The solution was found in Skånetrafiken’s gathered data. Having a closer look, Stratiteq defined the ability to predict occupancy as a way of providing safer travelling. The solution was built upon journey search data, ticket purchases and ticket validations from boarding. Combining this data made it possible to determine both how many people will board at each stop, and predict where they will disembark. Hence, we can calculate how many people are onboard, compare that number with the actual vehicle capacity and calculate occupancy levels.

“This is without passenger counting solutions. If we add datasets like Wi-Fi information, smartphone telemetry, video cameras, weight sensors and other data sources, we can increase the granularity and predict, for instance, which car is more occupied than another in a train set. We have the technology and the data, and it’s time to understand and fully harvest the business value”, says Jan Landelius, Senior Consultant at Stratiteq.

Predictive occupancy not only creates a valuable service to travelers. It also helps traffic planners to understand when additional buses or more train cars need to be deployed. This opens the door to better cost efficiency while maintaining a high degree of service.

New flexible tickets
The pandemic made many people stop commuting to work every day and periodical ticket purchases went down. By analyzing the data, a new, more flexible ticket was offered, keeping commuters from leaving public transport in favor for a car.

Traffic planning
Using occupancy data makes it possible to plan operations more accurately – number of buses, size of buses and trains, driver schedules etc. which will increase efficiency and reduce cost. By adding weather data and traffic data it’s also possible to make quick adjustments and improve customer satisfaction as both availability and accuracy will improve.