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LTA calls for researchers, industry to help tackle transport challenges

SINGAPORE — A real-time journey planner that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to let commuters know how much time their journeys will take and where the crowds are, and satellite "smart" work centres that enable people to work near their homes.

SINGAPORE — A real-time journey planner that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to let commuters know how much time their journeys will take and where the crowds are, and satellite "smart" work centres that enable people to work near their homes.

These are among the solutions the authorities have envisaged, as they seek proposals to optimise services to meet transport challenges.

Launching two grant calls on Wednesday (Jan 3), the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it was inviting researchers and the industry to put forward research-and-development proposals in four areas.

First, it is seeking new ways to meet public-transport demand, particularly during peak periods, by making better use of existing resources or even using fewer resources.

Possible solutions in this area include modelling and simulation studies to optimise bus operations and a journey planner that provides real-time information on travel times and crowd levels across various travel options. This will also ease passenger transfers across different modes of public transport, the LTA's grant documents said.

Second, researchers are invited to tap data analytics to pinpoint bottlenecks and propose new ways to shorten journeys. Solutions could include ticketing technologies that trim the time needed to board and alight from buses, and dynamic lane markings to give buses priority on the roads, the LTA said.

Third, proposals are being sought for how space for roads — which form 12 per cent of Singapore's land area — can be reduced and better used.

Solutions should be designed, in particular, for three areas: Ang Mo Kio, with a mature public-transport system that includes a MRT station, bus interchange and a partially completed cycling network; Marine Parade, which has had its traffic layout reconfigured temporarily as the Marine Parade MRT Station is being built for the upcoming Thomson-East Coast Line; as well as the Central Business District.

Among other things, researchers could develop a typical concept design for the removal of roads, or look into how residents' commuting habits change as solutions are put in place, the LTA said.

Lastly, the authority is calling for ways to improve the accuracy of measuring bulk excavations of soil, which make construction of underground depots and stations possible, for volumetric analysis.

"The volume of bulk excavation has to be tracked accurately to monitor the excavation rate and factors such as volume of good earth and soft clay," the LTA explained.

It is also seeking a quick and reliable three-dimensional (3D) model of sites for record and data analysis.

Among the solutions the authority has in mind are fast mapping techniques that can reconstruct 3D models of a site regularly, and improvements to close-range photogrammetry — the use of photography in mapping to determine measurements between objects — via drones in order to obtain a 3D model with an accuracy of up to 1cm.

The two grant calls are open to all research and development organisations in Singapore.

Publicly-funded higher-learning institutes, not-for-profit research institutions and public-sector agencies will receive full funding from the LTA for the approved direct costs of projects. Firms and company-affiliated research entities will qualify for up to 70 per cent funding for such costs.

The higher-learning institutes and not-for-profit entities will also be eligible to have 20 per cent of their indirect costs funded.

The organisations will receive funding for up to a year for projects to improve the calculation of bulk-excavation volume, and up to three years for the other solutions.

Submissions close on Feb 21.

The LTA issued its first grant call between July and September last year to seek proposals to increase the uptake of active mobility — walking, cycling and the use of personal mobility devices, such as electric scooters. It is evaluating the proposals submitted.

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