AI CitySwift

Urban mobility has changed forever. Public transport must adapt to new travel patterns and demand trends.

Covid-19 put rocket boosters on a series of pre-existing mobility trends, such as the rise of flexible working and the decline of the high street, but perhaps the most worrying is the resurgence in private car usage. With every bus journey replaced by a ride-hailing service, taxi or average petrol car, there is a net increase of between 98g – 128g CO2 per km.

Public transport is by far the cleanest, greenest way to travel, but the pandemic has caused passenger confidence to dramatically decrease. It’s imperative now more than ever to get people back on the bus.

CitySwift is working with bus operators around the world to make buses as attractive as possible in a new era of post-Covid mobility. How do we do that? By helping restore passenger confidence in the safety of public transport and ensuring networks and schedules are as efficient, robust and passenger-focused as possible.

As lockdown restrictions started to ease, a survey by industry body Transport Focus revealed that seven in ten people said they would not return to public transport unless they could be sure that social distancing could be achieved.

Our SwiftConnect capacity information platform provides that assurance, presenting bus operators and their passengers with dynamic information about predicted vehicle loads. After selecting a desired stop-to-stop journey on the operators’ app or website, it’s possible to see which services are likely to be most or least busy.

SwiftConnect uses machine learning and AI to accurately predict the capacity of any bus, at any stage of its journey. Proprietary demand forecasts and origin/destination geo-algorithms enable the platform to predict how many people are likely to use a service at any specific date and time, up to two weeks in advance. Information is continually updated based on actual vehicle loads and displayed on a granular, stop-by-stop basis, using an easy-to-understand ‘traffic light’ format.

SwiftConnect was originally rolled out across 3,000 buses in over 20 UK cities in just four weeks. It has since been adopted by three of the UK’s major bus networks and is about to be deployed by North America’s largest public transport operator.

By helping public transport users decide the safest time to travel, SwiftConnect reduces passenger congestion and social contact in line with Government advice. It also enables operators to make the most of their available bus capacity; spread morning and evening
demand peaks; and help ensure passenger comfort, safety and peace of mind.

Every 15% boost in bus punctuality results in 7.5% greater passenger demand, so it’s a key performance metric if buses are to become the go-to choice for urban mobility.

Our SwiftSchedule rapid bus timetable planning platform accurately predicts journey times based on operating conditions and historical data, instantly generating new and optimised timetables that take into account external variables for increased punctuality and reliability.

SwiftSchedule uses machine learning and AI to automatically calculate and optimise vehicle utilisation and layover for any given route. It enables bus operators to set realistic running times and remove unneeded layover from schedules, increasing network performance and driver/passenger satisfaction. Additionally, it allows them to reduce vehicle requirement and eliminate unnecessary operating expenditure – both of which are critical to an industry dealing with the double-blow of huge revenue losses during the pandemic and a severe shortage of licenced drivers.

SwiftSchedule has been used throughout the pandemic by bus operators across Europe to match vehicle supply with ever-changing demand levels and ensure services were able to meet the travel needs of healthcare and key workers. One bus operator – the UK’s largest outside London – used the platform to recast its entire network eight times in the space of a year – a feat that would have been almost impossible without this technology.

As society returns to normal, public transport must play its part in creating a cleaner and greener future for societies around the globe. At CitySwift, we believe that AI has the power to transform the economics of the sector and help operators attract a new generation of passengers. It’s the key to delivering frequent, fast, reliable bus services that meet the needs of the modern bus user and offer an attractive and affordable alternative to the private car.