent tool for getting this type of data and providing insight into the driver’s performance. These programs utilise GPS, computer, and analysis systems to track transit vehicles and help operators in their duties.
5] Multimodal Accessibility
Since public transportation is transforming into a mobile capable operation. There needs to be a user interface and experience that is streamlined and intuitive. It would be one thing to have a mobile application that lets you purchase and redeem fares on buses, but another if it layered in parking tickets, e-scooters, and rail.
When travelling, you no longer need to purchase a ticket for the different public transit companies separately; you can open the mobile application and plan your entire journey from there. It is one of the innovative public transport ideas that can prove beneficial to everyone.
6] Fare collection from accounts
With riders in mind, transit technology is in the process of creating a more personalised rider experience. A trend in this space is Account-Based Automatic Fare Collection. Travellers have their trip details, documents, and account information in a user-friendly, customisable dashboard.
With these public transport innovations, passengers can find and pay for public services accessible by account-based fares collection. And manage different modes of transportation in a more simple way and store specific routes or journeys. Also, the service providers do not need to manage multiple user accounts, payment methods, and receipt/billing information.
7] Rod Traffic as a software
There is a good chance that the introduction of autonomous cars will create a central software to monitor. And, in the event necessary, control the entire traffic system. There are several reasons for this which are primarily pragmatic. The different manufacturers of AI that runs cars have algorithms that could interfere with each other. which necessitates the presence of additional software that mediates collisions.
Autonomous traffic management software can ensure fewer traffic jams by effectively controlling traffic flows and improving safety. The artificial intelligence behind it will take care of the requirements of both humans and the vehicles carrying the goods. It will help to avoid accidents too.
8] High-Speed Travel
Currently, various trains are being developed to provide speedy trips. Hyperloop is an example of innovation in public transportation that has picked up a lot of momentum and has been linked to route ideas worldwide.
People will change the way they commute between cities with the advent of new modes of transportation. Leading to impacts on real estate prices and increased demand for some cities due to faster connections to more cities.