Ericsson shows its connected public transport concept at ITS 2015

Automated Networked Transport is Ericsson Research's concept that demonstrates how mobile network data can help improve public transport systems, and which the company presents at the STI world congress in Bordeaux, along with other of its innovations.

Solutions to optimize efficiency, safety and environmental management of the transport sector mark the proposal that Ericsson presents these days, and until next time 9 October, at the STI World Congress, which is celebrated in the French town of Bordeaux.

Among other innovations, the company exposes its Automated Network Transportation (Automated Networked Transport), a new concept from Ericsson Research that demonstrates how data from mobile networks can improve the efficiency of public transport.

The systems currently used by transport operators to plan bus schedules are not flexible and are based on a limited sample of data, and schedules often remain unchanged for relatively long periods of time.. The result is that buses make the same planned stops in the same order, regardless of whether someone is waiting at those stops or not.

A similar problem arises when large sporting or leisure events are planned and public transport networks collapse with passengers arriving in one place.. Both problems can be solved with Automated Networked Transport, as the company is demonstrating at this congress.

Specifically, Automated Networked Transport uses data from telecommunications networks to analyze the movements of people in cities and know where, when, how and why they use public transportation. The concept can be applied to create bus schedules based on the current needs of the traveler, adjusting it dynamically in real time.

In case of large events, Transport operators can review the movements of travelers in previous events of the same profile and, thus, manage custom schedules.

Almost all urban transport users carry a mobile phone wherever they go. According to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, mobile penetration reaches 99% and there are already approximately 4.900 millions of mobile subscribers worldwide. How to insure Orvar Hurtig, director de Industry & Society de Ericsson, “we have the ability to use the valuable information contained in telecommunications networks to improve transportation networks”.

The system developed by the company “collects this information from the networks and analyzes it so that transport operators have a deep understanding of traveler patterns.”. Since we eliminate any information that could be used to identify specific people, your privacy is guaranteed. Thanks to distributed computing, “A huge amount of data can be analyzed and transportation networks dynamically modified to better respond to the needs of travelers.”.

With a rapidly growing urban population, The solution to public transportation needs is not to increase the number of vehicles, since this only causes higher operating costs, traffic jams and pollution, as the company points out, that advocates for a more effective solution: introduce intelligent transportation systems such as Automated Networked Transport.

In its demonstration during the ITS World Congress, Ericsson has focused on its application in public buses, although Automated Networked Transport can also be applied to other modes of transport.

Another of the company's novelties present at this congress are:

• Connected Bus Stop: incorporates small cell technology and offers public transport operators an additional source of income and with functionality adapted to the traveler (detailed information in Digital AV Magazine).
• Connected Traffic Cloud: cloud management concept that allows traffic data and road network conditions to be shared in real time between connected vehicles and traffic authorities.
• Connected Vehicle Cloud: commercial platform that makes it easier for manufacturers and third parties to offer services and information to drivers and passengers.
• Mobility as a Service: facilitates multimodal transport and in which various means of public and private transport can be combined and electronic tickets stored on smartphones.
• Zero Site: system that combines WiFi connectivity with efficient LED urban lighting, developed in collaboration with Philips (more data in Digital AV Magazine).