Skip to main content

Sharing real-time information ‘could save the transport sector billions each year’

A European research project led by Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands makes real-time information available for the whole transport chain for the first time. The GET Service software platform, which is being presented at an international symposium in Rotterdam on 1 October, enables a flexible response to unforeseen circumstances, making transport faster, more environmentally friendly and cheaper each year by many billions. The researchers are confident that the total fuel consumption
September 29, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
A European research project led by Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands makes real-time information available for the whole transport chain for the first time.

The GET Service software platform, which is being presented at an international symposium in Rotterdam on 1 October, enables a flexible response to unforeseen circumstances, making transport faster, more environmentally friendly and cheaper each year by many billions. The researchers are confident that the total fuel consumption in the EU can be reduced by some 2 billion litres and CO2 emissions cut by 6.5 million annually.

A collaborative project involving transport companies and research institutions, led by researchers Remco Dijkman and Paul Grefen, has spent three years developing a software platform that allows transport routes to be adjusted in the light of unforeseen circumstances.

GET Service solves a major problem in the transport sector, say the researchers. It makes real-time information available for every transporter, about the location of goods, how busy the road is, the weather conditions and more. This kind of information is currently lacking and planning is made in advance. “What is holding transporter back is a fear of market share if they share information,” Dijkman says.

This widely backed European platform, largely funded by the European Union, is intended to put an end to this problem. The platform enables plans to be made and adjusted on the basis of up-to-the-minute information and the availability of transport. The researchers are confident that the total fuel consumption in the EU can be reduced by some 2 billion litres and CO2 emissions cut by 6.5 million annually by improving the use of environmentally-friendly means of transport and cutting the number of ‘empty’  trucks on the road.

Partners in the project include Eindhoven University of Technology, Portbase in Rotterdam, IBM Research in Zürich, Jan de Rijk Logistics in Roosendaal, PTV in Karlsruhe, Wirtschaftuniversität in Vienna and Exus in Athens.

Related Content

  • Florida awards $5m deal to Iteris
    March 21, 2022
    Project will help reduce CO2 emissions throughout Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater
  • Umovity: Revolutionising mobility through innovative technologies
    December 1, 2023
    United under the brand Umovity, PTV Group and Econolite join forces and introduce their new combined Mobility Tech Suite. The companies’ CEO Christian U. Haas explains the details
  • New York pioneers online mobile real-time bus tracking
    May 22, 2012
    An unusual technology collaboration. David Crawford investigates Early in January 2012, the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) rolled out the first borough-wide implementation of its pioneering Bus Time online mobile real-time tracking service. The system allow commuters to track each bus on every route in real-time on the internet, via smartphones and by text messaging to a mobile phone. The MTA chose Staten Island for its first live launch due to it being the only one of the five Ne
  • Kapsch TrafficCom: 'The city is not made for cars'
    October 22, 2018
    Traffic can be a really big challenge. When you’re stuck, you’re stuck. Everything comes to a standstill. But Alexander Lewald describes how existing infrastructures can be used more efficiently and how demand can be managed. A few figures to start with: in Los Angeles, the average driver spends 102 hours a year in traffic – that’s more than four days. This figure is 91 hours in Moscow and New York, 74 in London, 69 in Paris, 51 hours in Munich and still 40 hours in Vienna. Traffic is what causes