New commuter app for all transport options

Article by Caleb Bond sourced via Herald Sun

Commuters would be able to get local information on everything to do with transport in their area – from the availability of buses and rideshare cars to where to find a carpark – in one app under a government proposal.

The Transport Department would also give delivery drivers the ability to track the availability of loading zones and allow them to reserve the parking spaces when nearby in a Melbourne CBD pilot.

​The department has taken the proposal to the market as an “innovation challenge”, seeking IT experts to bring together transport data from all over Victoria to make the proposed system work.

According to documents from Transport for Victoria, an information hub would be trialled in Sunshine, in Melbourne’s northwest, using existing display signs at railway stations and bus interchanges as well as a mobile app or website.

Information would include the availability of metro and V/Line trains, buses, car and rideshare services including bikes and scooters and potentially road congestion and emissions data.

It would also show crowding data on public transport so commuters could decide whether or not to take a particular service.

An area of the CBD would also be chosen, in conjunction with Melbourne City Council, to trail a real-time loading zone app.

It would allow truck and van drivers to identify available loading zones on a map and potentially reserve them once close by.

The app would then recognise when the vehicle was parked in the bay and send the driver a reminder when their time in the parking spot was about to expire.

The Transport Department has also encouraged businesses and individuals vying for the contract to consider expanding the proposal to other “smart kerbside” ideas, such as normal commuters being able to monitor the availability of carparks in real time.

Transport Department head of transport services Nick Foa said “the pandemic has changed the way we all use our transport network whether you’re catching public transport, driving, delivering freight, riding or on foot”.

“To help keep Victorians moving, we are looking to partner with industry, to progress pilot solutions that place more real-time information in the hands of Victorians so everyone can make confident, informed decisions about how and when they travel.”