The three-year Living Lab Bus joint project, coordinated by Finland’s VTT Technical Research Centre and launched at the beginning of 2016, is using the electric buses acquired by Helsinki Region Transport as development and testing platforms for businesses to validate their smart mobility solutions in a real use environment. The buses can be used for testing user-orientated smart services and technologies, rangingfrom user interfaces and passenger services to sensors and transport operators’ solutions.
In addition to the Helsinki region, the City of Tampere is also participating in the project, which supports the creation of new services for transport service users and providers and acts as a display window for showcasing Finnish expertise. The project will help to increase the attractiveness of public transport, assist cooperation between various players in the sector and generate new research information on the needs of public transport users and service developers. Business operations will also be promoted by accelerating the cost-effective introduction of new solutions. Tampere will be deploying the resulting technology in its own public transport development.
“The goal is to create a new type of everyday development environment for accelerating the product development of businesses by means of agile experiments, in close cooperation with end-users and research institutions” said Raine Hautala, VTT Project Manager. “Potential new solutions include easy-to-use passenger feedback solutions, automated passenger counting, and automated road condition observations.”
Reijo Mäkinen, Director of the Transport Services Department at Helsinki Region Transport, added that the company is expecting the project to provide a flood of fresh ideas that will make bus travel more appealing.
The project will identify utilisation interests and needs of various players associated with implementing and using the development platform during spring 2016 while also setting some common rules for operations. Thereafter, the project will be expanded by bringing in new players who will utilise the platform in their development activities.
The three-year Living Lab Bus project comprises the projects of Ajeco (secure multichannel communications), Cinia One (cloud services and interfaces), EEE Innovations (smart transport ICT solutions), Foreca (weather and road weather services), iQ Payments (mobile payment solutions) and Linkker (electric bus), as well as the supporting research projects by VTT, Aalto University, University of Tampere and Tampere University of Technology. The enablers, supporters and utilisers of the project are Helsinki Region Transport, the City of Helsinki, the City of Tampere and Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation.
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