Every day, data and analytics touch our lives in ways that we can’t begin to imagine. As an example, it can be seen when you log on to a video call, pay for your train ticket, or order your cappuccino using your phone. Or view spending trends on your bank account using an app or website. Data analytics are also at work in ways you don’t see — ways that make your life easier, safer, more convenient, and more fun — especially when it comes to getting where you want to go. Indeed, data analytics reduce your travel time, manage traffic congestion, and create safer and more accessible ways to use public transit.When you’re waiting to catch the bus or jump on the commuter train to get to work in the morning, your phone app may tell you whether your ride is on schedule — and exactly how many minutes until the next bus or train arrives at your stop. When you visit a new city, do you use apps to figure out how to get to your hotel or from one landmark to the next? Data analytics and smart apps make all this possible. Similarly, when winter weather hits and roads need to be cleared, data and analytics can help cities send extra drivers to harder-hit areas needing to be cleared using real-time data and also let you know when your street will be plowed.Smart technology helps improve many aspects of your daily life. Check out these examples of the hidden technology from EastBanc technologies that help make your life just a bit easier.TRANSITiQ: People want to have a clear view of all available travel options and predicted travel time, and cities want to increase accessibility and use of public transit. With TRANSITiQ and the power of data, users can see stations, routes, service alerts, and even enable location-based push notifications. Notably, TRANSITiQ technology enables accurate predictions of arrival times to stops along transit routes. And by integrating Bluetooth Beacons, cities can help visually impaired riders to safely navigate the transportation system. TRANSITiQ also gathers crucial business intelligence for municipalities, including performance reports and other relevant statistics.CABiQ: Trying to hail a cab during rush hour, or after that night out, can be frustrating. But with phone apps and other new smart tools at their disposal, operators and drivers can pinpoint hotspots and easily determine where and when to place their cars — thus optimizing services and helping passengers find their rides quicker. These tools leverage CABiQ technology to analyze historical and near-real-time data about vehicle locations and ride demand, enabling them to map underserved areas as well as popular destinations and pickup points. CABiQ not only benefits cab drivers and their customers; it also provides crucial information to cities to help them with the regulation of local taxi services: A central feature of CABiQ is the ability to gather timely and accurate information about every trip and report it to the municipality for analysis and enforcement.SNOWiQ: Today’s unpredictable, and often extreme, winter weather demands a rapid response from busy cities whose residents expect roads to be plowed quickly and efficiently. Simply put, cities need to minimize the impact of inclement weather on daily commutes and doings by getting snowplows and other machinery on the road as quickly as possible. We’ve seen how Uber and Lyft have changed ride sharing. SNOWiQ makes it possible for cities to also be responsive to peak times and high-demand areas and use additional contractors to shore up their snow-clearing fleets. With SNOWiQ, cities can optimize snow removal to reduce truck idling time and save money — and residents will know which routes have been cleared, which ones are next on the schedule, and when it’s safe to travel again.INSPECTiQ: Meeting the inspection and permit-issuance demands of a major city can be a challenge for local authorities but INSPECTiQ technology makes the task just a bit more manageable. The technology enables municipalities to streamline how they manage inspections of housing and construction projects by providing a convenient way to dispatch and track inspectors. Armed with tablets running GPS-enabled INSPECTiQ-based apps, inspectors carry out their duties and report their findings, while administrators have easy access to real-time tracking of progress and inspector location so they can maximize productivity and minimize response time for urgent inspections.Like SNOWiQ, INSPECTiQ adds flexibility to municipal forces and boosts the gig economy. Local governments can train citizen inspectors and, when demand peaks, use the technology to scale their municipal forces and optimize service delivery by bringing in additional contractors on behalf of the government.The next time you need to hail a cab or jump on a city bus or need a plow to clear your snow-blanketed street, rest assured that data analytics will help make it happen. Smart technology is already everywhere, making daily life just a little bit more enjoyable.
