Government Technology - October 2008 - (Page 20)

Seoul’s Smart Transportation Program will enable citizens to check for the nearest public transportation options, based on wherever they are in the city, using a wireless mobile device. information on bus and train routes, traffic congestion and parking availability will each transmit that data to private-sector partners charged with building the technology. As is true of local agencies in America, coordinating all of those silos for a centralized project is a cumbersome task, said Willis. Most IT workers who have participated in multiagency IT projects can attest to the importance of a “higher” government power mandating them. Cisco always sells a city’s mayor on a CUD plan first to establish a clear mandate that agencies can’t ignore. One long-term goal for Seoul’s Smart Transportation Project is futuristic. Someday the system might be able to automatically route buses and trains where riders are waiting, and bypass vacant stops, Willis said. Citizens would use their smartphones or on-site bus stop devices to alert the system they need a ride. Willis said that could shorten waits. “The whole routing of buses would become a more flexible and demand-affected process. Seoul’s new system combining information on the various public transit routes may also list Zipcar availability. Zipcars are vehicles people can rent by the hour and are found all over the city. available parking. The user will be able access the system from an iPhone, BlackBerry or wireless-Internet connected laptop. Seoul’s project targets everyday drivers as well as public transit commuters. For example, imagine a driver is stuck in a traffic jam on his route to work. That driver could access Seoul’s Web-based traffic platform from a smartphone and quickly learn that a nearby train or bus routed toward his destination was picking up passengers near the traffic jam, Willis said. The system could also report whether the corresponding train or bus station had available free parking. Willis said the next version of Seoul’s traffic platform also might enable citizens to remotely book seats on trains and buses. In addition, users will be able to access the system while riding public transit to find out the expected wait times at connecting bus or train stations. Seoul officials expect riders to value these new features because it would empower them to more accurately organize their days around public-transit schedules. But not all users will have laptops or smartphones handy, so the city is considering installing devices OCT_08 for accessing the system at bus stops and train stations. The travel data necessary for Seoul’s unified platform sits in agency silos, as it does in many U.S. cities. IT departments in Seoul’s various agencies that maintain The first thing you need to do is connect all the buses and other transport assets so you can see where they all are and communicate with all of them. Even that step has not been taken by most cities yet,” Willis said. 20 20 http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - October 2008

Government Technology - October 2008 Contents Point of View On the Scene Big Picture Four Questions for... Letters Cover Stories: Border Crossing The Australian E-Connection Easy Rider Northern Exposure Technology on the Cheap Ditching the Desktop Heightening the Experience Pipe Dream Falling Between the Cracks Come Together, Right Now... It's a ... Car? Digital State of the Art Spectrum Products Two Cents signal:noise

Government Technology - October 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.