About the Challenge
To explore new products and ideas that can influence customer travel behaviours and address the complex transport issues we face as Sydney grows, TfNSW’s Sydney Coordination Office (SCO), in conjunction with Future Transport, launched the Travel Choices Innovation Challenge.
SCO established a hugely successful travel behaviour program, Travel Choices, to support the construction of the CBD and South East Light Rail and Travel Choices is now expanding this program to other areas including the B-Line corridor and Macquarie Park precinct. Travel Choices is the behaviour change program that, alongside network management and capacity creation, forms the SCO’s integrated travel demand management approach.
The Travel Choices Innovation Challenge invited the community to create an innovative product using TfNSW’s open data to support the expansion of the Travel Choices program with two problem statements:
How can we develop a product to provide information to our customers that persuades and enables them to remode, retime, reroute and reduce their journeys by promoting the financial, social, environmental and health benefits for our commuting customers and the costs of private vehicle use?
How can we use open data (and other existing tools and products) to make it easier for customers to obtain and interpret travel information which is specific to their needs?
Two products were chosen to progress through incubation to launch - Citymapper and Finderful. Read more about each solution below.
Citymapper is a multimodal trip planning app, making cities easier to use!
The app allows for checking of nearby departures in real-time and has the ability to find the fastest route combining bus, subway, train, ferry, taxi, car share, bike share and walking. Commuters can decide which transport option based on time or the amount of calories burned, and also receive alerts for route disruptions and more. As part of the Travel Choices Innovation Challenge, further updates to the existing product were incorporated to encourage commuters to use public transport and make their commute more sustainable. Features include:
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Finderful.com is a website designed to help you decide where to buy or rent in Sydney, New South Wales, and Australia.
You can search for homes or suburbs based on a wide range of customisable search preferences you set, including number of bedrooms and bathrooms, safer suburbs, or cheaper homes. Finderful.com uses Transport for NSW public transport datasets in its searches to calculate travel times from every home to your workplace or any other point of interest. Key benefits of Finderful include:
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Further Information
The aim of the challenge was to prompt innovative thinking around digital products and services that could provide customers with trip planning information alongside messages that encourage customer travel behaviour change. Travel Choices utilises the following principles to engage with customers and influence travel behaviour change:
Remode – Customer Message: Use public transport as driving may no longer be your best option
Retime – Customer Message: Avoid travel during the peak.
Reroute – Customer Message: Use preferred driving routes where possible.
Reduce – Customer Message: Minimise the number of times you have to travel, especially by car.
We looked for products that utilised the TfNSW open data to support the above principles of the program and considers the function and useability of existing tools and products. The product should make it easier for customers to obtain and interpret travel information which is specific to their needs in a way that also should influence travel behaviour.
Challenge Dates
Applications opened Friday 2 June 2017
Briefing Session was held Thursday 8 June 2017
Applications closed Friday 23 June 2017
Finalists advised Thursday 29 June 2017
Pitch Day held Tuesday 11 July 2017
Winners informed Friday 25 August 2017