Urban Engines

Cloud-based solution for transit system performance and commuter flows

Urban Engines’ cloud-based solution gives users unprecedented visibility into transit system performance and commuter flows to help make your planning and operations decisions better and easier. Through the combination of big data and spatial analytics, this application attempts to improve urban mobility and help people, cities and companies make better decisions about transportation.

Urban Engines uses information collected from the Internet of Moving Things – data points produced by transit systems delivery vehicles, on-demand fleets, among others. In other words, it reconstructs and analyzes dozens of existing signals from city transit systems, like fare card data and GPS traces, to show every vehicle and every trip.

Urban Engines’ cloud-based software can be up and running within 30 days — and scales to billions of trips as your system grows. In addition to its data service for cities and companies, the company puts city-level insights and optimized mixed-mode routing options into the hands of commuters with the Urban Engines mobile app.

Τhe key features of Urban Engines are the following:

  • Personalized Mixed-Mode trip planning: Users can travel their way and get the most comprehensive travel options for any occasion, whether it’s single-mode (driving, transit, biking) or mixed-mode (car + rail, bike + train)

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  • Offline maps: Download entire cities for complete offline access and review the map, search for locations and get directions entirely offline.
  • X-ray mode: Orient yourself quickly with “X-ray mode”—a transparent map overlay of streets, transit stops, and directions on the camera view.

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  • Easier data handling for better understanding:  Import datasets, such as custom shapefiles or onboard diagnostics, to add additional context and inform predictive analytics.

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  • Deck of aps for dynamic, one-touch directions: Quick, one-touch access and instant routing to your favorite destinations through a simple, deck of maps UI.
  • Actionable trip planning info: Urban Engines use data from several sources – events, historical, real-time data, so users can choose the best route quickly and be on their way.

There are many companies and cities already supporting Urban Engines. One of the case studies presented in their website is Singapore:

Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)

  • Created digital replicas of Singapore’s train and bus systems and reconstructed millions of commuter journeys per day
  • Helps URA explore commuter flows to and from home and work locations.
  • Derives insights from billions of data points to let URA answer specific questions like “Where do the senior citizens who exit at a particular bus stop come from?”

Additionally, some of the supported transit agencies are the following:

  • Atlanta: MARTA, CCT (Cobb Community), GRTA (Georgia Regional Transportation)
  • Austin: Capital Metro
  • Baltimore: MTA, CMRT (Central Maryland), RideOn
  • Boston: MBTA, MetroWest RTA, BAT, Lowell RTA, CATA
  • Chicago: CTA, Pace, Metra
  • Dallas: DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit), The T (Fort Worth)
  • Denver: RTD (Regional Transportation District)
  • Houston: Metro
  • Los Angeles: LA Metro, Metrolink, LADOT
  • Miami: MDT (Miami-Dade Transit), BCT (Broward County Transit)
  • New York: MTA Bus, MTA Subway, LIRR, Metro North, Path, NJ Transit, NICE
  • Philadelphia: SEPTA Bus, SEPTA Rail
  • Phoenix: Valley Metro
  • Portland: TriMet
  • Sacramento: RT (Sacramento Regional Transit)
  • Salt Lake City: UTA
  • San Diego: MTS (San Diego Metropolitan Transit System) NCTD (North County Transit District)
  • San Francisco: MUNI, BART, Caltrain, AC Transit,
  • County Connection, Golden Gate Transit, SamTrans, VTA
  • Seattle: King County Metro Transit, Sound Transit
  • Toronto: TTC, YRT, GO Transit, Brampton Transit, MiWay
  • Vancouver: Translink
  • Washington DC: WMATA, VRE, ART, DC Circulator, Fairfax Connector, DASH
  • Singapore: SMRT, SBST