Slovakia-based navigation app developer Sygic has unveiled its Smart Mobility Platform for cities, which offers local authorities tools to analyze, develop and implement an intelligent traffic management system comprising high-performance computation backend services and mobile applications for commuters.
Advancing beyond smartphone-based navigation apps geared specifically toward individual drivers, Sygic’s Smart Mobility Platform aims to tackle the issue of traffic congestion that is worsening worldwide, negatively affecting the environment, economies and quality of life.
In Europe, urban traffic congestion costs the EU nearly 1% of its annual GDP and accounts for 40% of all CO2 emissions. In the USA, research shows that the average commuter spends 42 hours each year stuck in traffic. In general, traveling in congested conditions increases travel times by a factor of 3-4 and carbon dioxide emissions by 80%.
Sygic’s new platform offers local traffic authorities the ability to roll out central navigation and traffic management apps that monitor and optimize commuters’ use of public and personal transport, from cars and bicycles to public transport services. The platform also enables the development of more traditional mobility apps for commuters, allowing citizens to reach their destinations via the fastest and least congested routes possible.
Collecting data from Sygic mobile application users and making use of Microsoft’s Azure cloud-based supercomputing resources, the solution provides real-time predictions of traffic levels, commuter behavior analysis, and forecasts of possible scenarios should certain transport infrastructure be closed or altered in any way.
With this data, city officials can coordinate use of a city’s infrastructure to make sure traffic flows as efficiently as possible. Cities can also use the platform’s data analysis to evaluate infrastructure quality and sustainability, to predict the effect of infrastructure changes, and to plan public transit routes, priority lane strategies, waste management and street cleaning services, and efficient traffic signaling.
“Our first-of-its-kind platform will allow city authorities to promote specific forms of transport at specific times, creating traffic mitigation strategies that save the city time and money,” explained Radim Cmar, Sygic’s Smart City solutions architect.
“At the same time, commuters will be provided with fully integratable mobile navigation apps, giving them the optimal routes all the way to their parking spot at any hour. Building on the success of our mobile navigation apps, our new platform will help build the smart cities of the future, helping them design and implement their infrastructure, transport strategies, traffic management tech, and fully integratable apps. This platform is capable of revolutionizing how we move in and out of our cities.”
