Easing Traffic Congestion with Open Innovation
Hair-pullingly frustrating, hazardous to health and a huge time drain, traffic congestion on freeways and in our towns and cities is one of the most irritating blights of modern life.
Without changes, the problems will clearly become worse over time. To stop this from happening and to give us all space to move, transit authorities in numerous countries have turned to the crowd for help. Smart minds are needed to develop solutions.
Here is a rundown of a few open innovation initiatives that have attempted to unclog our traffic-filled roads.
Cairo Transport App Challenge – a search for traffic solutions that use new communications technologies. It was won by an app called Beliaa that uses GPS to send a map with your location to road assistance centers if your car breaks down. The app can also keep drivers updated on congestion hot spots.
Ford Motor Company’s Innovate Mobility Challenge – looked for solutions to transport challenges faced by different regions. The 2015 open innovation contest selected 11 winners, including Mumbai Monsoon Helper (an app to help stranded commuters in Mumbai, India) and Crowd Park (a crowdsourced app that provides real-time alerts when parking spots become available in Los Angeles).
Intelligent Transportation Congestion Challenge – a global open innovation contest from the Intelligent Transport Society of America (ITS) to cut down on congestion and reduce pollution. It was won by iCarpool.com for an internet-based commute management program that gives users lots of travel choices for modes of travel other than driving alone.
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