1. ICT Research Institute is a research strength of the University of Wollongong Transport Commons: A public transport service based on my timetable Farzad Safaei

2. ICT Research Institute is a research strength of the University of Wollongong 2 Are Cities Scalable? More than 56% of us live in cities

3. Farzad Safaei Slide 3 The ‘evidence’ As cities grow, going from A to B seems to get more difficult Investment in transport infrastructure growing faster than GDP –But we always seem to be in a catch up mode 3

4. Farzad Safaei Slide 4 Area = a 2 The model a Road Length = a 2 / Area Population Area

5. Farzad Safaei Slide 5 Transport infrastructure scalability Total Road Surface Area Congestion level Population of road users during the peak period

6. Farzad Safaei Slide 6 b e a The model Mean distance

7. Growth rate of p Number of Registered cars and station wagons in Australia Source: ABS Motor Vehicle Census, Australia (9309.0) Average Annual Growth Rate 1960 – 2010 4.2%

8. Farzad Safaei Slide 8 The scalability impact of p 3/2 Assuming GDP growth rate of 3% pa Normalizing with respect to 1960

9. Farzad Safaei Slide 9 The transport infrastructure scalability Population of road users during the peak period Congestion level

10. ICT Research Institute is a research strength of the University of Wollongong The Transport Commons 10

11. The paradox Billion Passenger km Source: ABS, Bureau of Transport Economics – Working Paper 38 Urban Passenger Transport Usage Car Bus Rail

12. Farzad Safaei Slide 12 The paradox We are faced with the shortage of transport services while a massive over-supply of transportation resources is choking our streets.

13. Farzad Safaei Slide 13 ‘Solutions’ Congestion taxes Discouraging ownership of cars Banning cars to enter city –Selective ban based on number plates Push the congestion load to cars –Allocated lanes for trams or buses –Allocated lanes for car pooling It is all about the ‘stick’ – but we are not empowering people to do anything about this

14. Farzad Safaei Slide 14 Transport Commons We now have all the required technologies to create a new public transport model –Affordable devices that can run location-based services for passengers and drivers –A reliable vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) augmented with a ubiquitous wireless backbone (3G or 4G) –A generalization of the concept of social networking applied to spatially distributed users; and –Cloud-based services for calculation and coordination of routes. 14

15. From: To: Submit Home Work Transport Commons

16. Private Taxi Pick up: 13 min Cost: $27.50 ETD: 45 min Available rides: Shared Taxi Multiple options Cost: $3 - $4 ETD: 47-52min Transport Commons Multiple options Reward: 250 points ETD: 43-65min Transport Commons

17. Pick up: 2 min ETD: 47 min Pick up: 2 min ETD: 47 min Pick up: 5 min ETD: 52 min Pick up: 5 min ETD: 52 min Transport Commons

18. Farzad Safaei Slide 18 “What is common to the greatest number gets the least amount of care” Aristotle The Commons Dilemma “We are locked into a system of ‘fouling our own nest’ so long as we behave as independent, rational, free enterprises” G. Hardin, ‘Tragedy of Commons’

19. Farzad Safaei Slide 19 The Commons Dilemma Failure of the doctrine of “Invisible Hand” –Individual and group rationality lead to different outcomes Leads to –Over-exploitation –Under-provision

20. Farzad Safaei Slide 20 The Power of Commons We need the management of commons to be –Accountable –Able to enforce rules –Able to moderate supply and demand –Able to incentivize the right behaviour –Able to weed out perverse incentives

21. Farzad Safaei Slide 21 The Transport Commons You may consider registering yourself and your vehicle –Pass some safety checks –A free device to be installed in your vehicle Anytime that you wish, you may consider donating your trip to the commons

22. Farzad Safaei Slide 22

23. Farzad Safaei Slide 23 ETD: 43 min; Expected Revenue: 2500 points ETD: 34 min; Expected Revenue: 1800 points

24. Farzad Safaei Slide 24 Not hitch hiking ! The system knows who was picked up by who –And the providers are screened There is opportunity to report incidences or inappropriate behavior –Panic button Possible to provide community ‘ratings’ Possible to enforce user preferences –Social networking on wheels!

25. Farzad Safaei Slide 25 Large-scale car pooling ! Currently, car pooling depends on –Serendipity –Face-to-face negotiations –Awkward social protocols –I am at the mercy of someone else’s timetable –Is not scalable Transport Commons service takes care of all this

26. Farzad Safaei Slide 26 Service Viability

27. Farzad Safaei Slide 27 Influence of city topology

28. Farzad Safaei Slide 28 The economic considerations The marginal cost of providing this service is almost zero The benefits are huge Therefore, contribution to the transport commons benefits everyone – it is public good

29. Farzad Safaei Slide 29 Our Architecture Can also be used in other contexts TCM Route Server TCM road status Server Pricing and incentive models Social Networking models Payment systems VANET + 3G

30. Farzad Safaei Slide 30 Challenges Technical Legal and regulatory Social and cultural acceptance –Trust Economic incentivisation models Cross impact on other public transportation systems Transitional models More than just building an ‘app’