Skip to main content

Beacon for transport innovation

Transport for New South Wales, Australia is looking to expand on its current trial of Bluetooth beacons at Chatswood Station and bus interchange in Sydney and calling for submissions around new ways to put Bluetooth technology to use to make catching public transport easier. The Beacon Challenge follows the current trial, which uses more than 70 beacons to help customers with vision impairment to navigate between trains, buses and places of interest in and adjacent to the interchange by sending location
August 22, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Transport for New South Wales, Australia is looking to expand on its current trial of Bluetooth beacons at Chatswood Station and bus interchange in Sydney and calling for submissions around new ways to put Bluetooth technology to use to make catching public transport easier.

The Beacon Challenge follows the current trial, which uses more than 70 beacons to help customers with vision impairment to navigate between trains, buses and places of interest in and adjacent to the interchange by sending location signals to a mobile phone which then gives the customer audio cues.

Other potential uses include providing customers with information about the next train services, local attractions or how to find their way from the train to the bus.

The best submissions will earn access to the trial beacon network from 10 October to 13 November. If their concept is successful in trial, they will be invited to a live Demo Day to showcase their concepts to a panel of Transport for NSW leaders.

Related Content

  • Phoenix rises to the Smart City challenge
    December 10, 2015
    Andrew Bardin Williams looks at the City of Phoenix where voters backed a $30bn plan to revamp its transportation network to cultivate a more connected community. According to a Land Use Institute study, half of all Americans and even more millennials (63%) would like to live in a place where they do not need to use a car very often. The City of Phoenix is putting in place plans to revamp its urban development and transportation policies to meet these changing quality of life perceptions.
  • USDoT pilots show win-win potential for connected vehicles
    December 19, 2017
    Pete Goldin discovers the state of play with connected vehicles trials in the US and the impact of Hurricane Irma on Tampa’s pilot. The US Department of Transportation’s (USDoT’s) connected vehicle (CV) pilot sites have moved into phase 2 of the deployment programme– design, build, test and, maybe most importantly, collaborate.
  • Technology solution needed to counter mobile phone menace
    March 29, 2017
    With the UK set to increase the penalties for using mobile phones while driving, the RAC Foundation’s Steve Gooding considers what else can be done to combat this deadly distraction. The first mobile phone call was made in 1973, by an engineer working for Motorola. Today 4.7 billion people across the globe subscribe to a mobile service.
  • Great (shared) mobility expectations
    December 19, 2024
    An invitation to attend Movmi's Shared Mobility Fall Masterclass changed the way Adam Hill looked at micromobility - in particular his own attitude to risk