Cebu city traffic citom, firm partner for app, data sourcing

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM) yesterday signed a memorandum of agreement with a private firm for the establishment of a taxi-hailing software phone application, which is seen to strengthen CITOM’s ongoing data gathering on the city’s traffic conditions.

Collected data is seen further to lead to the formulation of a comprehensive traffic management system for Cebu City.

MiCab partnered with CITOM, considering that the traffic group has mobile phone units installed in several taxi units as part of a World Bank technical grant on low-cost data collection in relation to future implementation of a mass transport system, including – but not limited to – the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).

“We are working on proposing for traffic management initiative for Department of Public Works and Highways and city engineering. This agreement would enrich the quality of data that we will be getting,” CITOM Executive Director Atty. Rafael Christopher Yap said yesterday.

Web-based Cebu Traffic project, a low-cost transport data gathering developed in 2011 and started running first quarter of  2013, has more than a hundred Android phone units installed in taxi units from existing partner operators including  Ken, CTC, Spider, Scorpion, among others.

Data from these smartphones are fed to the system to determine the traffic flow based on the taxi unit’s speed in a given time and area.

“We have a total of 500 units. Around 200 to 300 remaining for deployment,” Yap said.

Under the agreement signed by Yap and Roberto Suson of app developer Gleek Corporation, the MiCab Taxi Dispatching Application software will be installed on Android  smartphones of both CITOM and Next IX.

The city traffic management has 500 existing units of Samsung Galaxy Y while Next IX  has Cherry Mobile Android counterpart units. MiCab targets about 1,000 units within the year.

The app developer explained that this innovation does not aim to eliminate taxi lanes in establishment but only gives commuters an option.

“This does not intend to compete with the existing system but more of establishments giving riding public the option on how to avail of taxi services,” Eddie Ybañez, one of the app developers said.

With Ybañez in developing the application are Kenneth Baylosis and Keith Levi Lumanog backed by information and communications technology firm Next IX of Gleek Corporation.

Commuters are given two options in availing of the MiCab taxi-hailing services: online and offline.

Online users may download the app initially available over Android-powered smartphones and tap the taxi hailing option which then sends signal to the partner taxi units within a two-kilometer radius.

On the other hand,  the offline option may be availed of by sending a command SMS where the zone code will be entered.

Ybañez explained that zone codes are configured in a server based on coordinates to determine the exact location and establishment where the passenger is waiting.

Text message command as well as corresponding zone codes will be made available through signage in key spots of partner establishments.

There are ongoing talks with developers and operating systems Microsoft and IOS for future availability in their units apart from the existing Android.

Suson added that they have so far partnered with Ken Taxi units for the pilot run in Cebu and is set to expand to other parts of the country like Davao, Iloilo and Manila to be available on franchise. –/JMO (FREEMAN)