The Citymapper Smartbus

NB Team
10.05.2017

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10.05.17, by Ben Cullen

How to get to and from work is a constant topic of conversation in the office. It is a tedious grind for some of us, with crowded transport and delays. Things might not yet be Southern Rail bad everywhere, but without investment and innovation, our current structure will break. Being squeezed under a stranger’s armpit on the hotter-than-hades Central Line is a shared experience most of us could do without. We could walk or cycle, but however good our intentions, we still want the quickest route possible (and that’s definitely not by walking!).

As a tech agency, we love seeing technological solutions to problems, so we’re pretty interested in Citymapper’s newly announced Smartbus. The underground network has seen plenty of investment and innovation and can expect to see more with the arrival of Crossrail, yet the humble bus has remained relatively unchanged.

The initial plan is for a green ‘smart bus’ to drive a simple circular route around Blackfriars. It might not sound very impressive but the key to this experiment is data. The bus will integrate with the Citymapper app routing and the city’s data. Eventually, this access to data means bus routes will be able to continually evolve to meet the needs of commuters while adjusting to the ebbs and flows of a modern city. Current travel apps tell commuters how best to use transportation. However, in the future, we hope that transportation will adjust to serve us in the right way.

Efforts to improve how we move around our cities can only be a good thing. A green bus driving around Blackfriars could be the first step to smarter connected cities. Cities which have transport links that can react and better serve citizens. We’re certainly excited to see how this develops, and (fingers crossed) for much simpler commutes in the future!