Urban Threshold
Commuting to work sustainably is hard. Currently there is no app or service within Australia that allows commuters to discover and plan sustainable commutes and with the impending deadline of net zero by-2050, we must all play a part in ensuring that we make the most sustainable decisions.
We beleive that this app and help cut carbon emissions in Australia as well as helping Australian citizens with getting around with the easiest, cost efficent and eco-freindly way.
It is a purpose-built application allowing citizens to plan their travel with sustainability in mind. Citizens can enter their destination and they are presented with a list of sustainable travel options ranging from renting a bike to catching public transport, each with a corresponding star rating on how carbon efficient the route is. These ratings are calculated in real time based on all available data sources. (Please read data story for more info)
The app also features tag on/off functionality when using public transport, meaning that users don’t need to bring their transport pass. QR codes can also be placed on transport options allowing users to scan them and learn more about the environmental impact of the transport option.
Users can then view their carbon summary report every few weeks allowing them to quantify how much carbon they have saved.
Our project also has a goverment portal which lets staff and govermental staff see live data from customers, sustainability ratings, live running services, revenue, carbon ratings, live graphs and much more. (Please read data story for more info)
The application is a map/GIS application which incorporates open data from various data sources:
- Static open government data provides location information regarding bus, train, tram, and ferry stops/routes and eBike data such as charging and hiring stations. (Brisbane bus locations, NZ bus routes)
- Real time information from various state tag on/off systems allowing the application to dynamically generate ratings based on the current transport network patronage. This is useful in scenarios where a bus service or route is underutilized, the app will redirect patrons to the underutilized service, therefore increasing the carbon efficiency of the route. (NZ bus patronage, also could include custom JSON live-stream from ticketing services.)
- Internal data sources such as people tagging on/off using the app and users that are scanning the QR codes to find out more information, can be used to determine loading of services and further improve recommendation accuracy.
- Roadworks/infrastructure maintenance and construction can also be included to ensure commuters make it safely to their destination while remaining carbon efficient.
All data sources in the user application are GeoJSON based and rendered on a Mapbox map.
The application also has a government interface that allows the monitoring of:
- Public transport route efficiency. Less efficient routes are flagged, and automated recommendations are generated depending on the frequency and patronage, allowing government organisations to further optimise their public transport systems.
- Provides a succinct overview of all forms of transport, usage statistics for each, carbon footprints and most importantly automatic improvement recommendations which can be implemented.
The government portal also is a useful tool in evaluating community response to transport projects, large and small.
Other potential ideas include:
- Gamification, “by using this route the efficiency increases by 1 star”. The user can then collect stars to form a star collection which can be spent to fund sustainability initiatives or purchase sustainable products.
Description of Use Used for determining sustainability of electric charging options when suggesting routes to users.
Description of Use We will use this data in our app to work out where the closest bus stop is where you can get onto a bus to reach your location. This data also includes road gradient information which we could use to further determine the efficiency of the bus routes.
Description of Use We will use this data in our app to work out where the closest bus stop is, where you can get onto a bus to reach your location.
Description of Use We will use this data to find different ways that people could travel to their desired location.
Description of Use Locations of terminals so we can determine the best roues available for users to be transported. This data is also weighted based on the environmental footprint of the transport method.
Description of Use Used to determine the most carbon efficient roues for a particular user, as more full buses results in a smaller per capita emission for the trip.
Description of Use We can use this data to optimize the route matching algorithm to favor routes that have less commuters. This reduces the load on other bus routes and increases the carbon efficiency of the system overall.
Description of Use Used to locate and suggest viable routes for the user to take as there will be multiple routes available to them and this will help them choose the most carbon efficient mode of transport.
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