Challenge 4

How to limit the flow of commuters on the A1 motorway between Lausanne and Geneva
The A1 motorway between Lausanne and Geneva is one of the busiest highways in Switzerland and this creates not only economic costs but also frustration among commuters and a high environmental pollution rate.

Challenge context

The costs of road congestion are multiple. Its impacts are experienced on a daily basis by thousands of motorists trapped in endless traffic jama, and by companies suffering from increased delivery times or emplyee delays. Road congestion also increases greenhouse gaz (GHG) emissions due to the excess fuel consumed in traffic jams, and this also has health implication since car pollution increases the risk of asthma, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stress, etc. 

The A1 motorway between Lausanne and Geneva is one of the busiest highway in Switzerland and this creates not only economic costs but also frustration among commuters and a high environmental pollution rate. That might also add a loss of productivity and impact the Swiss economy.

Projections show today that traffic to the part of the A1 will continue to grow.

Challenge description

Today, thanks to the anonymous and aggregated mobility profiles of mobile phones (while respecting and preserving privacy) , it is possible to analyse mobility flows and to find new solutions to motivate commuters to use alternative modes of transportation to reduce the pollution, or even to opt for other solutions, such as home office working.

Swisscom, as part of the Climathon 2018, wants to understand how it could be possible to encourage commuters who live between Lausanne and Geneva to use alternative modes of transportation such as public transportation, carpooling, cycling, etc., even to opt for home office working.

Two working hypothesis could be verified:

1. Commuters use their cars during rush hours to go to their place of work. They are therefore responsible for the excessive traffic on the motorway. Is the number of vehicles responsible for the congestion? Are there other factors that justify traffic jams?
2. Is it a personal preference to use private vehicles because commuters think that it will be faster this way?

To meet this challenge, Swisscom, as part of its Smart City and Corporate Responsability programs, provides population anonymous and aggregated mobility data that can be leveraged. These data allow a representation of a large part of the mobiliy. In addition, Swisscom encourages the use of its open data that can be found on the following website: https://opendata.swisscom.com/pages/home/

The data analysis could notably make it possible to:

• Notify travelers when the highway is overloaded ;
• Plan efficiently public transportation or other modes of transportation such as carpooling, bike-sharing, etc.
• Reduce the impact of mobility on the environment.

Instructions to participants:

• Participants will find solutions to analyze and exploit data made available by Swisscom and its partners to reduce the impact of mobility on the environment.
• Participants will use and integrate the data in their solutions.
• Solutions will reduce the environmental impact of commuters' flows.