Moving Waves

Fuel School: iPhone App to measure impact of driving behaviour on fuel use

2012-01-24T13:20:00.000Z

Here it is on the app store, and here's a screenshot. Shame there isn't a carbon footprint component, but the ability to save money will probably motivate people more than that anyway.

Sort of mad, but in a good way

2012-01-12T15:58:00.000Z

Blog post about a car free central London, achieved by a device that incorporates a scooter, a bike and an energy-storing bus seat! It's a competition winner, and a concept rather than a real implementation, but a lovely blue-sky thought.

Using sensors to monitor air quality and traffic patterns in Salamanca

2012-01-11T10:49:00.000Z

A really interesting case study from Salamanca, one of Telefonica's smart city projects, and a beautiful place where I have spent many happy hours. This includes reference to a generic M2M sensor platform called Waspmote, which deserves further investigation. The project also involves data analysis and predictive modelling.

Report of a workshop on intelligent transportation in Dubai

2012-01-11T09:54:00.004Z

Organised by Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne (EPFL). Press release here. Emphasis on efficiency and reducing congestion rather than sustainability - often but not always the same thing, of course. On the other hand, an explicit focus on ICT. Lots of interesting snippets and names.

Interesting too, that for the kinds of people taking part, ensuring inter-operability and data sharing between different applications and silos necessarily means 'centralisation' of the data; one minute the whole open source, open data, mash-up thing seems to be the common sense of the age, and the next you run into this kind of thinking.

Virtual assistant for drivers from AT&T

2012-01-10T12:29:00.001Z

Demonstrated by AT&T, and described in this press release here. Lots of really interesting technology and business model innovation, with partnerships and cloud, natural language parsing and so on. Aimed at minimising driver distraction while providing information services - there is no explicit sustainability angle, though it's easy to see how the information services could include ones that would help influence better (i.e. more sustainable) driving behaviour.

Mo: integrated system to promote modal shift towards sustainable transport behaviour

2012-01-09T14:47:00.002Z

A great idea, well illustrated in this video. Focused on Munich, it incorporates a cloud-based personal travel assistant, reward points, bike (and cargo bike) hire, personal and corporate accounts - exactly the kind joined-up thinking we expect from Germany! It also includes car rental, public transport use, and a social networking element which can be used to promote community as well as better transport behaviour. There is more detail here; but it's important to recognise that this is a project, not a working implementation.

Podcast on cloud services for cars

2012-01-09T12:24:00.000Z

Here- involving Nissan, Panasonic, IBiquity, and so on. Not listened to it myself yet, soc can't vouch for the content, but should be interesting.

Why making driving more enjoyable might not be good for the planet

2011-12-22T17:45:00.003Z

Much creative andintellectual effort goes into making things nicer for car drivers.Scanning for transport-related ICT innovations, I find lots ofprojects like this – 'connected car' projects that are about makingsure that drivers have access to their multimedia content, orIntellgent Parking Assist systems, for example.

Some projects are aboutmaking personal transport (and even car driving) more sustainable –for example, the various 'eco-driving' applications designed to givecar drivers information about how they could reduce fuel use bydriving more carefully.

Of course, someprojects both make driving nicer and also help to reduce theenvironmental impact of driving. Since most of the fuel use (andtherefore of the carbon emissions) produced by urban driving arecaused by slowing down or speeding up, route planning applicationsnot only shorten journeys and make them more pleasant, but if theyhelp the driver to avoid the most congested routes they do reduce theimpact of the car journey. Similarly, driving around looking forsomewhere to park uses a lot of fuel and produces a lot of emissions;if drivers could pre-book their parking space they'd not only behappier but also do less environmental damage.

The ICT industries aremainly run for profit. They want to make things that they can sell.Drivers mainly want to buy things (services, applications, gadgets,whatever) that make them happier. They are not for the most partinterested in things that will deliver a benefit for someone else –a polar bear, a starving African, a member of future generations. Soit's not surprising that this is where the effort goes.

Trouble is, makingthings nicer for drivers makes them more likely to use their cars,more likely to use them for longer, and less likely to shift to othermodes of transport. The academic David Metz analysed the BritishTravel Survey data to demonstrate that, notwithstanding all theinvestment that has gone into the UK road system in the name ofreducing travel time, actual travel time remains remarkablyconsistent over a thirty-year period. So where did all the saved time go? Into journeys that took the same time but went a little further.

Metz argues that thisis what rational-choice theory would predict. Backpackers and JeremyClarkson excepted, most people don't travel for the sake of it (atleast not their habitual journeys) but because it is a means to anend. Commuting extends the job market (or conversely, the housingmarket) in which we can participate. Driving to the shops extends therange of outlets from which we can buy, thereby improving ourbargaining power with potential suppliers. We don't travel for hoursand hours because there is a diminishing benefit from travellingfurther, and at some point the additional utility becomes offset bythe misery of the travelling itself.

So ICT innovationswhich make travelling more pleasant, or less unpleasant, make ustravel more – because they shift the balance in the misery/benefitcalculation. If I can listen to the music that I really like, thejourney won't seem so bad, and I'll drive a few minutes more. Thecertainty of knowing there will be a place to park at the end of thejourney takes a little more misery out of the equation. So doesavoiding having to manoeuvre through congested traffic, or being ableto do something else useful with the time, like talk to someone. Evensafety-related applications and services have a similar impact; partof the misery-price of travel is the anxiety and the vigilancerequired not to crash.

This isn't to say thateverything which makes life better for drivers must automatically beworse for the planet. It's possible that the overall benefit of say,a parking app that helps drivers find parking quicker outweighs theimpact of all the journeys that might not have been taken for fear ofnot finding a place to park. But remember that no-one can make anymoney out of selling you a journey not made, while the parking appand associated service is a nice little earner for someone. Claimsthat a new widget or service promotes sustainability need to besubject to the 'cui bono' test.

That's why I think that applications and services that are aimed at the system level - traffic flow management systems, for example - at least hold out some hope that they might deliver more sustainability benefits. Services aimed at individual users have to persuade those users to buy them, and people mainly buy stuff that is intended to make them happier. There wouldn't be much market for a car-based 'misery box', though it would do wonders for the planet.

Happy new year...

Urban Transitflow - personal travel assistant for iPhone

2011-12-19T16:21:00.002Z

Is described here, at great detail, as if it was really happening. Adam Greenfield is a very cool and inspiring talker, so it would be nice if this was real. There isn't much indication from the post that it is (somebody prove me wrong...). I wonder if he's read my earlier post about the requirements for a personal travel assistant?

Another parking app

2011-12-19T12:17:00.001Z

Described here - in English, Estonian and Russian. Available only to EMT customers. Picture of Tallinn because I couldn't face another parking meter picture.

Easy to launch P2P car sharing scheme to rival WhipCar

2011-12-16T14:25:00.000Z

Described here, in The Guardian. Very similar to the WhipCar concept described here earlier, but with the backing of Stelios and his Easy brand, and Brent Hoberman of lastminute.com. Apparently it's part of a relaunch of EasyCar, the Easy car rental service. There will be smartphone app, of course.

Interesting that someone as mainstream and conventional as Stelios is now interested in P2P. If I was WhipCar I'd be pleased; if there were never any competitors it would prove that it was a dud idea.

Nissan Leaf and the smart grid

2011-12-16T14:12:00.000Z

This article focuses on the relationship between electric vehicles, smart grid, and batteries - though a quick read suggests that the term 'smart grid' doesn't actually appear. Good - this is a nice piece that makes a complex technology comprehensible to non-technical readers, and stresses the benefits to them rather than to some distant 'environment'. Hats off to Nissan, and to the writer Ross McGuinness.

Bus management application in Curitiba, Brazil

2011-12-13T12:29:00.001Z

In this one Ericsson is actually providing the modules, and the bus management system itself - not just the underlying equipment for the telco. Includes electronic ticketing, tracking, fleet management, as well as connectivity for the users on the buses. A good one to be associated with too, because the Curitiba bus system seems to be a model for other developing country cities!

Nice.

Bus tracking in Serbia

2011-12-13T12:22:00.000Z

Another one provided by Ericsson, and described in more detail here. Essentially a bus tracking smartphone app, with additional air quality data via a related app. Again, the service is from Telecom Serbia - not sure what Ericsson does in the process, though here it did provide the devices for free. There had been a previous pilot in Belgrade - wonder why it isn't implemented there too?

Trucking/logistics case study from Ericsson

2011-12-13T12:16:00.004Z

With a video, here. The case study is interesting, though it isn't clear to me exactly what role Ericsson plays in the delivery of the service; it seems like it just provides the technology that the mobile network operator that provides the connecitivity uses. Or am I missing something?

Presentation by Fiat featuring EcoDrive

2011-12-09T14:55:00.001Z

Here. Mentioned on this blog before, but now with some interesting stats about the impact of EcoDrive, and a comparison with other CO2-reducing innovations. You have to advance the slides manually - they don't advance with the audio, for some reason.

Wheelmap - crowd sourced mapping for wheelchair users

2011-12-09T13:57:00.001Z

Slightly off topic, because it isn't strictly about sustainability; but things that make it easier for wheelchair users to get around on their own are surely relevant to promoting modal shift, aren't they?

So have a look here.

And it would be churlish not to mention that this won a Vodafone Foundation Smart Accessibility Award, when that's how I got to hear about it.

Bike sharing by Deutsche Bahn

2011-12-09T09:51:00.001Z

...those guys know how to make the trains run on time! So it's interesting that the philosophy and implementation is so different from other bike sharing schemes around the world. There are no docking stations, users locate the nearest bike (locked up by its previous user with a supplied lock) via their mobile, and unlock it by text or phone call. More information (in German, but if you don't know how to use Translate by now, where have you been?) here.

For the avoidance of doubt, this is far from the only bike-sharing scheme in Germany - there seem to be loads of them.

A big crop of autonomous (driverless) car stuff

2011-12-09T08:59:00.001Z

This concept car, which is a design student's final project, but gets reported in the press as if it is going to solve the problems of transport and sustainability. (You can tell it's a car, because it is displayed alongside some implausible shrink-wrapped 'women').

And some military unmanned vehicles, trialled in some war game exercise.

And a driver-less electric van, going from Serbia to China and negotiating real traffic on the way.

Another ho hum 'cars of the future' piece

2011-12-02T08:43:00.001Z

Here, in RCRWireless. Mainly an opportunity to trumpet the ways in which smartphones and M2M technology will make things even nicer for car drivers. No sense at all that technology might just possible change the personal transport paradigm and make new models possible.

Live bus information now available in London

2011-11-15T16:55:00.001Z

Hooray! Available via web browser, via the TFL site, or by text (you send the number of your stop to 87287). I'm sure there will be app soon, to make it easier -right, TFL? See here for more information.

iOnRoad smartphone safety application

2011-11-05T13:32:00.000Z

This one isn't really a sustainability-related application of ICT (except in so far as car crashes don't do much for the planet or resource reduction), but it's (a) interesting and clever and (b) contains elements that could be used in an application that was aimed at promoting more sustainable as well as safer driving. Though I have to admit it looks a bit distracting to me - I hope they've got evidence that demonstrates there's an overall safety benefit.

It uses the smartphone's camera to acquire visual data (the size of the car in front) and the accelerometer to add speed and acceleration data - I have to say I think that's a really clever use of the phone's capabilities. This one a 'best start-up' award, and for once it seems genuinely deserved.

Perhaps this is an idea whose time has come, because we've seen a few similar ones (like the Sprint safety app described here) in the last couple of weeks. There is a video here and a longer description here. Love the way that street names on the smartphone map are still in Hebrew, even though everything else has been translated.

O2 Germany using anonymised location data to derive traffic information

2011-11-04T10:43:00.000Z

Described in this press release from parent company Telefonica. A bit like Vodafone does, with TomTom in the Netherlands, described on this blog earlier.

Smart pedometers from Japan

2011-11-04T10:37:00.001Z

While we are on a Japan thing, how about these smart pedometers? Lots of ICT-based smart ideas to encourage walking, including gamification (yes, I know that's a horrible word, but it does capture the idea) nicely.

As a bit of a puritan I'm tempted to whine that this is just more stuff, but I can actually believe that this stuff might actually make people walk more.

Bike sharing in Japan

2011-11-04T10:32:00.002Z

Described here - a scheme run by mobile network operator NTT DocoMo, which is interesting in itself. Perhaps because of this, payment is via 'mobile wallet' - a card embedded in the mobile phone.

Talking cars

2011-10-28T17:02:00.000+01:00

From Ford - using WiFi and GPS to warn drivers about potential accidents, and described here. Boringly, they don't really talk like the cute ones in the picture- they just flash red warning lights on the windscreen for the driver to see. And it works best once it reaches critical mass and lots of other cars have the system enabled - WiFi, remember. Hope BT Openzone doesn't sod this up for everyone, they way it does with my smartphone.

IBM announcement about smart parking solutions

2011-10-28T16:54:00.003+01:00

Here - again, with video, and a brief reference to a partner company Streetline. Again, I understand that a lot of carbon emissions come from drivers looking for a place to park, so making it easier for them to find spaces reduce their overall emissions.

But it also makes the experience of driving into the city more predictable, and all-round nicer - one of the reasons why I never ever drive into the city any more is the likelihood that I won't find parking. Making it easier to find parking acts as a virtual increase in the number of parking spaces, but arguably cities should be reducing the number of parking spaces so as to encourage more sustainable modes of transport.

More about the Google driverless car

2011-10-28T16:47:00.001+01:00

In this piece from DailyWireless. Also some video footage, an explanation (sort of) about how it all works, and the brilliant news that Nevada is the first US state to make driverless cars legal.

Sprint Drive First - disables the phone when you are driving

2011-10-24T12:11:00.001+01:00

Can't help liking this, even though it won't save the planet - at least it's not aimed at making drivers more distracted with fun stuff. As ever, the capabilities being used in this could be used to develop other kinds of behaviour change application that might help to make driving a little tiny bit less unsustainable. In the meantime, a few less teenagers wrapped round trees can't hurt.

The Car Connectivity Consortium

2011-10-24T12:00:00.001+01:00

Developing a new standard and protocol called MirrorLink - see more here.

Utterly focused on in-car entertainment, with not a hint in the direction of doing anything to change driver behaviour or even driving efficiency. Sometimes the ICT industry is hard to love. Couldn't they even pretend that they care?

Driverless cars in Masdar

2011-10-24T11:58:00.001+01:00

More about this in a rather uncritical article in the RIBA Journal. Zero-carbon Masdar, in the UAE, is proceeding rather more slowly than originally planned, and the super-duper network of driverless cars is now reduced to a fleet of 13 vehicles acting as shuttles on a single route from the edge-of-town car park to the downtown area. The architects are barely able to contain their excitement, though, because the design of the pods is a little bit like the Dymaxion car that Buckminster Fuller imagined way back in 1943. Architects like Norman Foster, who is responsible for Masdar, can't help loving Bucky because of his boundless optimism that technology will solve all problems - so stormin' Norman owns a replica Dymaxion car (pictured). For a slightly different view of Fuller, see this review in the London Review of Books.

CNBC Magazine overview article about car-sharing

2011-10-10T16:48:00.002+01:00

This article was the cover story, and very good it was too. Not sure that the online version has all the detail that was in the paper version.

The British cycling economy

2011-10-10T16:39:00.002+01:00

Not really about ICT and sustainability, and sponsored by Murdoch's Sky, but interesting nonetheless. Available here, and probably lots of other places too.

Getting business people back on the rails - our first ever guest post!

2011-10-07T10:32:00.001+01:00

HakanSamuelsson, Chief Technology Officer of Axell Wireless, discusses howtrain operators can improve on-board mobile coverage to helpencourage commuters and business travellers back to using railservices.

Thepace of modern business now means it is essential to work on themove. Connected device proliferation has made this possible, but thepublic transport networks are still not up to the task. There is alsothe pressure on organisations to reduce their carbon footprintcompounding the need for improved network coverage onboard domesticpublic transport.

Theoptions for domestic business travel are limited to a straightthree-way battle between Air, rail and road. However, as driving doesnot allow access to email via laptop or smartphone and externalcommunications on a plane are still heaped with complexity, rail doesrepresent an attractive proposition for mobile working. High-speedtrains now come equipped with Wi-Fi access and power that transformcarriages into rolling workplaces, thus creating a stable environmentfor business on the move.

However,modern train carriages, built with steel for rigidity,act like a giant ‘Faraday Cage’ that deflect and interfere withRFsignal propagation. This means signalpenetration into the train carriage from the outside can be verypoor, resulting in diminished coverage, an increase of dropped callsand slower download speeds. The high speed nature of modern trainsalso complicates the hand off of wireless signals between basestations, while the complexities of different terrain and rapidlychanging outdoor signal levels of the various networks complicate theissue further.

Railoperators know that in order to push corporate commuters back ontotrains, mobile coverage onboard has to be vastly improved and muchmore reliable. One option to improve the situation is fitting trainswith Digital Repeaters, a flexible multiband wireless coveragesolution that can propagate radio signals within the coach of atrain. This enables train operators to provide a wide range ofwireless services, supplying passengers with improved coverage forvoice services and support for higher data transfer rates for mobilebroadband access. Furthermore, by deploying repeaters in tunnels,mobile coverage through mountainous terrain can be uninterrupted.This extends to make rail travel through different central Europeancountries a seamless experience as repeaters can configure themselvesto new networks at each country border.

Swedenis one country that has embraced this method of deploying digitalrepeaters on board trains to enhance mobile coverage. In fact, trainoperators and mobile carriers are working together in a consciouseffort to cut the costs in order to get business back onto the rails.After installing repeaters aboard their trains SJ, Sweden’s largesttrain operator, saw business sales grow by over 11 percent in 2007 onthe previous year. SJ claim this growth was instigated solely bycommuters seeing their services as an opportunity to work effectivelyonboard. This collaboration and success has also led to the country’strain manufacturers delivering new, more efficiently trains to helpimprove signal distribution throughout the carriages.

Sweden’strain and mobile operators’ proactive approach to improving networkcoverage aboard public transport is trailblazing a course in Europewith many other countries following in their tracks. It is clear thatimproved and uninterrupted mobile coverage aboard trains will seecommuters flocking back to rail services as businesses view workingeffectively on trains as a truly viable option for their staff.

Toyota Friend - cars get their own social network

2011-09-29T15:36:00.002+01:00

Well, their owners really, as described here; and unlike Nissan Carwings there is not much of a sustainability to angle to this at the moment (though rather like the LEAF system it will send you an alert if your battery is running low). Still, to be noted.

Renfe (Spanish Rail) and Vodafone Spain in NFC payment trial

2011-09-29T15:28:00.000+01:00

Contact-less cards, embedded in mobile phones so that you can swipe them instead of your pre-paid card. Pre-payment is good because it makes public transport easier to pay for and moves payment queues along a bit quicker. Can also help the operation of the transport operator by minimising cash handling, so an all round good thing really.

And we know that pre-payment cards can be used for other nice things (like Chromaroma) as well as not-so-nice-things, which could help to make public transport more attractive vs private cars.

Google uses rental cars to update Streetview

2011-09-29T15:15:00.000+01:00

Not strictly speaking to do with promoting sustainability in travel through ICT, but I like the crowd-sourcing angle and I think Streetview is pedestrian-friendly. So have a look at the original piece here.

MIT take on smarter transportation

2011-09-25T13:17:00.001+01:00

Defined here - a bit defeatist in my view..."Ideally, you build a city with clean, quiet mass transit and ban cars from the roads. But humans love their cars..." Lots of descriptions of whizzy stuff, leading to "a clean, quiet car with robotic wheels and extraordinary maneuverability." To be fair, the scenario does include for some car sharing: "when you need a car, you choose one from a stack in front of your apartment building, swipe your credit card and drive away, leaving the car at your destination to recharge, then repeating the process in reverse to get home."

An apps store for cars

2011-09-25T12:23:00.000+01:00

JV between Option (Belgian module maker) and Autonet Mobile. No sustainability angle, but could be a building block in making applications and implementations that impacted on driver or vehicle behaviour, or even influenced mode shift (e.g. by letting drivers know how much easier their journey would be via some other mode).

Coverage on the New York Subway

2011-09-25T09:09:00.001+01:00

Described here. It's only in the stations, not in the moving trains. It's taken a long time (work started in 2007), it's later than in other US cities, and it's only in a few stations. Still, better than London.

Missed this earlier in the year - Ford links with AT&T for electric car telematics and app

2011-09-19T16:39:00.000+01:00

Described nicely here - and much like the Nissan Leaf deployment described on this blog early in 2011. There is a smartphone app to go with it, of course, though web access is also available.

BlaBlaCar - Web 2.0 version of lift sharing

2011-09-19T12:27:00.000+01:00

Another lift sharing site, here - is it different from LiftShare? It certainly looks 'cooler' and more 'Web 2.0'. Does it have any clever way of resolving what I consider to be the key issue with lift sharing - the axe murderer question? Not that I can see.

IBM on its 'commuter pain' survey, and a promo video about its activities in smarter transport

2011-09-19T12:01:00.000+01:00

IBM press release here. The survey is interesting - but so is this thought: Is car commuter pain a reliable and useful metric in making transport more sustainable? Some cities in Europe have clearly set out to make car commuting more miserable, rather than less, to encourage modal shift to public transport. Presumably some of these will have a higher 'commuter pain' score than other more car-friendly cities - but are they more sustainable?

Also, I am not yet convinced that personalised travel advice for drivers actually scales up to a more sustainable or less congested system overall. It's possible that it does, and that better information improves the experience of every driver by increasing the utilisation of routes that would otherwise be under-used; but it's equally possible that the optimisation would just collapse as drivers began to act on it. I'd be very keen to see if anyone has at least modelled this, or even better studied the real-life phenomenon.

The (London) bus tracking app gets a little closer

2011-09-06T16:37:00.005+01:00

According to this story from the BBC. Of course, it's a trial, and it uses a web page, not a widget or a smartphone app - but it's sort of a start, isn't it? Even better if TFL made the data feed available to developers so that they mash up more interesting applications, but one step at a time, I suppose.

SignalGuru uses crowd-sourced smartphone data to deliver fuel-saving driver instructions

2011-09-06T14:21:00.003+01:00

This one is really a bit complicated. It's experimental, not really deployed; and it is about using crowd-sourced data from lots of smartphone cameras to derive predictions about when traffic lights are going to change, and thereby advice to drivers as to when to slow down so as to avoid having to brake. Braking and starting to move are the aspects of driving that use most fuel, so reducing the number of times that drivers do it saves fuel and carbon emissions.

And the point of using crowd-sourced data is that it would get rid of the need to put expensive smart infrastructure into the traffic lights and then have that communicate with the drivers' cars.

It has a cool name, of course - SignalGuru. Marketing first, testing later.

This is mainly theoretical at the moment - as far as I can tell, the MIT scientists have just presented a paper about it. Crowdsourcing would only be possible if there were enough drivers with smartphones equipped with the app, and even the authors admit that it wouldn't be compelling enough without other benefits (like...sigh...prices at different gas stations...the availability of parking spaces).

Axell Wireless

2011-09-05T15:33:00.003+01:00

This blog recently had a very interesting conversation with Håkan Samuelsson, CTO of Axell Wireless. The company has been involved with providing coverage in metro systems and railway carriages, and Hakan has lots of insights into the benefits and challenges of providing mobile coverage, including WiFi and mobile broadband coverage, to public transport users. More to follow soon, perhaps including our first 'guest post'.

Chromaroma now includes data from hire bike scheme

2011-08-31T12:19:00.002+01:00

Chromaroma, the slightly hard to characterise game based on Oyster card data, has now been extended to include data from the London cycle hire scheme. This is described in some detail in this article here, which also provides some more information about Chromaroma and how it might relate to informing more sustainable travel choices. My own personal experience of the game was that it was really tiresome and irritating, but I'm probably not in the target demographic.

Active Traffic Management

2011-07-20T12:03:00.002+01:00

Described on the Highways Agency web site - here.

Guardian supplement on smart roads and travel

2011-07-20T11:45:00.002+01:00

Sadly, the paper doesn't provide proper digital versions of the content, just a pdf of the printed pages - here.

Report by the RAC Foundation on road pricing

2011-06-17T11:08:00.002+01:00

Available for download here - lots of international examples, and discussion about public acceptance.

Crowd sourced data could help make transport more responsive

2011-06-08T18:00:00.002+01:00

A short piece to that effect in TransportXtra, here. Cites a presentation by Philip Barton, a consultant at Mouchel.

The Internet of Cars

2011-05-27T13:10:00.002+01:00

I'm not always a big enthusiast for services aimed at making things easier for car drivers, but this did seem worthy of a comment - a sound element of 'smarter' transport, if not of sustainable transport. Bump.com assigns your car an address for messages, based on your licence plate number. This lets other drivers message your car, without them needing to know who you are. Given the discussions I've been having with colleagues lately about identity in the internet age, it seems really quite clever. There are times when you need to call or message a car, not a person and this is a neat way of doing that.

More on e-Adept, Stockholm's pedestrian navigation system for the visually impaired

2011-05-10T19:00:00.003+01:00

I've blogged about this before, but there's some more detail and a video here.

London bus tracking by web and text in 'early 2011'

2011-05-10T18:51:00.004+01:00

Well, I'd say that mid-May is just about the end of early 2011, so this is officially late. Shame, because it's a nice idea, and works well in other transport networks -- as the comments below show, at least in Brighton and Edinburgh. The late arrival shows that it's wise never to underestimate the difficulty of integration with legacy systems.

This story from San Diego shows that even in the public transport desert that is the US, they can make this sort of thing work. Not all TFL's fault - lots of legacy systems developed in silos don't play well with the more recent web development world.

Smarter transport competition winners by Geovation

2011-05-10T18:41:00.004+01:00

Geovation, an initiative of Ordnance Survey that might be subtitled 'better living through Geography', held a competition with the subject "How can we improve transport in Britain?". The winners (and other entrants), some of which are really great, are described here.

The cycle map (logo above) is one of the ideas.

I'd say these were worth returning to see how they pan out.

TomTom reselling historical speed data to Dutch police

2011-05-10T18:08:00.002+01:00

Now personally I think this is wonderful. Speeding is a good example of transport behaviour that is not sustainable. Making people driver slower is a good thing. They use less fuel, they cause fewer accidents, and if their journey takes a bit longer, well then it might reduce their appetite for unnecessary journeys.

That said, part of TomTom's core proposition is that it makes driving nicer, and it must surely sell more kit and services to people who like things to do with driving and cars - rather than those who view cars and driving as a regrettable necessity.

So it's at least possible that this story is going to be the sort of thing that will provoke a backlash from Clarksons or their Dutch equivalent (unless the Dutch are so wonderful that there just is no equivalent). If TomTom has thought about that and decided to go ahead anyway, hats off to it. If not, well then it might have a nasty shock coming.

Smart parking in San Francisco

2011-04-18T12:24:00.005+01:00

So the Bay city has been making some of the running in ICT-enabled mobility lately. Here's another one - a smart parking application, using mapping and M2M.

The sustainability benefit is the reduction in all the wasted energy and carbon emissions caused by people driving around looking for places to park; the project home page estimates 30% of all driving, and I have heard higher estimates. The obvious rebound is the journeys that now get made which might not have, because the journeyer now knows that they can definitely find parking.

Can smartphones make public transport nicer?

2011-04-11T15:55:00.002+01:00

Wired magazine's 'Autopia' blog thinks that they can, as described in this piece. Most interesting part is a link to a more detailed description of a research project which required car-users in San Francisco and Boston to go car free for a defined period (it refers to this as a 'deprivation study'), which I guess it is really.

At last, something sensible from the Coalition on transport

2011-04-08T10:41:00.004+01:00

A Tory minister proposes that work start times be staggered to reduce congestion - described in this Guardian article.

Now, to be really sensible the government would be doing this itself rather than exhorting others to do it. Think how much impact that would have - especially if they carried it over into schools! See this earlier post - as good now as when I created it in 2009.

Megacities on the move

2011-03-29T16:57:00.002+01:00

New report by Forum for the Future, trailered here, with downloads. Covers lots of smart city stuff, not just mobility, and certainly worth a look. Includes some interesting future scenarios for mobility.

Great to see the coalition government behind the sustainable transport agenda - NOT!

2011-03-12T10:40:00.003Z

The cretin who is UK Transport Minister thinks that raising the speed limit on motorways will somehow get the economy growing. See this. Words fail me.

Spain has reduced its speed limit to reduce energy consumption - described here. Whatever they say, our government doesn't really believe in sustainability.

Ultracapacitor buses also use some nice ICT to improve services

2011-03-01T10:43:00.001Z

Featured here, though the ICT bit is only at the 4th minute!

Mobile network coverage in the underground (and the Channel Tunnel) - again

2011-02-04T09:44:00.005Z

A piece on the Daily Telegraph about how this will be introduced in time for the 2012 Olympics. I will believe this when I see (and use) it. It's come up every few years as long as I have been working in telecoms, and it never seems to actually happen. Lots of commercial, business model issues (who pays who, and for what) to sort out.

Note to bemused non-Londoners; although it's possible to use mobile phones on most underground systems in the world, that doesn't apply in London.

In any case, I am not sure that this will do much to promote the use of public transport. Surely no-one gets in their car for a journey because they wouldn't be able to make mobile calls if they had taken the tube? And no-one flies across from London to Paris because of the twenty minutes underground that they can't use their mobile?

Walkit.com on 'Twenty's Plenty'

2011-01-26T12:09:00.003Z

Short post on their blog - good stuff guys.

Broadband on trains - new detailed technical report!

2011-01-21T11:24:00.004Z

This was a bit of a theme in the Smarter Moves report; providing decent broadband connections on trains ought to be one more factor pushing people into using public transport rather than their own cars. But Wifi on trains, and the backhaul, turns out to be trickier than you might think. This report should shed some more light on that.

Huge list of emerging transport technologies

2010-12-20T17:51:00.001Z

Not all of them ICT, and not all of them about sustainability, but useful none the less - here.

Nissan and Telenor to roll out Carwings in Europe

2010-12-20T17:40:00.002Z

...on the back of Nissan's launch of all-electric cars in Europe, early in 2011, and described here. The plan is for Telenor to provide the connectivity for the telematics, which will include the persuasive technology and social networking aspects of Carwings. In Japan your Nissan petrol car will allow you to assess your driving, get energy-saving tips, and compare your performance with those of other Carwings members. In Europe this is going to be able to drivers of the new electric cars, which will also provide some neat capabilities designed to take some of the anxiety out of driving an electric vehicle -- like a 'how far can I drive without a recharge?' overlay on the satnav map.

Also an iPhone app (and Android coming soon) which lets you see the charge state of your battery, and turn the heating/aircon on and off remotely.

Bike route planning tool pilot in Copenhagen

2010-12-10T10:24:00.003Z

Described here, in this announcement from Living Labs Global. It's basically a roll-out of the system that already exists in Stockholm, developed by Swedish company Astando. The Danish Road Administration (Vejdirektoratet) is involved.

The tool, called Billy Bike, is a winner of a call for pilots on the future of cycling by the City of Copenhagen. The terms of the pilot are quite interesting - you can read them here.

The Civitas network and projects

2010-10-27T13:11:00.002+01:00

CIVINET is a membership network for public authorities in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and other organisations with an interest in sustainable mobility. It's part of a broader set of EU-sponsored projects called CIVITAS. Among its outputs is a document about smarter travel, which is here.

Pay as you drive insurance - the movie

2010-10-21T17:17:00.001+01:00

Here!

This is about British Columbia and is a campaigning video.

Californina strikes down one barrier to P2P car-sharing

2010-10-20T13:09:00.002+01:00

The State has smoothed the path to peer-to-peer car sharing by giving the insurance companies a guarantee that they won't be liable for accidents caused by borrowing drivers. Described here, with lots of links - though I can't help wondering what happens to pedestrians who get hit by borrowers; maybe third party liability doesn't work the same way in the US, or at least in California.

Grantham Institute publishes briefing on low-carbon transport

2010-10-20T13:02:00.002+01:00

Mainly about low-energy and low-carbon vehicles, there is a small section on travel reduction and smarter travel using ICT. Described here, and the whole report is available for download here. Lots of quantification on the impact of travel, and of the potential benefits of vehicle modifications, but much less quantification on the smarter travel side - just a slightly despairing call for more evidence.

Free WiFi on buses in Madrid

2010-10-20T12:55:00.002+01:00

The municipality of Madrid has launched a free Wi-Fi service on buses in the city. The service is immediately available on 60 percent of the approximately 2,000 buses in Madrid, reports Spanish daily El Pais. Excluded for the moment are the older ones, painted red, which the municipality has started replacing. But by April 2011 it will be possible to use the internet free of charge on all buses in the Spanish capital.See this, and also this.

Interestingly, the service is piggy-backing off connectivity needed to support location-enabled scheduling for the bus operator, and is free because it is sponsored. It's marketed under the slogan "viaja más inteligente, vive mejor" or "travel more intelligently, live better".

Forbes magazine on open transportation

2010-10-12T12:32:00.006+01:00

"By 2014 dozens of city governments will adopt open transit policies, meaning that public transit agencies and private transportation companies will coordinate schedules and information on traffic patterns and customer behavior that allows them to continually tighten connections between transportation services and improve convenience. More than 120 cities will offer seamless connections among car- and bike-sharing services, taxi ride sharing and public busses and trains."

Part of a longer piece on sharing-based business models, in turn part of a bigger piece on the magazine's look forward to 2020.

Google driverless car project

2010-10-12T12:32:00.003+01:00

Does the fact that the big G is investing in this (as described in the New York Times, here) mean that this is really about to get serious? Not necessarily, since Google fools around with a lot of stuff that it just thinks is cool or interesting. Still, if it does, then this will have been a milestone - we just can't tell at the moment.

And no, the bloke in the car isn't a driver. He's not even sitting in the driver seat. He's just a very brave robotics engineer.

Ordnance Survey creates prize fund for intelligent transport apps

2010-10-12T12:28:00.002+01:00

Described here - the initiative is called 'GeoVation', which is not nearly as catchy as 'Where 2.0', but there you go.

Data mashups and 'Where 2.0'

2010-10-12T12:00:00.002+01:00

A new buzz-phrase, and a useful introduction to the world of mashups, published here.

'Home Telepresence' solution launched by Cisco

2010-10-11T11:00:00.003+01:00

...and described here. This ought to be an unmitigated good thing, but it would be nice to have some better evidence about the impact of telepresence on travel. Given data just released about record passenger numbers at Heathrow, Telepresence is not reducing emissions from air travel - though I suppose we could argue that it might have increased even more if it were not for telepresence...

"Fix My Transport" web site on its way

2010-10-05T12:45:00.002+01:00

From the wonderful people at MySociety, and described here.

More on TFL's decision to open up its data

2010-10-05T12:42:00.001+01:00

A comment by Christopher Osborne,business development director at transport data management company ITO World and member of the Digital Advisory Board to the Mayor of London.

Transport planner predicts ICT will enable shift towards public transport

2010-10-05T12:37:00.002+01:00

As previewed here. According to the piece Duncan Ellis, senior public transport planner at consultant Colin Buchanan, says says, "By 2020 whatever our mobile phones have morphed into will become our gateway to public transport use...Applications will have developed so that public transport users are able to use mobile devices in a similar way to satellite navigation systems. Users will be able to enter a destination, with the device knowing exactly where you are, and the application will be able to tell you the quickest or cheapest or most scenic route taking into account real-time information. Your device will also include an integrated smartcard.”

The result will be public transport that is much more attractive to the occasional user and patronage will increase, especially in urban areas, Ellis believes. “This of course needs massive co-ordination between operators but the benefits should incentivise them to do so.”

What would be the signs that governments, or investors, really believed this was going to happen?

Update on indoor positioning and navigation

2010-10-05T11:12:00.002+01:00

GPS doesn't work very well where there isn't a good view of the sky, so there are various projects under way to use an alternative positioning method indoors - in car parks, for example. Would also be handy in department stores and hospitals! This recent article in the New Scientist is a good place to start.

The UK government frees a bit more public transport data

2010-09-28T15:31:00.002+01:00

The National Public Transport Data Repository, to be precise, as described here, in this rather extensive article in The Guardian. In fact, my favourite newspaper doesn't just write about the release, but also heads a crowd-sourcing/crowd-crunching exercise to do something useful with data. Still a long way from things like Swisstrains, which uses timetable data to provide a map of pseudo-realtime train movements, but knowing where the bus stops are is a start (and using British timetable information to simulate real-time information would be a bad idea - you have to be Swiss for that sort of thing).

Small personal note

2010-09-23T11:57:00.003+01:00

At the moment my personal mobility is severely restricted - I have had an operation on my foot and am on crutches. As a result I haven't been outside my house (or even upstairs) for twelve days now. It's amazing how little I've missed the outside world, connected as I have been with news, friends and such retail environments as I have needed. Is this just a reflection of what a miserable sod I am, or is it an indication of how things are going?

Adaptive traffic lights

2010-09-23T11:52:00.004+01:00

An interesting article from Wired, here. Not at all part of the hippy-dippy green agenda about how to save carbon in transport (basically, make everyone cycle), but likely to save quite a lot of carbon in the absence of major behaviour or economic shifts.

Even more about teleworking

2010-09-22T16:10:00.003+01:00

An interesting discussion on the BBC Radio 4 program 'Costing the Earth', which I listened to as a podcast - get it here. Distinguished by the fact that it wasn't just boosterism for the telecoms and IT companies, and considered whether the carbon emitted by stay-at-home workers heating their badly insulated Victorian tents outweighed that saved by not commuting.

Cardiff bike hire scheme not a success

2010-09-10T14:15:00.002+01:00

Most of this article is behind TransportXtra's subscription wall, but even so it's obvious that the Cardiff scheme has been a disappointment. It would be interesting to know more about why (surely it can't be because the signs are in Welsh?) - and this is an important lesson for those who think appeals to 'smarter travel' and voluntarism by the willing are going to be enough to decarbonise personal transport.

Cycle hire widget

2010-08-13T15:49:00.002+01:00

A little program for android phones, that integrates your location with information about the hire cycles provided by Transport for London. Lets you see locations of nearest bikes and availability. Good.

Ideas in Transit portal/wiki

2010-08-11T12:24:00.004+01:00

Resisting the temptation just to loot this for clever blog posts and make myself look better...this is a great source for information about ICT-based and other innovations in public transport. Once again, the very wonderful Glenn Lyons leads the overall project team.

Transport information breaks free!

2010-08-11T12:16:00.004+01:00

In the Smarter Moves report, we called for transport operators to make their data available to application developers. Well, it seems to be happening...according to online newsletter Transport Xtra, "Bus timetable information has been made available for smartphone app developers for the first time in the UK.
The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive has made available full bus timetable data broken down for every stop. This follows Transport for London’s lifting of restrictions on the commercial reuse of their data in June.
An LTT-sponsored Travel 2020 event will provide the first national industry forum to discuss the harnessing of open source data, with Google and TTR leading the debate."

I would put a link into the Transport Xtra site, but the article is behind a pay wall. For more detail on the TFL announcement, see here.

Morna - blog/hub/forum about travel avoidance

2010-07-07T10:22:00.002+01:00

Morna is the blog run by Kate Gibson, one of my blog's followers - so a plug seems in order. The people behind it are ex-travel industry, and it's intended to promote alternatives to travel. A good thing - shame about the on-page ads for cheap flights though.

Historical speed data - wow!

2010-07-05T16:00:00.002+01:00

Yet another thing that I didn't even know existed - collections of historic data about how fast traffic moves on particular roads. An important component of car-oriented satnavs and guidance systems, obviously.

Danish railway operator implements GSM-R

2010-07-05T15:52:00.002+01:00

GSM-R (R is for railway) is a twenty-year old technology designed to let train operators use their own special GSM networks to do stuff that they'd otherwise have to do with private mobile radio networks - driver communications and so on. It's worthy if a bit dull. By implementing a standards-based technology the Danish railways make it easier to interwork with German and Swedish railways, which makes railways a bit better as an international mode of transport. Its appearance on this blog is a bit tenuous, but not everything sustainable involves an iPhone app.

Banedanmark ushers in Europe’s future train-control system

Danish state railway selects Nokia Siemens Networks’ GSM-Railway technology for standardized railway safety communications

Denmark’s state-owned railway infrastructure enterprise, Banedanmark, is preparing for the railway signaling and train control system to be established across the European Union by 2020. It has selected Nokia Siemens Networks’ GSM-Railway (GSM-R) technology to ensure interoperability with the railways in Sweden and Germany, while increasing the speed, capacity and security of the country’s train operations.

“The new implementation will facilitate our seamless transition to Europe’s future train control system. Nokia Siemens Networks’ is helping us lay continuing foundation for one of the most secure, environmentally friendly and punctual methods of transporting people and freight,” said Kenneth Lau Rentius, CIO, Banedanmark.

Nokia Siemens Networks’ standardized GSM-R solution will bring the benefits of a secure digital voice communication and transmission for railway signaling data. While voice communication allows internal mobile voice calls - for example allowing train drivers to communicate with control centers - the data transmission will eliminate the need for external ‘traffic lights’ along the tracks, instead using proven automatic signaling technology to the train, reducing costs and ensuring higher reliability.

Under the turnkey agreement, Nokia Siemens Networks will provide GSM-R switches, base stations, registers, its intelligent network system, short message service center, dispatcher terminals and voice recording equipment. To ensure network efficiency and stability, Nokia Siemens Networks will provide a broad range of services including network design, project management, network implementation and maintenance. The deal also includes Nokia Siemens Networks’ NetAct network management system. Ensuring stable and secure operations, the network will be built with high redundancy.

“Banedanmark has always been at the forefront of modernizing its train operations to make them more reliable and efficient. Nokia Siemens Networks’ GSM-R technology will support its rapidly growing suite of on-board customer and staff applications in addition to helping it usher in the future of railway communication systems in the European Union,” said Terje Hoemsnes, head of safety and transportation, Nokia Siemens Networks. “With this deal we have added another significant milestone to our GSM-R credentials.”

Automated driving - an EU tender

2010-06-28T14:35:00.002+01:00

The European Commission has issued a tender for a study on the definition of necessary infrastructure and systems for automated driving, here. Thought you'd like to know.

Neighbour to neighbour car rentals, enabled by the web

2010-06-25T13:40:00.002+01:00

Described here (in The Grauniad, of course), and in more detail on the company's own website. Sounds good to me, though I can't help wondering (a) whether it really doesn't affect your insurance and (b) what the liability position looks like if someone has an accident while driving your car - especially if it's as a result of a defect that you didn't disclose. Can all this really be sorted? If so this is brilliant; if not then it's a disaster on wheels waiting to happen.

iPhone app for London cycle hire scheme

2010-06-24T15:36:00.002+01:00

Described here. I want to growl at developers who just make apps for the iPhone, but the fact that this is designed to work even without coverage mitigates my ire a bit, and I end up smiling.

Vehicle telematics linked to driver CO2 notifications

2010-06-24T15:10:00.002+01:00

A new product development from Telenor Connexions, the machine-to-machine subsidiary of the Norwegian telecom operator, described here. Telenor Connexions has partnered with Earthrise Technologies (no, I hadn't heard of it either), a subsidiary of the Chinese telematics manufacturer Digisec, which seems to have an interesting array of eco-oriented products and applications.

This one provides information about driving style to both the driver and the fleet manager, based on information from the 'vehicle diagnostics bus'. It's based on the assumption that drivers (or fleet managers) will do something different if they had more information about the impact of their behaviour. I still can't help thinking that if fuel costs don't make them change their behaviour, why will anything else?

Access Melbourne

2010-06-18T13:09:00.002+01:00

A car pooling and ride sharing project in Melbourne, Australia, Access Melbourne also has links to some quite cool personal navigation tools, including cycling and walking route planners. It's aimed at a semi-closed community of some specific companies in a specific area. There's a nice link to the social network micro-finance start-up Kiva,too.

Chromaroma - a social game for public transport users

2010-05-23T09:17:00.002+01:00

More on the re-enchantment of public travel use - a game called Chromaroma, currently in Beta on London transport. It uses the information collected by the Oyster card system to create the game. I'm sure there are those who would characterise this as turning the surveillance state into a entertainment; maybe I'm just not bothered enough about information privacy issues. But I will register to play and write a bit more soon.

Bike sharing in Dublin

2010-04-16T09:49:00.001+01:00

Described here. Surprisingly little ICT element - pay by credit card - and very successful. Perhaps a 'keep it simple' message?