Transportation Industry Opportunities in IT

It’s hardly possible to name an industry in which high technology has never been used so far. Transportation is no exception. Like with any business, the competition grows tremendously in the transportation field. Companies have to instantly respond to the market trends and consumer needs by delivering services in a better, faster, and more reliable way. But how exactly does IT help transportation to fit the times and what opportunities does it offer? Keep on reading to stay in the loop.

Do transportation and IT belong together?

They surely do.

Transportation embraces a variety of services united by a common concept—picking up people or goods at one location and bringing them to another safe and sound. Implementing IT solutions helps transportation companies to breathe new life into that concept irrespective of the mode of transport and the goal behind the service.

IT and transportation create a mutually beneficial partnership: on the one hand, transportation opens up opportunities for tech vendors to try a wide spectrum of technologies, acquire experience, face new challenges, work on large-scale projects, and engage in long-term cooperation ensuring financial stability.

For its part, IT aids transportation in many different ways, allowing companies to:

• automate work and business processes
• speed up deliveries
• avoid congestions
• stave off busy roads and air pollution
• enhance safety
• improve customer service
• reduce operating costs

IT offers various solutions depending on the area and the problem it is intended to solve. Let’s look more deeply into these areas and consider the opportunities IT creates for transportation.

IT is here to stay

Transportation is a large industry that encompasses many businesses that utilise different infrastructures and means of transport, such as an automobile, scooter, truck, aircraft, train, vessel, and so on.

Almost all areas under the umbrella of the transportation industry have already integrated IT into their processes. Let’s look at the most popular services that many people use in their daily lives.

Taxi and ride-hailing

Today, most, if not all, taxi companies have already ridden the wave and adopted IT to improve the quality of their service. Instead of waiting for a cab to pass by, you can just open an app on your smartphone, place an order in a few taps, and the nearest car will soon pick you up at exactly where you are. In ride-hailing services, drivers can use personal vehicles instead of taxicabs.

Shared mobility

Shared mobility offers a range of on-demand mobility services that eliminate the need to own a car or another vehicle. Thus, car-sharing or scooter-sharing services allow users to find the nearest vehicle and rent it via a mobile app for as long as needed. In ride-sharing, fellow riders can use a single vehicle to get to their destination.

Public mobility

Making public transport accessible and convenient for citizens is one of the biggest challenges modern cities face. To cope with it, smart solutions are introduced that turn traditional buses into user-friendly urban transport. Public mobility apps enable users to choose a route and time, book a seat, and pay for the ride. Some apps, like the one that Mad Devs worked on, may even suggest the most convenient routes and show accurate arrival and departure times.

Mobility as a Service

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a new concept in the transportation industry that integrates various types of vehicles and services, including taxi and ride-hailing, ride-sharing, and public transport. MaaS systems offer o*n-demand services with an array of mobility options* as well as easy route planning, booking, and payment.

Delivery services

Delivery and courier services have literally become lifesavers during the COVID-19 pandemic. After lockdown, delivering food and other essential goods directly to homes has become a common practice appreciated by many people (they can do the shopping in just a few clicks without leaving the house). Special software programs allow courier services to plan their deliveries, choose the shortest routes, and predict an estimated time of arrival (ETA).

Self-driving vehicles

IT brings the future nearer, and a self-driving car is no more a science fiction idea. By using multiple sensors, GPS data, and computer vision algorithms, autonomous cars and trucks, such as Tesla, Waymo, and TuSimple, can navigate, avoid obstacles, and obey traffic laws. Security is still a big concern for the manufacturers of self-driving vehicles, but with the ever-evolving technology, they will overcome it sooner or later.

Logistics

Logistics is a separate and much broader area than transportation, but these two industries always stand side by side. Logistics deals with packaging, storage, planning shipments, and many other processes that need automation and consequently integration with modern technology. Logistics software comprises solutions that optimise routes, orchestrate deliveries, manage inventory and supply chains, track vehicles and assets, and handle documents.

How IT contributes to transportation

IT itself is a great opportunity for the transportation industry that can be realised through different technologies, tools, devices, software, applications, and the list goes on and on. Here are the advantages that transportation can get by utilising IT.

Speed

Time is precious. The faster the company renders a service, the happier the customers are and the higher the probability they will come back. Ordering a taxi cab via a mobile app saves heaps of time for both the client (no need to hold the phone and talk to an operator) and the business owner (the automated system can process multiple requests at the same time). By optimising routes with route planning software, companies can cut down on delivery time and fulfil more orders per day.

Accessibility

Web and mobile apps have made transportation services much more attractive for users. Today, such applications are an integral part of logistics and delivery companies, ride-hailing, ride-sharing, public mobility, and many other services. Whether you use a mobile app on your smartphone or a web app on your laptop, you *can get quick access to the service from anywhere, at any time.
*

Transparency

Real-time location tracking offers transparency as one of the most important benefits for the transportation industry. It allows for tracking vehicles, couriers, and drivers in real-time and getting relevant information about the delivery status. To detect and track people and objects, transportation services rely on GPS data. The accuracy of positioning and distance calculation affects the cost of the service and the level of customer satisfaction. By increasing GPS precision companies can minimise errors and enhance positioning. Here is how we reduced GPS data errors for a taxi service, making it more user-friendly and transparent:

Safety

Real-time tracking solutions and fleet management systems ensure the safety of drivers, passengers, vehicles, and goods. As for ride-hailing and ride-sharing services, both the driver and the passenger know with whom they are going to share the ride. They can see the information about each other, including names, contact phone numbers, and personal ratings. If something goes wrong, you can leave feedback, which will affect the rating and serve as a warning for the other users of the service.

Cost-efficiency

A transportation management system, route optimisation software, real-time tracking tools, cloud-based data storage are just a few of the IT solutions that can significantly reduce the operating costs of a transportation company. Recent technologies improve routing and remove the need for hefty paperwork and an army of operators. Even if a company is not ready to pay for an IT solution or service, there are free options that can also be integrated into the company’s product. In one of our projects, we implemented free ETA services to calculate the arrival time for a public transportation app:

Simplicity

Now, to order delivery or book a taxi, you don’t even need to know the exact location—advanced transportation services use geocoders that search for coordinates by synonyms and the names of places, such as nearby malls or cafés. The geocoder designed by Mad Devs for a taxi service can search by synonyms and names of establishments, look for addresses in a certain radius, automatically update data received from drivers, and perform other functions.

To sum up

Transportation is one of the industries that grow and develop at a fast pace. It’s not so long ago that we couldn’t even think about renting a car via a smartphone app, booking a seat on a public bus, and owning a self-driving car. Now, all this is possible thanks to technology.

When integrated into the transportation services, IT gives numerous benefits to all concerned: business owners, drivers, couriers, operators, managers, and end-users of the service. With a rich selection of tools available, it is possible to automate and optimise almost everything. If you want to use an opportunity, Mad Devs is here to help you out.

Previously published at maddevs.io/blog.

Comments

[SofiiaSov]

Thank you so much for this insightful article on the opportunities within the transportation industry for IT. It's evident that the integration of technology is revolutionizing the way we approach transportation and logistics.

I found the information you provided extremely valuable, and I'm sure many others will benefit from it as well. The link you've shared will undoubtedly be a great resource for anyone looking to delve deeper into transportation mobile application development.

Once again, thank you for shedding light on the IT prospects within the transportation sector, and for sharing such a comprehensive guide. Great job! 👏🚀