Bustle

Project Info

3Bus thumbnail

Team Name


3Bus


Team Members


Russell , Anthony Wong , Janice , Anthony , Caleb , John , Ilia , Alex , Walter Lim , Minh

Project Description


Problem Statement

Many cities recognise that good public transport services that meet passenger needs are key to supporting a city’s economy, the wellbeing of citizens and many other environmental and societal benefits. However, despite the many advantages we often see a low occupancy rate with many commuters preferring to avoid public transport where possible. This leads to worsening commute times, increased carbon emissions, and even increased cost of living.

Worsening traffic congestion

Public transport has a good record for reducing traffic congestion. But despite the population drop in Auckland for the first time ever in 2021, peak travel times have increased by an average of 23%.

Increased carbon emissions

Catching the bus is a great alternative for people who drive their own car - each commuter can decrease their carbon emissions by over 56% by catching the bus instead of driving a petrol car (468kg of CO2 per year using bus versus 1065.2 kg of CO2 per year using car). If every New Zealand household switched their car for a climate-friendly mode of transport for two trips every week, we could save around 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year - which is equivalent to the carbon dioxide stored annually by 48 square kilometres of pine trees.

More challenging to upkeep transportation infrastructure

There are many buses in circulation with low and downtrending utilisation. This is partly due to the risk of covid disruption influencing people to opt for more reliable options. It is also not common for people to catch the bus outside of commuting for work and education. The overall decline in passengers has resulted in a $900M decrease in revenue for Auckland Transport since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This makes it more challenging to maintain reliability and invest in a lower emission fleet.

Solution

Bustle increases ridership by incentivising use of public transport. It is a loyalty program where passengers get points when they catch a bus and pass by a bus stop.

Points can be used for various discounts and perks such as:

Carbon offsets
Donations to charity
Discounts on bus fares
AT merchandise (AT HOP keychain, custom design cards, travel pack, etc.)
AT credit
AT parking perks (e.g. reserved spots for park and ride)
Exclusive use of transit lanes (e.g. T2, T3, and bus lanes)

Bustle is integrated into the Auckland Transport (AT) app and gamifies the experience for riders to switch away from driving to/from work and reduce their carbon footprint.

We provide the option to buy carbon offsets using loyalty points and show users how much they have reduced their carbon footprint through a dashboard to further accelerate Bustle’s environmental impact.

Road Map

  • 2022 Q4: Work with Auckland Transport to trial Bustle with beta testers
  • 2023 Q2: Release Bustle
  • 2023 Q4: Work on expanding functionality to trains
  • 2024 Q2: Expand to other cities

#public #transport #bus #buses #carbon #emission #footprint #travel #gis #geospatial

Data Story


Train Station

Used to overlay train stations in the data visualisation. Train stations highlight Auckland's general inaccessibility to high throughput public transport and low emissions alternatives. Train stations give context to bus route alternatives and distances required to travel to reach common destinations in Auckland city.

Train Route

Used to overlay train routes on the data visualisation map. Train routes give context to some of Auckland's largest ridership routes with train patronage making up approximately ~18% of total Auckland Transport patronage despite not covering North Shore City, Rodney and other distant regions of Auckland.

Bus Stop

Used to overlay existing bus stops on the data visualisation for an understanding of bussin points issued per route. The bus stops were initially displayed as round markers, but due to conflicts with average daily traffic markers are instead replaced with off-route "ticks".

Traffic - Auckland Transport

Used to identify average daily traffic numbers for various high density routes in Auckland, and approximate the congestion of existing bus routes. Average daily traffic numbers are overlaid on the data visualisation where measurements were taken as a colour scaled marker, representing traffic density. Before and after visualisations express the difference in ridership as a decrease in average daily traffic since cars on average make approximately ~95% of the data.

Bus Route

Used to overlay existing bus routes on a data visualisation of traffic and trips in Auckland City, and to generate a dynamic "trips" overlay to highlight the difference in ridership on existing bus routes before and after the implementation of a loyalty program.


Evidence of Work

Video

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Project Image

Team DataSets

Train Station

Description of Use Used to overlay train stations in the data visualization. Train stations highlight Auckland's general inaccessibility to high throughput public transport and low emissions alternatives. Train stations give context to bus route alternatives and distances required to travel to reach common destinations in Auckland city.

Data Set

Train Route

Description of Use Used to overlay train routes on the data visualization map. Train routes give context to some of Auckland's largest ridership routes with train patronage making up approximately ~18% of total Auckland Transport patronage despite not covering North Shore City, Rodney and other distant regions of Auckland.

Data Set

Bus Stop

Description of Use Used to overlay existing bus stops on the data visualization for an understanding of bussin points issued per route. The bus stops were initially displayed as round markers, but due to conflicts with average daily traffic markers are instead replaced with off-route "ticks".

Data Set

Traffic - Auckland Transport

Description of Use Used to identify average daily traffic numbers for various high density routes in Auckland, and approximate the congestion of existing bus routes. Average daily traffic numbers are overlayed on the data visualization where measurements were taken as a colour scaled marker, representing traffic density. Before and after visualizations express the difference in ridership as a decrease in average daily traffic since cars on average make approximately ~95% of the data.

Data Set

Bus Route

Description of Use Used to overlay existing bus routes on a data visualization of traffic and trips in Auckland City, and to generate a dynamic "trips" overlay to highlight the difference in ridership on existing bus routes before and after the implementation of a loyalty program.

Data Set

Challenge Entries

Best utilisation of public transportation for climate impact

How can we use data to make buses to be an attractive transport option for citizens – to be more flexible, available when you need them, safer, more sustainable and efficient?

Go to Challenge | 4 teams have entered this challenge.

Best Creative Use of Data in Response to ESG (NZ)

How can you showcase data in a creative manner to respond to ESG challenges? How can we present and visualise data to stimulate conversation and promote change?

Go to Challenge | 4 teams have entered this challenge.