Ministry of Movement Pte. Ltd. (SWAT), a startup providing on-demand bus services in Singapore, Australia and Vietnam, and NEC Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (NEC), a wholly owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, recently announced a partnership that will pool together their respective expertise and technologies to transform urban mobility and address social challenges posed by city developments.
As part of this partnership, the companies jointly launched ‘Ally,’ an app offering AI-based personalized road planning functions coupled with an on-demand bus booking service. The app was available during the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) World Congress recently taken place at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.
During a four-day trial, congress delegates and members of the public who downloaded and created their profiles on the Ally app were able to experience on-demand bus rides for free within a geofenced area extending from Dhoby Ghaut to the Marina Bay Sands area and parts of the central business district.
Combining SWAT’s dynamic bus routing algorithm with NEC’s personalization engine supported by machine learning technologies, Ally made recommendations on potential places of interest including malls, retail shops, restaurants and other attractions based on data points such as the user’s interest(s), profile, location and time. Once the user selects their destination, the app generates an optimized route in real-time and automatically assigns a bus servicing the area to the rider.
In addition to cost savings, Ally allowed users, particularly visitors from overseas, the ability to explore lesser-known areas more efficiently and encourage the use of more environmentally-friendly modes of transportation.
Jarrold Ong, CEO and Co-founder, Ministry of Movement said, “With our advanced routing technology, we are always on the lookout for ways we can transform the mobility and transport space. We see relevance in being able to book a ride and discovering local attractions on the same platform, and NEC’s expertise in AI and their local market insights were key to this partnership.”
“NEC has been actively working with startups to explore innovative solutions to transform markets and create new social value,” said Lim Kok Quee, Managing Director, NEC Asia Pacific, “We see great potential in this partnership with SWAT. Intelligent on-demand bus services can play a key role in building a more sustainable urban transportation system by optimizing the number of vehicles on the road to reduce the environmental impact and ease traffic congestion. We will continue to explore ways to harness technology and improve the society we live, play and work in.”
