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IBM > Case Studies > Optibus: Enabling smarter public transport systems through real-time analytics of in-motion big data
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Optibus: Enabling smarter public transport systems through real-time analytics of in-motion big data

Technology Category
  • Analytics & Modeling - Big Data Analytics
  • Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
  • Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms
Applicable Industries
  • Transportation
Applicable Functions
  • Logistics & Transportation
Use Cases
  • Fleet Management
  • Public Transportation Management
  • Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
Services
  • Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
  • Data Science Services
The Challenge
Bus companies face a significant challenge in optimizing the utilization of staff and vehicles to maximize customer satisfaction, while minimizing operational costs and carbon emissions. Events such as vehicle breakdowns, accidents, adverse weather, driver or passenger illness, construction delays, and traffic congestion can disrupt carefully planned schedules. Traditional operational planning for vehicles and crews is an offline process involving significant manual effort and does not adapt quickly or easily to changing real-world conditions. As a result, bus companies tend to maintain costly reserve vehicles and crews to fill gaps in the schedule. Optibus recognized that bus companies waste millions of dollars annually through inefficient scheduling, oversized fleets, and delays in responding to unexpected events.
About The Customer
Optibus Ltd., founded in 2011 and headquartered in Netanya, Israel, specializes in intelligent optimization solutions for public transportation companies. Using unique, algorithm-based technology, the company helps bus companies in Israel and beyond to optimize operational scheduling in real time. Optibus wanted to re-invent the way public transportation services are delivered by giving bus companies intelligent tools and solutions for real-time operational planning and optimization.
The Solution
Optibus built an intelligent, algorithm-based, scheduling optimization platform using IBM InfoSphere BigInsights and IBM InfoSphere Streams software running on a SoftLayer cloud platform. The solution pulls in bus data in real time, including GPS position, speed, acceleration, and even the number of passengers, calculated from onboard video cameras, and combines it with traffic and weather data to give bus operators a 360-degree view of key factors affecting services. InfoSphere Streams powers the optimization engine, which uses advanced algorithms to compute optional rescheduling decisions. Human operators can adjust the model and receive a new rescheduling plan in real time. Optibus uses InfoSphere BigInsights, IBM’s Apache Hadoop distribution, to continuously optimize the model used in InfoSphere Streams, analyzing historical data to set benchmarks for each bus route.
Operational Impact
  • Optibus provides fully optimized planning in seconds for large bus fleets, calculating the best use of vehicles and drivers based on constantly changing conditions.
  • When a bus is stuck in traffic or when a sudden rainstorm affects average speed, the real-time decision engine instantly determines the optimal response.
  • In a pilot exercise for Egged, a major Israeli transportation company that is now deploying the full solution, Optibus used its technology to show how the company could shut one of its two parking depots without any impact on schedules.
Quantitative Benefit
  • Saves seven to ten percent in operational costs.
  • Tracks fleet status in real time, and enables intelligent response to changing conditions.
  • Optimizes resource utilization and cuts CO2 emissions.

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