MaaS solutions provider, Moovit, has announced a new feature in its urban mobility app for London transport passengers, which will allow them to view reports about how congested London Underground stations are across the city,
Using data from Transport for London (TfL), the initiative is in line with TfL’s new ‘quieter times to travel’ information to help people feel safer using public transport amid the global pandemic.
The new feature is thanks to Moovit’s integration of TfL’s open data API which provides near real-time station congestion data and is only available in the Moovit app aside from the TfL Go app.
Users can view the displayed data in Moovit’s Station Details screen, and then confirm or update the information themselves to ensure the data is precise and help fellow users be better aware when planning their journeys.
This data can be found for all Tube stations across London except for Kensington (Olympia), Heathrow Terminal 5 and Willesden Junction stations.
When a report is displayed in the Station Details screen, nearby Moovit users can tap ✓ or X to verify the information is still accurate or update it to display the latest levels of crowding with a one tap survey.
Users can also add crowding level reports to Moovit if no data is available. Users tap Report from the Quick Actions bar in the Station Details screen and follow the prompts and one tap survey to create a report. Users can select Not Crowded, A Little Crowded, Crowded, or Very Crowded. Others nearby will see this information for a period of up to 10 minutes in the Station Details screens before it is refreshed by TfL’s open data.
Luke Redfern, Moovit’s UK partnership manager said, “Travel needs have evolved dramatically in line with the pandemic. We’ve listened to passengers’ needs from all over the world, and we understand that Londoners are looking for quieter times to travel when they do need to get to their destination. Knowing, in advance, the crowding level of a station is a step forward in creating more Covid recovery features in the UK. We look forward to continuing the good work with TfL to provide essential information for those that still need to travel during these times.”
Lauren Sager Weinstein, chief data officer at TfL added, “I am delighted to see that our innovative use of data algorithms to illustrate station busy-ness is now being used across a range of channels to help our customers better plan journeys on the Tube. TfL’s real-time information, made available via our website, our open data API or the TfL Go app, gives people access to the latest real-time information. This allows people to plan routes designed around their personal circumstances and help them avoid the busiest times on the network.”
The Moovit app, available on iOS and Android, combines official information from local transport agencies as well as crowdsourced information to calculate the best route for each journey with urban mobility options such as bus, metro, rail, bike, scooters, taxi, and Uber. Moovit provides users with real-time arrival information so they know exactly when their bus or rail is arriving, a Live Directions feature with Get Off alerts to provide step-by-step guidance for the entire journey, and Service Alerts so that users can avoid disruptions and plan their journey accordingly.
Through Moovit’s use of Transport for London data, passengers also receive notifications about quieter times to travel. With the addition of the new crowding data feature, Londoners now have everything they need for accurate and reliable transport information right in the palms of their hands.
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