Aha! Three popular key words in one title,
three hot areas from different domain, how exciting! But isn’t this the natural
way of how techniques are developed, integrated and evolved?
I remember when I first arrived Australia
12 years ago, I was so confused when finding a yellow sign of “bus stop”
attached to a regular power pole. I had no idea why there was no information
about the route, stations and time for the following services. I was told this
was the way how OZ bus services have run for many years, and please do not
expect things to change dramatically in the following many years.
Part of the suggestion is correct, after so
many years, the old bus stop appears exactly the same with the old yellow sign
attached to the same power pole. However, huge change has happened under the
water, because of the advance and usage of technology. With the use of Opal
card and smart phone, everyone can easily check the real-time location of the
next service, see the small icon move on your screen and be prepared to wave to
the bus that is about to show from the corner of the street. How amazing when
every bus, train and even bicycle is connected online! But the better part is
yet to come.
For so many years, city planners are
struggled to connect their future imaginations with the difficult realities.
Bus stops are rarely upgraded because no one knows how necessary it is. Traffic
at a roundabout get jammed every day because few people know the problem,
reason and solution. Planning to pave a new bike lane but having trouble to
understand which path is the most optimised route for commuters.
But now, by connecting every bus to the
IoT, all trips of every individual passenger are transparent to the policy
makers in details. Traffic congestion can be displayed on map and updated every
minute. With the help of big data technique, for the first time of all, the
city planners can virtually know all the existing problems, the optimised
solutions and the potential opportunities.
Sounds a bit scary though, the era of true
SMART city is about to come with the help of data sciences.
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