People who live and work in Cambridge can now use a new mobile travel app and smart wayfinding screens to plan the best way of getting around the city.
The app and screens all use real-time travel and other data collated through the Intelligent City Platform (iCP), developed with the University of Cambridge, together with other data sources such as Google Transit, Twitter data feeds and weather reports.
Bus and train times, traffic monitors, air quality readings and cycle sensors are just some of the thousands of pieces of data being processed and analysed daily to predict traffic movements and provide real-time information, Smart Cambridge explained.
It’s hoped the new technology will help the city reduce congestion and vehicle pollution.
Free to download to smartphones, the MotionMap travel app provides accurate predictions of travel times and suggests the best routes using a mix of buses, trains, walking and cycling. The app also has a carbon counter to encourage people to travel more sustainably.
Digital wayfinding screens showing the latest travel updates and useful visitor information are being installed at key transport interchanges such as Cambridge railway station, providing signposting, travel times and useful information. Similar screens are also going up in the foyers of public buildings and large employers, offering specific travel and other information for staff and visitors.
“The new app and screens at the station and other city locations will be further developed and the data expanded, but we want these tools in use now — so residents, commuters and visitors can test them out and tell us how they can be made even better,” said Councillor Lewis Herbert, leader of Cambridge City Council and interim chair of the Greater Cambridge Partnership.
Tags: Cambridge, Intelligent Transport Systems, Smart Cities, smart planning, travel