Connecting Cambridgeshire’s Smart team launched a mobile travel app and smart wayfinding screens in 2018, to help residents, commuters and visitors plan their journeys around Cambridge.
These innovative journey planning tools, using ‘real-time’ data, were developed to encourage people to travel more sustainably.
The app and the screens were trialled with the support of the Greater Cambridge Partnership to make it easier for people to choose sustainable travel choices and help reduce congestion in the city.
The app and the screens used real-time travel and other useful information collated through the Intelligent City Platform (iCP), developed with the University of Cambridge, together with other data sources such as Google Transit, Twitter data feeds and weather reports.
Watch our 3-minute Smart Journey Planning video below to find out more:
MotionMap Mobile Travel App
The MotionMap travel app was launched by the Smart team to help people plan their journeys.
Free to download from the app store to your smartphone, the MotionMap travel app brought together ‘real-time’ and local timetable information to more accurately predict travel times and suggest the best routes in and around Cambridgeshire – using a mix of buses, trains, walking, and cycling.
The app also had a carbon counter and a feedback option for users so the app could be improved and new features were added through upgrades. Including making it clear which side of the road the bus stops were on, plus the ability to plan future journeys.
Since the launch of MotionMap in 2018, other journey planning tools including CityMapper (Cambridge is currently included in the London map), Google Maps and the Stagecoach Bus App (available to download from the Apple and Play stores) have been further developed and improved to provide real-time journey information for our region.
As a result, MotionMap will be discontinued on 30 June 2023.
Digital Wayfinding Screens
Smart screens showing the latest travel updates and useful visitor information have also been trialled at key interchanges to try and make it easier for people to find their way around the city.
The city’s first Digital Wayfinding Screen was installed outside Cambridge Station (another was temporarily located at Trumpington Park & Ride) – providing much-needed signposting for commuters and visitors.
The interactive screens provide useful visitor information including a city map, local places of interest, and suggested walking and cycle routes.