From Air Cargo Week – link to source story
By Yasmin Turner – May 13, 2021
NTT, Edmonton International Airport (EIA) and the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development (JOIN), with support from the Invest Alberta Corporation (IAC), announced today that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly develop smart transportation projects.
The MOU includes plans to deploy a Smart Solutions pilot to deliver a digital on demand bus service in and around EIA’s Airport City. This pilot will leverage a data-driven approach to improve the commuter experience and generate behaviour insights for future solutions.
EIA is Canada’s fifth-busiest airport and serves 8.2 million passengers per year with non-stop service to 50 destinations worldwide.
“Thanks to our collaboration with NTT and JOIN, we will be able to deliver smart transportation services and solutions related to on-demand service and Mobility as a Service (MaaS),” said Tom Ruth, president & CEO, Edmonton International Airport.
“Enhancing passenger experience and improving social, environmental, and economic impacts are some of EIA’s strategic initiatives that we believe will be accelerated by this partnership with NTT and JOIN.”
By leveraging NTT Smart Solutions, the initial phase of the pilot will focus on on-demand ride-hailing, flexible bus routing, scheduling and occupancy. Passengers will benefit from improved booking options with online booking via a mobile app and web portal.
The service will allow for a near door-to-door service with bus routes and schedules adjusting in real-time to best suit commuter convenience. Drivers will access a dedicated driver application providing route guidance between virtual stops while enabling them to manage trips.
Occupancy information will be calculated for administrators to manage the operation in real-time and predicted occupancy would provide insights into the number of riders expected at select virtual stops in the future.
The on-demand bus solution will be managed by a centralised Smart Transit Central System that will allocate a shuttle to pick up passengers from their requested locations and then take them to their destinations via the best route calculated in real-time.
Source: https://canadianaviationnews.wordpress.com/2021/05/13/edmonton-airport-join-iac-sign-mou/
