Here's how APIs help solve emerging mobility issues

Cities are experiencing more congestion than ever. HERE has the APIs developers need to improve city transit and mobility.

Our world is growing increasingly crowded. With city populations booming, increasing congestion makes moving people from place to place more difficult every day. The same goes for businesses who move goods and services on tight deadlines. The great challenge in enabling people to travel as quickly as possible is that roadways and other mobility options aren’t being used efficiently.

Not so surprising fact: more than 30% of traffic in a city is caused by drivers searching for parking spots. On average, looking for parking can add as much as 14 minutes to a journey, which is 14 more minutes that a vehicle is taking up space on our streets. The extra time spent in the resulting congestion burns up productivity time while also burning additional fuel, leading to frustrated drivers and higher co2 emissions.

Everyone wants to solve these problems. But in respect to mobility, everyone has their own individual needs. Cities want to make their neighborhoods livable, commutable, and environmentally sustainable, while businesses want access to multi-modal transit options which can optimize the cost of moving people and goods. Finally, most of us simply want to get to work on time. How can we overcome these collective transit barriers?

Two HERE APIs empower developers to elevate public transportation

Public transport can make our cities more efficient, but there are setbacks. When considering a trip, commuters are forced to plan complex trips and transfers, often without being certain they’re doing so efficiently. In addition, they tend to not trust public transport because there is a lack accurate, real-time information about when the next bus or train is coming. Transit authorities need to match the efficiency and transparency offered by on-demand car and mobility services.

The HERE Transit API dramatically improves the experience of using public transit. Integrated into any application, it enables anyone to find the closest transportation options and consider those options through the lens of the most efficient way to get where they’re going. 

This API steps beyond providing a static route, and into the arena of finding the most intelligent way to get to a destination based on dynamic events. The Transit API carries real-time departure information for when the next bus or train is leaving from its stop. It also carries service interruptions and street traffic that could impact buses. If a train is leaving in two minutes, but the station is a five minute walk away, the API is smart enough to know you may need to use a different means of transportation.

Moving through the city can also be improved with the HERE Intermodal Park & Ride API. By putting intelligent, informed tools in their hands, commuters can be more confident about opting to park near public transit and take the train, rather than adding their individual car to the downtown congestion problem.

The Park & Ride API gives commuters the full intermodal view of getting to work. How long will it take to drive to the train station? Is there an EV charging station in that parking facility? When will the next train leave relative to your arrival time? How long will it take to walk from the downtown station to your office? All of these factors are intelligently combined to provide residents with a highly trustworthy view of how long their journey will take.

As the location intelligence leader, one of our objectives is to continue providing developers, businesses, and city planners with the most accurate up-to-date information available anywhere. These tools can bring confidence to commuters and help solve the congestion problems our cities face now, and in the future.

To learn more about our Public Transit API offering, visit developer.here.com.