ITS World Congress 2019
Integrate local attractions discovery with on-demand urban transportation system
The ITS World Congress is the world’s largest and most prominent event focused on smart mobility and the digitalisation of transportation. Co-hosted by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore and the Intelligent Transportation Society (ITS) Singapore, this 26th edition will be the first time this Congress is being organised in Southeast Asia.
The Congress’s principal theme “Smart mobility, empowering cities” was chosen to highlight how Intelligent Transport Systems can enrich people’s daily life through smart solutions that put the user and the user’s personal needs at the centre of mobility systems of many cities. The theme also reflects “Singapore’s commitment to create the most liveable smart city in support of a higher quality of life and an ever-connected community”1.
Project ALLY
During the congress, NEC and SWAT Mobility - a startup providing on-demand bus services in Singapore, Australia and Vietnam jointly co-create and launch public trial of ‘Ally’, an app offering AI-based, personalized local attractions discovery functions coupled with an on-demand bus booking service.
The aim is transform urban mobility and address social challenges posed by city developments in building a more sustainable urban transportation system by optimizing the number of vehicles on the road to reduce the environmental impact and ease traffic congestion
During a four-day trial (21st to 24th October 2019), congress delegates and members of the public who download and create their profiles on the Ally app are able to experience on-demand bus rides for free within a geofenced area extending from Dhoby Ghaut to the Marina Bay Sands area and parts of the central business district.
Combining SWAT’s dynamic bus routing algorithm with NEC’s personalization engine supported by machine learning technologies, Ally make recommendations on potential places of interest, including malls, retail shops, restaurants and other attractions based on data points such as the user’s interest(s), profile, location and time. Once the user selects their destination, the app generates an optimized route in real-time and automatically assigns a bus servicing the area to the rider.
In addition to cost savings, Ally will allow users, particularly visitors from overseas, the ability to explore lesser-known areas more efficiently and encourage the use of more environmentally-friendly modes of transportation.