City Traffic Ltd. (Kaupunkiliikenne Oy) wanted to improve metro traffic control in the Helsinki Region with data analytics and provide the traffic controllers with a new tool for monitoring transit regularity and punctuality. City traffic vehicles are used on 150 million trips every year. “It is now easier for traffic control to receive information on regularity, which will allow them to make their own decisions. Reports on what kind of traffic service we provide are now easier to make, which allows us to develop our operation,” says City Traffic’s Control Centre Supervisor Timo Ansamaa.
City Traffic is tasked with providing and developing sustainable mobility services and infrastructure in a reliable, high-quality and cost-effective manner. Its vehicles are used for 150 million trips every year, and it is also responsible for the infrastructure and equipment related to its operation. Metro ridership is expected to grow dramatically in the near future, and the current capacity will not be sufficient. Currently, City Traffic operates up to 36 concurrent metro trains at a 2.5 minute interval.
City Traffic wanted to develop its traffic control and reporting with data analytics in order to respond to future targets and the demands of a growing ridership. Operational traffic control needed a tool to monitor traffic regularity in real time as well as to better identify the root causes of traffic issues.
They also wanted to use equipment and traffic data in schedule planning and to enable shorter intervals in the future.
“We wanted to implement solutions that City Traffic can use to improve regularity and punctuality in its metro service with other methods than renewing or adding to the fleet. We also wanted to reduce the traffic controllers’ workloads with automated shift reporting. Our goal was to enhance the operation in a manner to improve the level of service and customer experience further,” says Aki Aapaoja, Solita’s Account Director.
Results show inspiring attitude
City Traffic and Solita decided to develop a solution which would show each train’s regularity at every station on one screen. This is a solution that City Traffic did not have and for which a turnkey product was not available.
Solita built a cloud-based environment that can collect data from various source systems as well as provide effective visual analyses. The environment was built on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, and the visualisations are based on Microsoft Power BI.
“We wanted to create a cloud-based environment that was cost-effective and compatible with other, existing systems. It was also key to make it into a base for future needs and use cases that we can’t yet identify,” says Aapaoja.
Solita was responsible for the project’s technical implementation and design. From the start, the work was informed by understanding the end users’ needs.
“This cooperation had an inspiring, active and interactive attitude from start to finish. Everyone involved was positively influenced by it. This is something we particularly noticed,” says City Traffic’s Ansamaa.
City Traffic’s Mohammad agrees: “The cooperation was really good. Communication was clear and what drew my attention was that the project was also interesting for Solita. This showed in their work – they clearly had a passion to be involved. We honestly and truly strove to achieve our goals and solve the technical challenges.”
