Panasonic Corporation of North America and TransitScreen Inc. have formed a strategic alliance to bring advanced Internet of Things (IoT) applications to improve mobility in smart cities across the USA.
The partnership extends both companies’ missions to use technology to make lives easier, and will provide city residents and visitors with real-time transit and transportation information to enable more informed commuting and travel decisions. Combining Panasonic’s CityNOW platform and systems with TransitScreen’s experience in simplifying complex data, software development, and personalized, human-centric design, the two companies will transform the infrastructure supporting urban transportation.
With United Nations estimates suggesting the urban population will increase by 2.5 billion people by 2050, getting from point A to point B will only become more complex. This new partnership will make use of connectivity, big data, and analytics technologies to reduce congestion and travel time, lower transportation related emissions, and promote walkability.
With a rapidly growing deployment network, TransitScreen provides real-time displays of multimodal transportation options at any given location, helping people make informed, sustainable travel decisions. The technology provides real-time, multi-screen displays detailing transit arrival times, local points of interest, and live events at transit agencies, smart bus shelters, airports, street kiosks, stadiums and arenas, municipal buildings, and university stadiums.
The partnership will kick off in Denver, Colorado, with integration in Panasonic’s CityNOW base at the Denver Peña Station Next, a connected community using Panasonic’s smart and sustainable technologies to support residents, businesses and visitors. The Panasonic and TransitScreen partnership will scale to other USA cities in the future.
“We’re committed to building a connected world that will improve quality of life for people across the globe,” said Tom Gebhardt, Panasonic North America’s chairman and CEO.
“Partnering with TransitScreen allows us to augment our CityNOW solutions in transportation and mobility with rich transportation data, supporting all types of mobility customers. TransitScreen’s IoT technologies will create a smoother, more seamless experience for residents and visitors alike in key cities, by providing people with the transit and local event information they need, right when they need it.”
Matt Caywood, TransitScreen’s cofounder and CEO, commented, “Panasonic is one of the iconic brands of the digital era. Combining their nearly hundred-year history with our team’s creativity and design capabilities, will create remarkable opportunities for innovation. With Panasonic as our hardware, solutions, and integration partner, we will have the chance to bring our human-centric technologies to a national scale.”