ITSA: Xerox is Making Transportation Simple

By, Chris Gilligan, Xerox Public Relations

When Chris isn’t working for Xerox, he enjoys travelling and how easy it is because of all the cool things Xerox does to make it easier.

If you’ve followed this space during the past several months, you’ve seen stories about Xerox and transportation, and you may have even wondered why.   We’re proud to be the largest provider of transportation services to governments around the world.

So, what does that mean?  We make it easier for people to find parking spaces, see if their bus is on time and pay for public transit and tolls easier.  We make life simpler and get people to where they’re going faster.

Xerox Chairman and CEO Ursula Burns spoke today at the 2012 Intelligent Transportation Society of America’s Annual Meeting.  She talked about her impatience in bringing technology to cities and towns to make transportation simple.   What’s truly exciting today is that Xerox researchers, who for decades focused solely on “multi-function devices”, are now applying that brainpower to improve transportation:

• Parking Solutions – With an estimated 30 percent of urban congestion linked to parking, we’re making finding and paying for a parking space easier with a smartphone guidance app and meters that accept credit cards.
• Data Analytics – Making sense of all that “big data” agencies already compile — to find patterns, trends and solutions.  A “city dashboard” including heat maps visually illustrate transportation activity in various parts of a city.
• Congestion Management – Unique, dynamic pricing algorithms adjust prices based on demand to help traffic flow and reduce congestion.  Our imaging heritage is being applied to dynamic pricing technology to improve collection and enforcement.
• Public Transit – Buses and operations systems are connected electronically so transit operators can make better schedules, become aware of delays and make necessary route changes faster. The SmartTraveler Plus system gives commuters immediate access to real-time schedule and route information via phone and personal computing devices and message boards.

Now that’s progress…all inspired by Xerox technology.  Take a look at this infographic for a quick snapshot of what we do in transportation. Wouldn’t you like to see these technologies implemented in a city near you?  What would you with the extra time you didn’t spend looking for a parking spot?