Skip to main content

Optibus makes it count in Japan's Akita City

Company's software will be used in redesign of city's public transportation network
By Adam Hill December 21, 2023 Read time: 1 min
Optibus will determine how many buses are required to run services efficiently (© Cowardlion | Dreamstime.com)

Akita City in Japan is to redesign its citywide public transportation network using Optibus' software.

The capital of the Akita prefecture, which has 300,000 residents, published the third edition of its policy vision for public transport in March 2021.

Optibus' digital planning and scheduling solution will be used to improve efficiency and optimise the redesign of route plans, timetables and vehicle counts.

The company says: "Network redesign and optimisation will also help Akita City to account for challenges when reimagining sustainability, including driver shortages and changes in ridership demand due to demographic changes such as a shrinking population and ageing society."

Using AI and optimisation algorithms, Optibus will also help determine how many vehicles are required to run services efficiently, based on Akita City’s operational standards and passenger demand, "resulting in a more effective network redesign and improved discussions with local bus operators".

The solution also allows the creation of multiple planning scenarios for the redesign which can be compared with one another.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Smoothing the path to reducing traffic pollution
    October 22, 2014
    David Crawford reviews a new approach to traffic smoothing. A key objective for the Californian city of Bakersfield’s upgraded traffic operations centre (TOC), which opened in June 2014, is to help improve living conditions in a region with one of the worst air quality problems in the US. The TOC is speeding up the smoothing of traffic flows by delivering faster and better-informed traffic signal retiming and synchronisation.
  • London needs just one road user charge, says report
    July 8, 2019
    London’s patchwork of road charging schemes should be replaced by a single, distance-based user charge, according to new research. Apart from anything else, it would be much fairer… The UK capital’s multiple road charging schemes require a radical overhaul, according to a new report by the Centre for London thinktank. The suggested solution is to replace existing levies on drivers with a single, distance-based user charge which would more fairly reflect how much, and at what time, people are using London
  • ITS solutions to keep truck traffic moving
    June 8, 2015
    David Crawford reviews freight management initiatives. Managing truck traffic to minimise its environmental impacts, without adversely impacting on its critical economic role, continues to drive ITS-based solutions in both urban and interurban contexts.
  • UK TransiT Hub to lead digital twinning for decarbonisation
    September 2, 2024
    University-led project looks at how digital twins can build more efficient infrastructure