By the end of August 2014 it is planned to finally implement the automated payment and travel control system in Minsk. The population of Minsk is about 1 974 900 people (2016), and a daily passenger traffic of just metro service is 8 995 000 people (2013).
The system is implemented and developed by MinskTrans and IBA. Information, which is collected due to this system, provides unlimited opportunities for analysts by means of modern Business Intelligence tools.
There are some questions, which can be answered with the help of BI tools:
- How many passengers are on the route?
- How does the number of passengers change depending on the season\weekday\time of day?
- When is it better to conduct maintenance\repair of vehicles?
- How can we optimize the schedule of traffic to maximize the convenience of passengers at a constant amount of buses\trolleys\trams\trains?
- What is a reasonable price of a ticket?
- How many check takers are needed?
- How many buses are needed?
Removing of only one bus from the route saves from 3000 USD per month, and improving the quality of a public transport service allows to increase sales of smart cards and expand a passenger traffic.
Finally, urban passenger transport will get a chance to become self-sufficient.
Validators' data analytics may eventually lead to the fact, that the citizens are late for work less. They will spend less time and energy for the transportation, thereafter, their work will be more efficient, which is beneficial both for the city and for the whole country.
We all are waiting for new events, championships, concerts, and festivals here in Minsk, but not hurricanes, snowfalls, and storms.
If we use it reasonably, an automation system complex may allow fast and effective regulation of routes and schedules, depending on the situation: season, great event (World Hockey Championship), weather, etc.
