Route Masters to build integrated public transport platform for African megacities

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Route Masters signed up to U.K. program SPRINT to develop an innovative transport management solution for African cities

Route Masters, based at the European Space Agency BIC UK in Harwell in Oxfordshire, has signed up to the national SPRINT (SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology) business support program to develop an innovative transport management solution for African cities.

Funding from SPRINT will enable Route Masters to collaborate with the University of Leicester on building a full suite of technology tools and algorithmic data models. This will help the company to achieve its aim of becoming the largest integrated public-transport platform for emerging African megacities.

Route Masters is developing an algorithm based on single-band GNSS positioning within cities. The solution will deliver transport flow models superimposed on satellite-based city maps. The technology utilizes applied mathematics to build digital route maps that will accurately deliver journey times and modes for city planning tools and mobile navigation applications for consumers.

This data fusion project will combine dual-band GNSS with single-band GNSS and satellite derived city maps. The solution will be leveraged to deliver planning and control intelligence services and consumer services and, after University of Leicester validation, it will be tested and deployed as an active prototype in Lagos, Nigeria.

The University of Leicester will provide Route Masters with expertise in algorithms and software development for data driven space projects as well as high-performance computational (HPC) facilities.

The project will be funded by a grant from the £4.8 million SPRINT programme that provides unprecedented access to university space expertise and facilities. SPRINT helps businesses through the commercial exploitation of space data and technologies.

“We’re a highly ambitious sustainable business with the goal of creating the largest technology-enabled data platform for transport on the African continent,” Meir Wachs, CEO of Route Masters, said. “The support of SPRINT will enable us to develop our technology in specific areas, working with the Leicester mathematics school to accelerate our development in certain key areas and to build a robust and rigorous solution that can make an actual impact on the world.”

“Projects such as this SPRINT one with Route Masters are of great benefit to the university as they enable us to engage with vibrant companies and transfer our knowledge into commercial innovative applications,” added Alberto Paganini, Lecturer in Applied Mathematics at the University of Leicester.

“We’re bringing advanced mathematical methods, data analysis and software development to the project, not only supporting the commercial development of Route Masters’ technology but also allowing us to integrate the insight gained into our curriculum to further enhance the employability skills of our students.”

Muyiwa Omopariola, Lead Transport Analyst at the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) also expressed his support for the project, noting, “I greatly support technology innovation in the transport sector, especially in Lagos and across the emerging world. We look forward to seeing their continued progress.”