Mobility data platform Vianova has partnered with Paris public transport operator RATP to help reduce bus lane congestion and transform curb usage in the French capital.
The operator is experimenting with smart cameras and sensors positioned on its buses that can carry out vehicle detection in real-time.
Such data will then be fed back to Vianova’s platform, enabling the RATP team to capture insights on curb usage in the city, understand traffic patterns and reduce congestion.
Public spaces in cities are increasingly subject to the occupation of new forms of mobility and living. From the emergence of free-floating mobility and delivery services, as well as changes in infrastructure, such as the creation of cycling lanes or the repurposing of parking spots to meet other needs, all this leads to changes in how public transport operators manage and delegate road infrastructure.
Within Paris, RATP covers 355 different bus routes and 4,700 vehicles, providing an opportunity to showcase how changing mobility patterns are impacting the curb.
“Paris is one of the most congested cities in the world, third only to London and Chicago when it comes to the average hours drivers spend in traffic every year,” Thibault Castagne, Co-Founder and CEO of Vianova, told Zag Daily.
“Getting people out of their cars and using alternatives like micromobility is key to reducing traffic, but at the same time, different vehicles are putting pressure on bus lanes and causing congestion. This project with RATP is key to better understanding how changing mobility patterns are impacting the curb, using data from connected vehicles, with the eventual view to reducing congestion in bus lanes.”
Vianova leverages data from more than one million connected vehicles every day and has recently announced the addition of logistics vehicle data to its platform in Paris.
This marks the first time Vianova is partnering with RATP, following its corporate venture arm, RATP Capital Innovation’s investment in the startup’s seed round in 2020.
Pauline Baudry, Urban Ecosystem Programme Manager at RATP, said the operator aims to leverage its expertise on urban territories. “By using technology, we can produce insights into the dynamics of the city. Working with Vianova enables us to analyse and visualise data in an impactful way, revealing insightful patterns of mobility and curb usage.”
