Intelligent transport systems can be vital for people who live and work in a modern city, especially as they have more options than ever to get around, ranging from cars, buses and trains to emerging services like ride-sharing, bike-sharing and car-sharing.
But it isn’t always easy to find out real-time information across all travel modes and book the best option for your journey.
Sidewalk Labs, Google’s smart city unit, is aiming to change that with Coord, a new cloud-based platform that enables app developers to integrate standardised, real-time information about various modes of transportation — including data on things like parking and tolls — and offer in-app booking.
Users will be able to organise the options based on measures such as cost, travel time or environmental impact.
“By serving as the coordination layer for new mobility services, navigation tools and urban infrastructure, Coord can help unlock a seamless trip experience for people in cities and inspire new solutions to urban mobility challenges,” said Stephen Smyth, the new CEO of Coord.
“Coord can help a ride-hail service reduce kerb-side congestion by enabling it to locate a legal pick-up or drop-off zone. It can help a navigation app feature trip options that users can book in-app, including a nearby bike-share dock. It can help a car-share service bill members for tolls in real-time, giving people a better sense of the true cost of their trip.”
Sidewalk Labs envisions Coord becoming “the central nervous system for a next-generation transportation system anchored around choice, not around car-ownership,” Smyth explained.
“In the future, Coord can power fleets of self-driving vehicles that adjust their routes and prices in real time, dynamic kerbs that eliminate double-parking and make deliveries easy, and tools we can’t even imagine yet that help people find, book and pay for trips.”
Tags: Future Living, Intelligent Transport Systems, Interconnectivity, ITS, Next Generation Connectivity, Smart Future