Optibus has launched its first machine learning product designed to assist local transport authorities and consultancies in network planning.
Strategic Planning, which has Transport for Wales (TfW) as an early adopter, unites multiple layers of key network data with machine learning and visualisation tools.
The solution is designed to offer a “comprehensive master view of network efficiency, accessibility, cost, and performance”. It includes toolboxes: “accessibility and equity” and “availability and efficiency”.
The optimisation tools are aimed at improving on-time performance, reducing vehicle overcrowding, wait times, and missed transfers; and making key destinations more accessible.
Features included in the accessibility and equity toolbox are: ridership and occupancy analysis, isochrones, impact analysis (how network changes affect different demographic groups) and GIS-based planning.
Offered in the availability and efficiency toolbox are: AI predictive run-times, which predicts travel times in seconds, even without historical data. Also included is a tool to match vehicle types and frequencies to passenger demand, as well as the ability to create seamless connections to reduce missed transfers and minimise wait times. Timetable optimisation and timetable generation are other features, while the blocking tool creates efficient vehicle schedules which respect operational and regulatory constraints.
As well as TfW, Jacksonville Transportation Authority in Florida, USA, is also among the first to use the platform.
Amos Haggiag, Optibus CEO and Co-founder, says: “Network planning is both an art and a science. Strategic Planning gives planners the ultimate technology toolkit for building more efficient and equitable transit networks, fulfilling the needs of passengers, cities, and the environment.”
