Skip to main content

Electric buses serve as mobile testing platforms by Living Lab project

The Living Lab Bus joint project, coordinated VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and launched at the beginning of 2016, is using Finnish electric buses acquired by Helsinki Region Transport as tangible development and testing platforms for businesses to validate their solutions in a real use environment. The buses can be used for testing user-oriented smart services and technologies, ranging from user interfaces and passenger services to sensors and transport operators’ solutions. VTT says the goa
March 3, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The Living Lab Bus joint project, coordinated 814 VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and launched at the beginning of 2016, is using Finnish electric buses acquired by 6995 Helsinki Region Transport as tangible development and testing platforms for businesses to validate their solutions in a real use environment. The buses can be used for testing user-oriented smart services and technologies, ranging from user interfaces and passenger services to sensors and transport operators’ solutions.

VTT says the goal is to create a new type of everyday development environment for accelerating the product development of businesses by means of agile experiments, in close cooperation with end-users and research institutions. Potential new solutions include easy-to-use passenger feedback solutions, automated passenger counting, and automated road condition observations.

In addition to the Helsinki region, the City of Tampere is also participating in the project, exploiting the results in its own public transport development.

The project supports the creation of new services for transport service users and providers; the business operations of companies are promoted by accelerating the cost-effective introduction of new solutions. The Living Lab Bus showcases Finnish expertise, while also increasing the attractiveness of public transport and cooperation between various players, as well as producing new research information on the needs of public transport users and service developers.

Identifying utilisation interests and needs of various players associated with implementing and using the development platform and setting some common rules for the operations are scheduled for spring 2016. After that, the project will be expanded by bringing in new players, who will utilise the platform in their development activities.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Tolling system interoperability gains momentum
    August 14, 2012
    Efforts to advance national interoperability for tolling systems are gaining momentum, with one protocol promoted by a key operator group emerging as a candidate to form the basis for full AVI interoperability, Tim McGuckin writes. Fuelled by a growing awareness and acceptance of standards-based solutions, the US toll community is quickening towards the goal of interoperability between toll systems across the US. Over 20 years since the advent of electronic toll collection (ETC), key elements are falling in
  • New riders get onboard the metabustrip
    October 5, 2016
    Bus travel booking is moving into the digital age as David Crawford discovers. A global surge in demand for intercity bus travel is fuelling new initiatives to make it easier for passengers to access information and book via the web by, fo example, using multi-sourced metasearch engines
  • Cross referencing data sets reveals now decision support information
    November 18, 2014
    Combining previously unrelated sets of data can provide an in-depth view of travel patterns. "Through the use of analytical tools, Urban Insights seeks to help transportation organisations benefit from the vast amounts of detailed data they collect every day.”
  • New German cross-industry project to develop 5G vehicle applications
    November 22, 2016
    A new consortium, initiated by Ericsson in Germany, aims to create an infrastructure and real application environment on a motorway test track, to carry out tests in vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, digitisation of the railway infrastructure and other applications using 5G technology. The 30 kilometre test track consists of several construction sections on the 30 kilometre ‘digital test field motorway’ along the A9 motorway and the high speed rail track between Nuremberg and Greding. The in