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Over here at TechCrunch , our clock time is often spent finding and reporting on the next new young affair in mobility , fromautonomous dronesandelectric air taxistoself - driving trucksand evenbatteries made of composition . While this tech , in theory , may someday aid people and good move from point in time A to B , much of it is just that — possibility . Hope . Promise . Showy demos to imprint VC investors .
That ’s why we dig into the technology that ’s help cities move today . Some of it is unsexy , but transportation is , more often than not , a utility .
We ’ll take a unaired look at the tech helping move two U.S. cities — Miami and New York City — and run through a few other standout innovations in 2023 .
How Miami uses on-demand transit
Miami has been working with theodolite technical school company Via to bring in in on - requirement passage since 2020 . The service , formerly called GO Connect , launch during the COVID-19 pandemic as a first- and last - mile solution , occupy in the gaps between where people live and major transit hub . Three years later , Miami - Dade rebranded the help to MetroConnect , adopted it into its all-inclusive public theodolite web and sum four novel service zone .
Within a month of rebranding and expanding , MetroConnect completed 69 % more rides and saw a 70 % increase in ridership , according to Via . The company also say MetroConnect has , since its origin , increased access to 57 % more jobs within a 45 - minute of arc commute by relate rider to transit hubs , two - third base of whom report that they do not have entree to a car .
Carlos Cruz - Casas , chief origination officer at Miami ’s section of transport and public works , enjoin TechCrunch MetroConnect has helped boost public transit ridership , which saw a drop during the COVID-19 pandemic .
“ There ’s no reserve for well - run fixed - route service , ” said Cruz - Casas . “ We actually realise that the best marketing tool for get people back on transit is frequency . ”
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While the city amplify MetroConnect ’s on - need microtransit , it also worked with one of Via ’s preparation products to optimize its bus internet . The city used Remix , the transportation planning tech that wasacquired by Viain 2021 , to build its Better Bus web plan . The plan , which move live in November , involved realigning 99 bus path to create a internet of mellow - frequency corridors .
“ We went from five corridors that were frequent to more than 20 — for us that mean running every seven and a one-half minute , 10 mo , 15 minutes . All solar day , everyday , ” said Cruz - Casas . “ Miami - Dade county is bigger than some states , though . We ca n’t provide that oftenness everywhere . That ’s where the on - demand transit comes in . ”
finally , Via will add vehicle from May Mobility , a driverless engineering science company , to its MetroConnect fleet in Miami . May Mobility and Via latterly announce a partnership to provide arider - only on - demand microtransit servicein the retreat community of Sun City , Arizona . May ’s elan has so far been to move cautiously , so we do n’t bear to see a widespread Miami launch for some time .
Cruz - Casas also noted that Miami is working with Via on a full intermodal head trip planning solvent between fixed - route and on - requirement military service . Miami ’s conveyance section has been partner with a ship’s company calledSwiftlyto provide big information analytics and more accurate real - sentence information for its GO app .
“ I am a big fan of the technologies that allow for real - fourth dimension feedback because you feel endue to make decisions and it ’s a lot more easy to use public transportation system when you have accurate real - clock time information , ” said Cruz - Casas .
Bringing NYC’s subway system to the 21st century
New York City ’s iconic subway system organisation is more than 100 class quondam . Most of the investment into the tube today is concentre on modernization to help the century - erstwhile system encounter the needs and expectations of customer living in an earned run average of high technology .
Part of that has been slenderize the rubbing to ride . Anyone who ’s ridden the NYC underpass will jazz that frustrating , and bizarrely nostalgic , feel of rushing to make your train , swiping your MetroCard and barreling forward through the turnstile in one apparent movement , only to be bodily met with an unmoving alloy bar because you did n’t swipe correctly or , even worse , have INSUFFICIENT FARE .
“ We ’re up to over 50 % of underground riders and a significant percentage of bus passenger using strike - and - go one way or another , ” Jamie Torres - Springer , president of MTA building and development , told TechCrunch . “ And it ’s actually even better . Seventy percentage of the riders who are currently eligible to use OMNY are using it . ”
During the COVID-19 pandemic , the MTA ’s ridership fell to about 5 % . Today , the military service is at around 80 % of pre - COVID ridership , fit in to Torres - Springer .
“ Very interestingly , as we ’ve recovered ridership over the last class or so , that entire convalescence has been using OMNY , and MetroCard user have been bland , ” he say . “ Which means that through the comfort station , we are attracting people back or attract new riders to the system . ”
The full phase - out of the MetroCard wo n’t happen until all MTA users can easily get at the OMNY defrayal platform .
Another quintessential NYC subway experience is riding to work when suddenly the train stops in a tunnel . And it does n’t move . The conductor ’s vocalisation crackles over the speaker and you recall you get word something about a signal malfunction . You chequer your earpiece and have no reception . There will be no texting your boss to get them jazz you ’ll be belated . All you’re able to do is beg for motion .
The MTA is working on making experiences like that less vulgar , and we ’ll get to that in a minute , but in all likelihood a nearer - term Band - assist for such an occasion is the agency ’s plan to bring cell service to all underpass station and tunnels . The citysigned a deal in 2022withBoldyn , formerly Transit Wireless , to build up out cellular phone signal in all subway tunnels . Today , it ’s in station citywide , which can convey you through to many of the tunnel as long as they ’re not of a significant duration .
have service in the burrow will be helpful for trip preparation , and the city is work to ensure better real - fourth dimension information through communication - ground train mastery ( CBTC ) . CBTC uses telecommunication between the train and racecourse equipment to supervise traffic . “ Now you always know exactly where the train are , and you could run them closer together and quicker , ” said Torres - Springer , noting that the 7 business line saw on - time performance ameliorate from 68 % to 91 % , and speeds increase from 8 % to 14 % , after implementation of the technology .
CBTC is n’t precisely new technology . It was ab initio adopted close to 30 years ago , but the MTA is ramping up installations . The delegacy is investing $ 6.7 billion out of a total $ 55 billion five - year computer program into CBTC improvements , and presently has five lines under construction , with plans to do another two “ material , long lines . ” The MTA work out with telecommunication providers Siemens , Thales and Hitachi to make the signals work .
The city ’s operating agency are also working to implement prognosticative maintenance for NYC ’s subways , but Torres - Springer says that ’s challenging because there are more than 6 million separate plus within the organisation .
“ We ’ve been around for 100 years . A circle of the info about the asset is tuck into somebody ’s notebook in a shop somewhere , ” he said . “ First we got to get the inventory . Once we do that , we can really act upon with prognosticative sustainment analytics tools . ”
Honorable mentions
A number of other companies , some of them working on frontier tech , also helped people and packages move from point A to manoeuver barn in 2023 . Here are some of the ones deserving highlighting .
Alphabet - possess autonomous vehicle fellowship Waymo has made considerable headway this class , notably in Phoenix . Waymodoubled its Waymo One service areain May , associate downtown Phoenix with East Valley and adding Scottsdale . Waymo ’s overhaul area around the Phoenix expanse is now more than 225 square mile . And after initiallylaunching autonomous airdrome ridesfor member of the public in December 2022 , Waymo this monthlaunched curbside pickupat the airport . In October , Waymo alsoteamed up with Uberto set up its Waymo Driver in the ride - hailing app in Phoenix .
Zooming out of the U.S. , Israeli dealings management startup NoTraffic worked with Nvidia and Rogers Communications to specify up a 5G - connected AI - enabled traffic management solution at the University of British Columbia in 2023 . NoTraffic , whichraised $ 50 millionearlier this year , offers hardware and software package that turn intersections into wise intersections that can conduct dealings stream based on real - time datum .
UBC provide the perfect metropolis microcosm to try out the effect of this combined technical answer to traffic menstruum . The city campus not only see thousands of commuters everyday , but also plenty of walker and cyclists . NoTraffic say over the course of instruction of a twelvemonth , wait times decreased by a aggregate of a thousand days for both machine and pedestrians . atomic number 6 emissions were estimated to have been thin by several gross ton , with economical benefits exceeding $ 100,000 .
Meanwhile in the Netherlands , another Israeli inauguration — Moovit , a trip - preparation app — has partnered with Arriva , which operate train and bus avail in the area . Together , they launchedglimble , a Moovit - powered white label app that assist users plan , pay and ride with any public transport operator , share transportation or micromobility supplier throughout the entire body politic .
Through glimble , Moovit pulls together official information from all Dutch transport agencies and crowdsourced information to calculate the good road for each journey , with options for bus , rails , tram , surreptitious , ferrying , taxi , Uber , car sharing , scooters and bikes . The app is also available in 45 languages , which helps tourists and immigrants employ it , too .
Around London , a startup calledRoute Reportsis helping keep trains running on time and safely by mapping the tracks . In autumn and winter , leaves and ice on railway make the tracks slippery , so driver carry on with caution . That ends up causing delays and military service cancellations , so during those colder calendar month , Transport for London stop up offer less - frequent serving , says Connell McLaughlin , CEO of Route Reports . In the worst caseful , train encountering unexpected conditions fail to kibosh , and collide .
connection Rail , the base coach of most of Great Britain ’s rail meshing , enlisted Route Reports to map slippy spots in veridical - time around London , using data broadcast from passenger trains . Route Reports has also fitted detector to internet Rail ’s special fleet of train that use high - pressure piss spurt to clean off leaf residue so the handling can also be get over . McLaughlin articulate these interventions have reduced adhesion reporting time from four hour to second base .
We ’re looking onward to another twelvemonth of technological advance in mobility ! May your 2024 be fill with on - sentence trains and motorbus , entree to first- and last - mile transport , dynamical traffic light and more swift , dependable motion .
