UrbanThings worked with Transport for London to provide a smart mobility solution for key workers

In April 2020, UrbanThings was chosen by TfL to provide them with a zero-hardware, smart mobility platform to track vehicles taking key workers to the new Nightingale Hospital in London. They required a solution that would provide real time travel information in an aim to reduce waiting-times at pick-up points, and help facilitate social distancing amongst NHS key workers. The shuttle services had rapidly changing routes and pick-up points, and UrbanThings was able to quickly deploy a system that could adapt to these everchanging requirements. Ticketless On Board uses consumer-grade smartphones to track vehicle locations via GPS and converts them into real-time predictions. The solution is lightweight and portable meaning so there is no need for infrastructure heavy systems.

The UrbanThings solution for TfL

– Vehicle tracking for TfL shuttle buses going to and from the NHS Nightingale Hospital, London
– Lightweight iPhone and Android app for drivers to generate real-time vehicle location feed
– Full Integration with UrbanHub back-office for easy fleet mapping and management
– Real-time arrival predictions are served to passengers by way of departure boards or passenger app
– Support for Open Data feed publishing (SIRI, GTFS-RT)
– Fully managed SaaS Solution
– Ticketless On Board can be extended to provide smartphone check-in, live occupancy tracking to assist with COVID-19 contact tracing

“We are proud of our work with UrbanThings to help us deliver innovative solutions quickly to help bring about transport improvements. By working with UrbanThings we were able to provide real-time arrival predictions to those essential workers who were travelling to the Nightingale Hospital, giving them the assurance that a shuttle bus service was on its way.”

— Rikesh Shah, Transport for London