IBM Smarter Cities Challenge Team Proposes Strategy For Safer, More Efficient And Convenient Public Transport In Greater Rabat

RABAT, Morocco, June 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of IBM (NYSE: IBM) experts funded by an IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant, has provided government leaders with initial recommendations for a more effective and efficient public transport system in Rabat and nearby Sale and Temara, by 2020.

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The transport system of the greater metropolitan area of Rabat is facing critical issues, such as population growth from (1.77 million today to an anticipated 2.7 million in 2025) which will lead to greater traffic congestion, increased urbanization, and the disparate use of technology with disintegrated, disconnected, and often manual operations.

Rabat applied for, and won, a Smarter Cities Challenge grant from IBM, which sent some of its top employees to work and live in Rabat for three weeks.  There, they studied the area's transportation opportunities and created a plan to address three aspects of an improved urban public transport system. 

The first aspect addressed in IBM's plan involves how the efforts of multiple agencies might be coordinated, particularly with the creation of a transportation authority.  With both an integrated budget and plan, the operation and growth of public transportation can be managed more efficiently and cost effectively.

A second aspect addresses how the system might be made safer and more convenient and attractive for commuters. To do so, the transportation authority could consider publishing realistic and constantly updated arrival schedules, a common ticketing system across buses and trams, restricting auto traffic during rush hours, and certifying private bus and taxi drivers.

Since effectiveness and efficiency relate directly to the people who operate the transportation system, the third facet focuses on how to ensure employees remain well trained, supported, focused and motivated.  In this realm, successful strategies of other transport systems would be studied and adopted; staffing levels would be monitored; and employees would be recognized and rewarded for high performance.

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