Archive for the ‘Case Studies’ Category

Teralytics for traffic models with VMZ – Webinar

New approaches to public transport planning and traffic management are needed to meet the changing mobility needs.

Traditional methods of mobility demand analysis are unable to keep up with the pace of change. They are also not fully representative – non-commuter traffic and journeys from adjacent areas are rarely adequately captured.

VMZ, Berlin-based transport consultancy, is working with Teralytics to break new ground and build reliable and representative traffic models with the use of up-to-date mobility insights available on demand.

In this webinar, Georg Polzer, co-founder of Teralytics, and Siegurd Müller, demand and public transport modeling expert at VMZ, demonstrate how to effectively incorporate latest mobility insights into your traffic models, prioritize actions, and track progress.

Watch the recording here. (Note: the video is in German language only.)

If you are interested in how Teralytics’ mobility insights can help you understand mobility demand and manage transport planning, please get in touch.

Teralytics for SPNV Planning – Webinar

How can local transit authorities use insights from mobile data to understand mobility needs and how they change over time?

What is the advantage of this always-on, comprehensive view of mobility over traditional approaches to mobility analytics?

Listen to our webinar to learn how NAH.SH GmbH, the public transport authority for the Schleswig-Holstein region of Germany, and Intraplan, a renowned German transport consultancy, apply the Teralytics approach to mobility analysis to make important transport planning decisions.

Watch the recording from the webinar in this video (note: the video is in German):

If you are interested in how Teralytics’ mobility insights can help you understand mobility demand and manage transport planning, please get in touch.

The Renaissance birthplace undergoes a sustainability transformation

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, the EU mechanism for outcomes-focused urban mobility planning, places transportation goals in the context of broader environmental, social, and economic sustainability objectives.

Lowering atmospheric and noise pollutants, reducing road congestion, and improving road safety are among the goals that the Metropolitan City of Florence, the capital city of Italy’s Tuscany region, aims to achieve as part of its SUMP. In doing so, the city has shifted focus from traditional road traffic-oriented transportation planning towards sustainable mobility planning focused on enabling various sustainable modes of travel.

Florence released its SUMP in 2019. Three years and a global pandemic later, the city recently unveiled the outcomes of the first SUMP monitoring, coinciding with European Mobility Week 2022 at the end of September.

Using Teralytics’ mobility demand analysis and in collaboration with http://www.tpspro.it/TPS Pro, the Metropolitan City of Florence aimed to assess the impact of the actions planned in the SUMP as well as to quantify the effects of the pandemic on mobility demand both at the overall level and in terms of its modal distribution among the various transport systems (private vehicles, public transport, and active mobility).

The analysis of mobility demand in the region covered a period of two years, from November 2019 through November 2021. During this time, Florence experienced an overall reduction in weekday mobility of 23 percent and 28 percent on weekends. These findings are consistent with the city’s ticket data for its tram network – which saw a drop in ridership of 33 percent. Many findings are consistent with the COVID-19 impact on urban areas across the globe, with road traffic increasing slightly while public transport usage contracted.

Biennial monitoring of the SUMP and its updating every 5 years are necessary to assess the effectiveness of the actions planned, but it is also necessary to understand how new ways of organizing work (smart working, hybrid modes) affect and change the mobility system. This issue has become even more important, in light of the events exogenous to the transportation system, to verify, integrate, and modify planned actions for increasing transportation sustainability.

Naples: Vision for the future starts with understanding the present

The third largest metropolitan area in Italy, Naples is also the country’s most densely populated urban environment. In order to tackle congestion and pollution from road traffic, Naples has sought to create a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, a strategic approach to transport planning which, following the EU Guidelines, places emphasis on integration and efficient use of mobility resources.

As a goal, sustainable transportation is a sum of a number of interconnected objectives. Promoting a modal shift from car to public transport, connecting transport links more efficiently to meet the shifting mobility needs of its population, encouraging more people to travel by bike or on foot – are all priorities that Naples metropolitan area authorities wish to consider in creating an intelligent, better accessible mobility system.

In order to evaluate how the transport network is currently used by the Naples inhabitants and those who commute or travel to it, the authorities turned to Teralytics to understand the overall mobility demand.

In partnership with the working group that takes care of SUMP elaboration of the Metropolitan City of Naples – Sintagma, TPS Pro and TRT Ingegneria – Teralytics’ mobility analysis makes it possible for Naples to identify key areas where it can introduce change and influence mobility behaviours most effectively.

Teralytics’ sophisticated privacy-first approach to understanding  people’s journeys and factors impacting their choices makes it possible to arrive at an accurate analysis of current mobility trends swiftly, rendering lengthy and expensive manual surveys obsolete.

“Naples’ vision for an intelligent and dynamic mobility system can serve as an inspiration for metropolitan areas around the world,” said Michele Casà, Business Development Director for Teralytics Italy. “We’re thrilled to be able to help the area’s authorities make the right choices towards a more sustainable and resilient mobility system by providing a thorough understanding of how people utilise its transport network currently.”

“This is one in a series of projects across Italy that TPS Pro has collaborated with Teralytics on,” said Nicola Murino, Technical Director, TPS Pro. “We believe that by embracing an always-on, inclusive approach to mobility analysis, our customers can understand mobility needs of their constituencies faster and in a manner better representative of everyone. In the aftermath of the pandemic and the shifts in mobility behaviours that have occurred because of it, it is clear we need a more dynamic approach to transportation planning in order to affect change.”

Municipality of Brescia monitors SUMP outcomes with Teralytics insights

In 2017, Italy implemented the EU guidelines on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), requiring all municipalities with over 100,000 inhabitants to propose mobility strategies to promote better environmental, societal and economic outcomes in their areas. A key focus of SUMPs is the promotion of sustainable modes of transport in order to lower transport’s environmental impact.

The Municipality of Brescia, which is at the forefront of the SUMPs initiative, approved the implementation of its sustainable mobility plan in 2018. The city has now chosen to partner with Teralytics, applying its innovative technology to monitor traffic trends and understand mobility demand over time.

“Unlike many cities that have yet to adopt a SUMP, in our case the challenge is to build a monitoring system,” says Federico Manzoni, Councillor for Mobility Policies in the Municipality of Brescia. “This is necessary for us to better understand current trends, identify critical issues, and analyse response capacity of existing and planned infrastructures and services. Teralytics’ support in this activity is particularly valuable to us.”

Implementing the new national bus strategy: Know your evidence base

England’s new national bus strategy, Bus Back Better, sets out to revitalise bus services, placing expectations on Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to come up with initiatives that will make travelling by bus appealing to more people.

At its core, it seeks to grow bus ridership as part of the solution to free communities from congestion and make meaningful steps towards reducing carbon emissions at a national level.

While the Net Zero goal isn’t new, the pandemic has thrown the public transportation sector into a new uncertainty, making it harder to know what to expect. Bus Back Better therefore presents a significant challenge for LTAs, but one that comes at exactly the right time.

Public transportation has been hit hard by lockdowns and people’s reluctance to travel in close proximity to others. The UK has witnessed a significant shift from public transport to private cars.  Bus journeys, in particular, are still at about 60 percent of their pre-pandemic levels outside London.

With limited budgets and time to introduce changes across their bus networks, LTAs may feel they are facing an impossible task to grow bus ridership quickly.

Where to start?
Put simply, the Bus Back Better strategy aims to grow bus ridership. But, depending on the size of the population, the geography, and the current state of their bus network, each LTA will have different needs, and should therefore define their success factors to fit their circumstances.

“The key thing to begin with is a sound evidence base that allows you to understand what your starting point is and what your options may be,” commented WSP’s Mike Holmes. “In order for your strategy to be deliverable, it has to be credible.

“For metropolitan areas, relieving congestion and ensuring 24-hour bus timetable coverage may be the key goals. For some rural areas, on the other hand, ensuring better accessibility is the starting point. Having one bus per hour may be the right measure of success initially.”

Teralytics’ Matthew Bragg commented: “The LTAs and bus operators have a lot of questions at the moment. Even outside the expectations of the national bus strategy, the effects of the pandemic are still unfolding. Knowing which routes may start to see changes in traffic volumes, shifts across modes of transport, or changes in peak travel times – are all critical insights needed to make bus services more accessible, better integrated and overall, more profitable.”

Potential solutions may be obvious – for example, provide more radial routes to city centres or extend timetable coverage, but where does one start?

“The reason our customers are turning to our digital platform to analyse mobility insights from mobile network data is the need to understand what mobility looks like right now, rather than some time ago,” said Bragg.

“At the time of the 2011 Census, before the one just completed, there was no Uber, no iPad, no ticketing systems running on phones. Technology has shaped what’s possible in transportation, and new solutions are enabling authorities to understand what works for them and identify viable new business cases.”

Holmes added: “It is indisputable that intelligence driven systems, such as that of Teralytics, speed up the ability to act on demand. Unimaginable previously.

“There is a tangible sense of pressure with the approaching October deadline to submit plans and to have everything lined up by April 2022. The formation of the evidence base is critical for this process to be meaningful. In our work with clients, we must understand what is the current situation, how it may differ from the past, and where we want to be in the future.

“It’s important not to attempt to tackle all the goals outlined in the Strategy, rather to start with what can realistically drive change given the resources at hand.

“Target those areas that you know, based on your evidence base, are going to grow patronage, influence sustainability, and grow  revenue over time. While best practice examples are available, success will most likely be derived from a set of measures unique to your situation,” concluded Holmes.

Holmes and Bragg agree that LTAs should think of next April as a starting line. The Department of Transport has already made it clear that they will expect LTAs to iterate on their plans year-on-year. Make sure you’re off to the best start you can have by knowing what mobility needs your bus network can realistically cater to.

Knowing the answers to these questions now will help you shape the optimal bus strategy for your area.

Watch our webinar (recording) to find out how you can:

Get in touch to find out how Teralytics can help you optimise your bus network. Contact us.

Mobility insights drive growth for a leading railway operator

Mobility insights drive growth for a leading railway operator

Deutsche Bahn (DB) is one of the largest railway operators and infrastructure owners in Europe. Understanding mobility trends is at the heart of DB’s ability to match services across its vast network with current travel demand.

Previously, DB modelled demand based on information from its own ticket sales. This model did not account for empirical origin to destination travel data outside its network, such as road, air and other regional rail travel. In partnership with Teralytics, DB is now able to incorporate information about overall mobility trends across Germany into their planning process.

Having a complete picture of travel demand at its fingertips has enabled DB to forecast a significant growth of passenger miles and revenue when expanding the long-distance network to more rural areas, compared to traditional forecasting models.

Such mobility insights are taken into account in a wide range of planning and operational decisions:

First mile/last mile connectivity

Precise understanding of travel origins and destinations informs decisions around transport links to and from train stations. DB is able to:

  • Identify opportunities to attract customers from other modes of transport
  • Improve station accessibility
Timetable optimisation

Better knowledge of travel demand and market share improves DB’s timetable planning, as it can now:

  • Adjust operations to fluctuations in daily, weekly and seasonal travel demand
  • Meet peak demand during special events seamlessly
Capacity/route optimisation

Better knowledge of travel demand across modes of transport, particularly road traffic, informs ways to improve the supply of rail services. With the right insights at hand, DB can:

  • Understand which origin-destination pairs can benefit the most from direct services
  • Understand where to add or reduce capacity
Meeting COVID-19 challenges

Evaluating current changes in travel behaviours helps DB to understand which new behaviours are likely here to stay. In particular, up-to-date understanding of mobility trends enables DB to:

  • Understand ways to encourage travel by rail post pandemic
  • Understand overall changes in demand

Understanding what works in the fight against the pandemic

Understanding what works in the fight against the pandemic

The Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) is the German Development Agency, offering services in the fields of education and international cooperation for sustainable development. It is committed to work that improves people’s lives throughout the world.

Teralytics collaborated with the GIZ Data Lab, which unites thinkers and practitioners to promote an effective, fair and responsible use of digital data for sustainable development.

The GIZ Data Lab used Teralytics’ daily mobility data provided at county level throughout Germany as part of a prototype project to identify particularly successful counties (so-called positive deviants) and their strategies during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of the project, the use of Teralytics’ insights helped in the following areas:

  • Development of a general understanding of mobility patterns in Germany during different phases of the pandemic
  • Modelling and understanding the influence of mobility patterns and other relevant factors on pandemic development
  • Contribution to the identification of potential positive deviants among counties that have performed particularly well in terms of COVID outcomes

This is how the GIZ Data Lab experienced the cooperation with Teralytics:

The cooperation with Teralytics was goal-oriented and effective. In a pleasant and trustful working atmosphere, our needs as customers were always quickly addressed and satisfactorily served. The data from Teralytics and the cooperation were a very important component in our overall project.