
Business Design & Innovation
DYNAcity
Within the DYNAcity project, we studied how city mobility should look like so that travelers want and will commute more efficiently.
Problem
It is not always straightforward to efficiently move around a city. Different traffic flows of cars, motorcycles, bicycles, public transport and pedestrians seem to move crisscross through the city. Parts of these flows are currently guided by traffic-guiding systems such as traffic controllers, information panels and parking guidance. For shared bicycle systems and public transport, these techniques can also be used. However, the different systems are usually not connected to each other, which impedes an integrated traffic management that takes everything into account. Besides that, some parts of the city have only limited traffic information.
Solution
In the current digital era, there is a growing amount of data sources. For mobility this means systems to indicate free parking spots, public transport schedules, the availability of shared bicycles, etc. If we link these sets of data to other data, new insights and even new mobility applications can arise.
That’s why DYNAcity wanted to create a platform for the development of intelligent mobility services, in collaboration with cities, towns, mobility service providers and technology providers.

Project Development
The city of Ghent was a test zone during this project. Through its Open Data portal mobility data were published. The project group added new data to this from new, innovative traffic information sources such as thermal imaging cameras, a carpool system and even the weather. Based on this a dynamic ‘travel information service’ was developed. With this service, for 2 weeks 40 test subjects received information before the start of their journey on the different travel times per means of transport and route chosen. To indicate that many other applications are possible, Smart Mobility and the city of Ghent challenged students, developers, start-ups, etc. to get to work with the available data. A DYNAcity catalogue was developed.
Advantages
Many people are still too often inclined to take the car while other alternatives are faster. If we can offer drivers real time personal travel information that links with real traffic situations, combined with an overview of all available alternatives, they can choose a combined mobility that avoids congested areas.
Result
The result of this project consists of a roadmap for future dynamic urban mobility management: the necessary basic infrastructure, sources of information, approach and workable scenarios.
Dit project kwam mede tot stand dankzij de financiële ondersteuning van Agentschap Innoveren en Ondernemen

