Overview
The OPTI-TRANS project aims to create a Mobile GNSS platform which will provide commuters/travellers with the ability to plan their trip in an efficient manner in order to utilise and share a combination of public/private transportation by combining information from the various public transport authorities and other private vehicle owners. It will display to the users the optimum route/transport combinations for their trips, based upon their location. The OPTI-TRANS platform will create peer-to-peer ad-hoc groups of passengers based on pre-defined geographical areas and commuter profiling information, to allow users of similar destinations/routing information to car-pool and share different modes of transport. OPTI-TRANS will interface with existing database systems providing public transport information (timetables, routes, etc.) to provide the most optimal multi-model solution for the users’ requirements. It will incorporate the principles Transport-on-Demand (ToD) through Car Pooling services and Car-on-the-Curb facilities that allow privately owned vehicles to be shared with others subscribed to the service.
Our proposal fully meets the objects for the target outputs of the Project in demonstrating the potential for Location Based Services (LBS) and GNSS technology both to general public and public transport authorities. The OPTI-TRANS system, will not only investigate the feasibility of a dynamically updated, location aware pedestrian and public transport navigation tool, but will offer this service as an end product. This will be made possible by the development of both the OPTI-TRANS platform and the OPTI-TRANS GNSS-enabled mobile application. We are confident that our services will meet market demand and in Section 1 of our proposal we give a detailed analysis of the LBS market and how and where OPTI-TRANS will stimulate demand