Presentation

  • Subject

    • Enable the development of soft mobility

  • Technological Module

    • API (Application Programming Interface)

What is soft mobility?


A generic term which embraces the design, implementation, operation and management of environment-friendly transport modes.

    Exploratory Research

  1. Information system for transportation – "Smart City"
    2. project1
    1. Project carriers

      • academia and research institutions
      • local and regional administrations
      • financial suppliers/investors
      • government
      • planner
      • political institutions and media

    2. Beneficiaries

      3. Both tourists and residents in the city.

    3. Users

      4. The users are mostly tourists, who is not familiar with the city and wish to travel in the city in an economic way. Of course, the habitants in the city are also the users, they can use the application to plan their route in a more efficient way

    4. Need

      5. Reducing traffic flow and eliminate the emission of CO2

    5. Principle

      6. Better traffic flow:
      Traffic is one of the main annoyances for many city residents, but smart city technology offers some solutions. For example, public transport routes can adjust in real-time according to demand and intelligent traffic lights can improve congestion and traffic flow. Smart technology can also alert residents to use public transit during off-hours. In many cities, public transit riders can track their bus or train locations and change routes if needed.

    6. Main technologies involved
      • Internet of things (IoT)

        • The IoT is a network of physical connected devices that “talk” to each other by exchanging data. The IoT connects the technology in a smart city. IoT devices include sensors, lights, and meters that collect and analyze data.
        sensor: Electronic, infrared, thermal, and proximity sensors collect electronic signals that are then interpreted by humans or AI. In a smart city, sensors may be installed to monitor power consumption, lighting, traffic, weather, etc.

      • Artificial intelligence (AI)

        • AI is the simulation of machines designed to mimic human decision making. For example, AI can count vehicles, pedestrians, or any other movements and keep track of their speeds. AI can detect faces, read license plates, and process all satellite data in order to establish patterns necessary for city planning.

      • Augmented reality (AR)

        • AR allows you to see your real-life environment with a digital augmentation over it. AR technology can enhance smart cities in a number of ways including emergency management and disaster preparedness. For example, AR can provide tips on where to find nearby events, restaurants, retailers, hotels, parking, or transport hubs. AR can also direct people where to find exits and evacuation points during an emergency.

      • Geospatial technology

        • WiFi is a basic building block of a smart city. It links everything from smartphones and other devices to wireless sensors. Signals from common WiFi enabled devices like smartphones and wearables can be used to plot a person’s location.

        Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is used in many devices like smartphones, smart watches, and BLE beacons. These beacons are wireless transmitters that make their location known by broadcasting a signal at regular intervals.

        Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite based navigation system that provides positioning, navigation, and timing services.

        Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a radio technology for short-range, wireless communications. It can continuously scan radar, find an object and its location, and communicate with it.

        Geospatial technology can help in emergency response situations to improve commute and transportation. It can also play an important role in supporting public health. Geospatial technology can map a disease outbreak, like COVID-19, and track its spread.

  2. New soft mobility transport options – "Electric vehicles"
    3. project2
    1. Project carriers

      • academia and research institutions
      • local and regional administrations
      • financial suppliers/investors
      • government
      • car manufacturers
      • Energy companies

    2. Beneficiaries

      3. Residents in the cities.

    3. Users

      4. Those who require a cheaper and healthier means of transportation for a shorter distance.

    4. Need

      5. Reducing traffic flow and eliminate the emission of CO2

    5. Principle

      6. Less pollution: By choosing to drive an EV you are helping to reduce harmful air pollution from exhaust emissions. An EV has zero exhaust emissions, but still creates a degree of greenhouse gas emissions when it is charged from the electricity grid. Renewable energy: If you have a solar PV system and charge your EV during the day, you can reduce your greenhouse gas emissions even further. Another way is to purchase GreenPower from your electricity retailer. Then, even if you recharge your EV from the electricity grid, your electricity is coming from renewable energy sources.

    6. Main technologies involved
      • Bidirectional charging

        • Bidirectional charging (two-way charging) allows energy to flow both ways: from the grid into the car, and from the vehicle to the grid (V2G) or to your home (V2H). This offers a major breakthrough in charging technology compared to traditional one-way chargers that can ‘only’ power your car.

      • Improved battery technology

        • Battery technology has improved significantly in the past decade, with lithium-ion battery prices falling by approximately 85% from 2010 to 2018. This has also helped to increase EV range by about 17% per year over the last ten years. As our previous article shows, this means that some high-end EVs today are already eclipsing the range of the average fuel car.

      • Production tech

        • Improved battery tech will be a crucial step for increasing EV demand, but EV manufacturers will need to ensure production keeps up and continues making improvements too. In particular, EV manufacturing will need to become quicker, more efficient, and suitable for rolling out more car models.

  3. Universal urban infrastructure
    4. project3
    1. Project carriers

      • local and regional administrations
      • government
      • construction companies
      • designing companies

    2. Beneficiaries

      3. Residents in the cities

    3. Users

      4. All people on the road

    4. Need

      5. The city requires an organized (efficient and effective) development of soft mobility.

    5. Principle

      6. “dock, lock and charge” infrastructure This provides total security and recharging for all scooters and electric bikes. This innovative system reduces operational and environmental costs for operators (reduced recharging and maintenance flows) and organises the parking of scooters and electric bikes while also improving the user experience by allowing vehicles to be returned in seconds. Urban regeneration Cycle paths and footpaths provide safe routes for pedestrians and those travelling by bicycle. Being separate from cars, vans, trucks and other vehicles on a dedicated route makes for a more pleasant journey.

    6. Main technologies involved
      • BIM (Building Information Modelling)

        • BIM (Building Information Modelling) is already fairly standard within construction, providing intelligent 3D models of buildings under construction. These models help to improve workflow and reduce errors during the construction process: AR simulations can even place BIM models in the locations they’re going to occupy when built, allowing planners to test the construction process before committing time and resources.

      • CIM (City Information Modelling)

        • CIM (City Information Modelling) takes environmental simulation onto the grand scale, recording the countless micro-events that take place every single minute of every single day in a connected city, and bringing that data together to create virtual models of cities.

      • Digital Placemaking

        • digital placemaking is concerned with enhancing the lived experience of citizens in places, with the emphasis on location-specific services, products and more playful happenings that attract people and encourage them to spend more time in a location.

  4. Information, marketing and education to Promote a new mobility culture in cities
    5. project4
    1. Project carriers

      • local and regional administrations
      • government
      • Schools
      • non-profit organization
      • energy companies

    2. Beneficiaries

      3. The public, the individuals and companies.

    3. Users

      4. The inhabitants of the area concerned. Children and young people are one of the most important target groups as their future mobility behavior can easily be influenced in a sustainable way before they adapt to a car-oriented lifestyle.

    4. Need

      5. The residents of cities depend very much on their cars and therefore it should be a goal of each city to establish a new “mobility culture”

    5. Principle

      6. Several measures are implemented aiming at changing towards more sustainable mobility behavior by information or promotion campaigns. In some cases, training courses for a more sustainable way of driving a car, also known as eco-driving, can be organized.

    6. Main technologies involved

      7. No specific technologies involved.

    Deepening

    Information system for transportation – "Smart City"
    deepening project
    deepening project
    deepening project
    deepening project
    1. Carriers and actors of the project

      • citizens (the people who use the smart city services)
      • businesses (those who create smart city services)
      • research organizations (those who research smart city services)
      • governments (those who develop the policies on smart cities)

    2. Research question

      3. How can tourists take the best advantage of public/ shared transportation to explore an unfamiliar city when they are making the travel plan in advance?

    3. The reason you selected this project

      4. On one hand, tourists contribute to a large proportion of the city transportation. Their one-time choice of transportation is easy to change when compared to residents’ long-term habits. The more choices of soft mobility, the fewer CO2 would be emitted to the atmosphere. I hope through coming up with a solution to this question, we can reduce the emission of CO2 fundamentally.

      On the other hand, I myself love traveling and I prefer to make a detailed travel plan in advance. Sometimes, because of the lack of suitable transportation, I have to either give up a fabulous tourist attraction or rent a car to get there. I believe there are many other tourists like me. I hope through solving this question, tourists can spare less effort and time making the route plan.

    User Senario
    1. Users

      2. All the people in the city

    2. Persona

      3. A young tourist, first-time to the city, wants to explore the attractions in a cheaper and more time-efficient way with 2-5 close friends. He or she hopes to see as many attractions as possible during his or her stay. Also, he or She is willing to take the advantage of public / shared means of transportation because of lower cost and fewer CO2 emission, but he or she has no idea where to search for the information and how to plan the tour in advance.

    3. Key features
      • Feature 1: Announce real-time transportation information near user's location
      • Feature 2: Suggest travellers all accessible options to one chosen attraction
      • Feature 3: Recommend route plan to users from the previous sharing
      • Feature 4: Provide a memorable album according to user's input
      • Feature 5: Allow a quick post to social media such as Instagram, Twitter or Wechat

    4. UX storyboard
      5. ux story
    Technical Analysis
    1. General principle

      2. The app can collect the real-time transportation information from the users who have already encountered the situation and reflect when it is searched. Also, after the trip has ended, users can post their route plan on the app with a fixed format. In this way, on one hand, the system can gather the information, and suggest a route for future tourists; on the other hand, the users can post the pictures (in memory of treasure time) along with their route plan link to social media like Instagram, twitter or WeChat.

    2. Technical overview - API version

      3. Actually, there have existed many APIs in such a “smart city” app nowadays. For example, in Saint-Etienne the arrival time tables of buses and trams are quite precise and accurate.

      Still, we cannot know the urgent situation in time once it happened. If such real-time updates can be posted to end users according to his or her location or destination, it will do a lot of favor to the tourists.

      Also, tourists wish to refer others’ route plan when planning themselves. What if the app can add a function that provides a fixed format for the tourists to record their journey, including the public/shared transportation they used and the order in which attractions were visited, and then the app can form a short video or a travel tips according to the input information, which is prepared for the users to post to the social media. In this way, not only subsequent tourists can have a reference, the tourist himself or herself can record the memories and share with their friends their journey with their feelings.

    3. Added value thanks to APIs

      4. Some people have the desire to share their journey, but sometimes they are too tired to write all the processes. Using API allow them to share the journey more convenient as the app is embedded with a format itself.