JJ Rosen FOR USA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE
Published 8:30 AM EDT May 25, 2018
Since my last column – a list of alternative ways to fix the city’s transit challenges, ideas offered by a small brainstorming group of Nashville computer geeks – more of my fellow techies have joined in on the fun, coming up with tech-oriented approaches to the problem.
Over the past two weeks I have heard from dozens of Nashville’s best and brightest network and software engineers posting solutions that leverage practical and affordable technologies to ease our clogged roadways.
In the IT world, a key feature of any system is “scalability.” Whether you are building a website, a software application, or a corporate network, the goal is to structure systems in ways that can easily handle more volume.
Granted, scaling a computer system is easier than scaling an entire city’s infrastructure. Yet the goal is the same: to make Nashville “scalable.”
So how do you make an existing transit system more scalable?
Here’s round two of ideas that some in Nashville’s tech community have come up with to address our traffic issues:
- Tech-friendly buses. With Wi-Fi, power outlets and fold out desks, your morning commute would be a productive one. Ridership would increase (and traffic would decrease) if buses were more like mini-offices.
- Virtual-Reality (“VR”) based offices. Imagine putting on a pair of VR glasses to take you into a virtual conference room that looks just like the real thing, where you see your colleagues, draw on white boards, and communicate just like you were meeting in-person. This may sound too futuristic, but one day, VR will make the physical office and the morning commute obsolete.
- Rewards-based rideshare programs. A Tennessee-based company named Hytch is pioneering a service that promotes ridesharing through cash incentives. Partnering with employers who want to help reduce pollution and make morning commutes easier, Hytch uses a mobile app to track and reward ride sharers for every mile they carpool or use public transportation. Expanding tech-enabled transit incentive programs will reduce congestion while helping commuters earn extra money.
- Replace delivery trucks with drones. Amazon and UPS are experimenting with using drones instead of trucks to deliver packages. There are a host of issues with FAA regulations, but the technology is here.
- On-demand mini buses. The idea is basically Uber on steroids. Citymapper in London and Chariot in Seattle are two app-based services aiming to fill a niche between bus/rail service and on-demand car and taxi service. Imagine a fleet of small eight-passenger buses that can be summoned on demand from your smartphone. Software can optimize the most efficient routes for all riders to get to their destinations by providing a shared, low-cost ride-sharing alternative.
- Cumberland Wi-Fi enabled ferries. Some techies who hate the commute from Mt. Juliet and Hermitage have suggested a park-and-ride ferry service to downtown. This is not a new idea, but throw in Wi-Fi and some USB ports, and a float down the river is much more fun and productive than fighting traffic down the interstate.
Getting consensus around any idea that costs money is a difficult thing to do. But as a tech-savvy younger generation fills our streets, selling tech-centric ideas to solve our city’s problems is more and more likely to make headway and make headlines.
JJ Rosen is the found of Atiba, a Nashville IT consulting, software development, and website design firm. Visit Atiba online at www.atiba.com and www.atibanetworkservices.com