SWAT Mobility Develops and Provides Mobility Data Linkage Platform to Aomori City

SWAT Mobility Japan Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Masashi Suehiro) has commenced the development and provision of an analysis system for Aomori City. This system visualizes the vast amount of route bus ridership data, demographic data, and human flow data accumulated daily, enabling multi-faceted analysis and supporting the formulation of timetable revisions and traffic plans.

Mobility Data Linkage Platform Image

Background of Introducing the Mobility Data Linkage Platform

Aomori City faced the necessity of rationalizing bus routes to maintain convenience amidst a shortage of route bus drivers. In this context, when revising timetables or reorganizing routes, mobility data was not being fully utilized, leading to perceived discrepancies between demand and reality, and between intuition and facts. Furthermore, there was no mechanism to rapidly and accurately evaluate measures after timetable revisions or route reorganizations. A data foundation was sought to enable stakeholders involved in transportation to discuss with a shared understanding, including the evaluation of measures.

Mobility Data Linkage Platform

SWAT Mobility has begun providing a mobility data linkage platform that integrates ridership data and operation plan data from route buses, city buses (community buses), and on-demand transportation operating in Aomori City, and enables analysis combined with population distribution and human flow data. This platform allows for multi-faceted data analysis considering routes, systems, services, and ticket types of each public transport with a single click. It also features a function to visualize ridership data on a map, enabling anyone to easily identify operational issues and propose timetable revisions. Furthermore, to resolve the disruptions caused by bus delays in winter, a unique challenge for Aomori City as a heavy snowfall area, the platform newly visualizes delay status by route. This allows for timetable creation based on delay data obtained from winter bus operations, leading to improved convenience for citizens.

Additionally, a mechanism has been built to visualize public transport coverage by time zone. This makes it possible to accurately grasp public transport coverage based on the operating frequency of each public transport by time zone.

In addition to providing the mobility data linkage platform, SWAT Mobility also offered proposals and executed measures based on data analysis addressing Aomori City's challenges (see below).

AI Camera for City Bus OD Data Acquisition

Aomori City buses were only able to acquire IC card data, and could not grasp the movements of passengers using cash, etc. It is estimated that approximately 50% of users use cash, and to understand this usage situation, AI cameras were set up to capture the actual usage patterns of cash users. New development was carried out to apply the same data processing logic as existing ridership data (IC card, fare box) to the acquired data, allowing for the assignment of various IDs using GTFS, thereby facilitating data integration into this platform.

User Support

Public relations materials were created to widely share the results of mobility data analysis with citizens. The bus route network of Aomori City municipal buses and city buses is visualized on a map, clearly conveying that Aomori City's route buses feature a 'T-shaped' network extending east, west, and south from Aomori Station, strengthening access to central urban areas, and maintaining high operating frequencies to reduce waiting times and enable smooth travel.

Aomori City Public Relations / Public Transport & AOPASS Feature Article (Excerpt)

Consideration of AI On-Demand Transport Introduction Candidate Areas and Introduction Simulation

An expansion study was conducted for on-demand transport operating in the western district of Aomori City. For candidate areas where new introduction is envisioned, a travel demand analysis based on human flow data and route bus travel demand was conducted to verify whether on-demand transport could be a substitute.

Mobility Data Visualization Examples

* The specific figures for user numbers, etc., have been omitted in the examples below.

* Passengers per trip * Stop usage records * Route-specific time zone delay analysis * Public transport coverage * Transfer analysis

About SWAT Mobility Japan

SWAT Mobility provides on-demand transport operating systems, route bus traffic analysis tools, and logistics optimization systems to solve challenges related to the movement of people and goods. Its routing algorithms, which efficiently share multiple passengers/goods with the minimum number of vehicles, are recognized as world-class. Through the social implementation of technology, the company pursues the realization of its vision: “Empowering the world to move more with less.”

SWAT Mobility Japan Co., Ltd.

Location: Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Masashi Suehiro

Established: 2020

Website: https://www.swatmobil