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Planned app will give commuters best travel routes

SINGAPORE — Commuters can look forward to a free mobile application that could potentially tell them not only the fastest route to their destination, but also the smoothest route to take when carrying a foldable bicycle on the train, and where they could find the highest number of sheltered pathways on rainy days.

Commuters at an MRT station. Photo: Ooi Boon Keong

Commuters at an MRT station. Photo: Ooi Boon Keong

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SINGAPORE — Commuters can look forward to a free mobile application that could potentially tell them not only the fastest route to their destination, but also the smoothest route to take when carrying a foldable bicycle on the train, and where they could find the highest number of sheltered pathways on rainy days.

The mobile app — which the Land Transport Authority (LTA) hopes to develop with interested parties — will also be subject to the user’s commuting preferences set on the app, such as whether one prefers to take the most cost-saving route or the most time-saving route.

The proposed app aims to be different from other journey-planning apps already in the market by helping the commuter to plan the “first and last leg” of his journey better.

With the new app, the LTA hopes to address the needs of the different types of commuters by drawing on all available options, from buses, trains, and even extending to walking and cycling — with the ultimate aim of encouraging more people to take public transport.

LTA chief executive Chew Men Leong said today (Oct 22): “This app should inform commuters the most efficient and pleasant route to take. It can be a combination of walking comfortably along the sheltered walkway to take the bus, or cycling to the station to hop on the train.”

Professor Lee Der-Horng, a transport researcher at the National University of Singapore (NUS), believes that the proposed mobile app will help support the Government’s efforts to move towards a car-lite society, as it helps commuters to be “better informed of their travel decisions”.

However, he noted that providing the routes of sheltered walkways may be a challenge for the app developers. “Walking paths can be almost everywhere, so there can be many different choices and combinations to incorporate into the database,” said Prof Lee.

Dr Walter Theseira, a senior lecturer from SIM University, noted that the proposed app will be competing in an extremely crowded market. “This app will have to distinguish itself in the market by delivering on the promise of getting higher-quality information on the first and last mile to commuters. For example, the proposal to deliver detailed journey information on sheltered walkways and barrier-free access is actually truly novel because this kind of high-quality local pathway data typically doesn’t exist in the present mapping applications,” he said.

Dr Marcelo Ang, acting director of Advanced Robotics Centre at NUS, suggested that more features could be incorporated into the new app, such as the number of people using a given walkway, the noise pollution in the area, and even information about the air quality.

Student Shalyn Chin is one of several commuters who are looking forward to the app. The 19-year-old said: “I would use it because it would be localised to Singapore ... (and) it (would have taken into account) a lot of complex factors for the convenience of commuters.”

However, some commuters felt that they did not need a new app with features similar to the ones they have already downloaded. Mr Cedric Tan, 35, manager of a data governance software company, said: “It looks like what Google Maps can do ... Personally, I wouldn’t look forward to have to install another app into my device.”

To encourage the involvement of third-party developers, the LTA will issue a Call-for-Collaboration (CFC) to invite industry players to submit proposals on the development of the multi-modal journey planner mobile app.

Although no monetary incentives will be provided, an LTA spokesperson said “data and human resources” will be shared in the partnership.

The appointed app developer will partner the LTA to jointly create and market the journey planner.

Interested parties should submit their proposal to the LTA by Nov 30. The CFC exercise is expected to conclude in the first quarter of next year.

For more information, visit http://www.lta.gov.sg/cfc/

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