transport options jun20.qxp_000_Benchmark_nov16 12/05/2020 16:13 Page 1
TRANSPORT OPTIONS
Smart Options for the Transportation Sector Transportation is a critical infrastructure element which is vital for the continued and smooth operation of businesses and residental communities across the globe. Whether local, regional, national or international, security and safety are major concerns, and when the deployed technology can add efficiencies too, the benefits of smart solutions are obvious. ransportation is a challenging sector when it comes to the delivery of smart solutions. When tasked with moving people and goods around a location, region or country, there are many criteria which must be met, and there is no room for compromise. Passenger and staff safety ranks very highly, as does security. In a huge number of applications, these two aspects are so important they often underpin the purchasing decision when smart solutions are specified. Indeed, in recent years, many of the other added-value benefits available from modern solutions have been ignored because the risks associated with missing a safety or security incident are too great. Thankfully, for transport operators, this need no longer be the case. There can be no argument that with increased pressures on costs and service provision, transport operators are also having to increase their focus on efficiency. As technologies advance and communications become more fluid, it is increasingly considered foolhardy to pass up on many of the available benefits. As processing capabilities grow in terms of power, and the value of big data is realised by
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more departments within a transportation organisation, so the information being gathered is more valued and can play a role in an increased number of management tasks. With higher levels of resilience on offer, operators can be assured the added value is achieved without any risk to the continuity of safety and security roles. Even where systems are deployed solely to address safety and security concerns, performance of smarter systems can deliver more efficient operation, with faster and more accurate results, simpler searches and reporting, trend identification and detection of anomalies or unusual behaviours. Developments in analytics, for example, mean that video can be employed to monitor level crossings or trackside locations for blockages, ensure platform edges in railway stations are clear, detect left bags or other items in airports, ports and stations, etc.. Sensors are available with increased accuracy, which can deliver X,Y coordinates to allow plotting of events or incidents on GPSenabled maps. Tracking of moving assets can be carried out in real-time. For transport operators, smart solutions have never offered so much value.
