Public transport services

Traffic is still dominated by cars. This leads to congestion and space constraints on the roads. Furthermore, the infrastructure is not keeping pace with this growth. As a result, the transport infrastructure is becoming overloaded. The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg has set itself the target of achieving an 80 per cent modal split between pedestrians, cyclists and public transport by 2030. The modal split currently stands at 68 per cent (2022). The mobility of the future therefore requires solutions that increase transport efficiency, improve service and provide meaningful, data-driven information for all users.  

This is where the ‘Dynamic Stop Management’ use case carries out important groundwork. Temporarily unused stops can be utilised as pick-up and drop-off points. Decision-makers in cities and transport operators still lack key background information regarding the appeal of their stops and their potential for further use. Key parameters in this context include the prioritisation of bus services, the selection of suitable stops, the monitoring of stop usage, and the prediction of traffic flows and the positions of relevant road users. 

The use case identifies suitable bus stops for third-party providers with the aim of increasing the utilisation of transport infrastructure, minimising stopovers, closing gaps in the intermodal transport chain and creating more attractive mobility services. The range of mobility services is to be expanded in a scalable manner through the coordinated multi-use of existing transport infrastructure, such as bus stops.  

We are working on this in collaboration with our subsidiary TraffGo, the City of Hamburg’s Authority for Transport and the Mobility Transition, the Hamburg-Holstein Transport Authority, the Fraunhofer Institute for Transport and Infrastructure Systems IVI, and other partners. As part of the project, we are developing various services, such as the Attractiveness Index, which identifies bus stops that are particularly well-suited to this purpose. 

How the use case works 

An Attractiveness Index developed by Materna assesses bus stops for the potential use of shuttle services for the first and last mile and ranks them based on various criteria. This information is displayed via an interactive dashboard, enabling mobility operators to easily identify bus stops that are suitable for an on-demand shuttle service. Via a web application, the Hamburg-Holstein Transport Authority can propose bus stops, with final approval or rejection being decided by the City of Hamburg. The selected bus stop data is then transferred from the Materna Data Factory to the SmaLa booking system, which is operated by TraffGo Road. Subsequently, designated time slots are made available to shuttle operators for bookings via a mobile booking system linked to an app, supported by the secure Gaia-X data room. This integration streamlines processes, reduces red tape and enhances data sovereignty. 

The dynamic stop management use case combines all the key benefits of GAIA-X. It enables the trustworthy, sovereign sharing of even sensitive data, automates administrative processes, facilitates interoperability and new business models, and increases the availability of suitable and valuable data processing services for AI algorithms.   

This is just one example of many of how Materna is paving the way for more intelligent services for public administration with the help of federated data spaces.  

This article provides even more information on stop management:  

https://www.gaia-x4futuremobility.de/de/usecases/dynamisches-haltestellenmanagement