Shared micromobility services have been successfully operating in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city with a population of over 1 million, for several years. Thessbike, one of the largest providers of shared micromobility vehicles in the city, has made a total of 130 vehicles available for users to test the RideSafeUM functionalities integrated into their own app. The pilot project has been coordinated by CERTH, with technical support from BrainBox, who serve as technical consultants and providers for Thessbike. Additionally, the Major Development Agency of Thessaloniki (MDAT) has analyzed, evaluated, and extracted results from the dashboard with the assistance of CERTH. MDAT has also played a role in supporting efforts to engage with riders, operators, and other authorities who may be potential clients.
The piloted area has included the entire city as regulations are homogeneous all across. Additionally, some warnings were decided to be displayed to cyclists and riders as bespoke needs were detected by MDAT.
To encourage participation in the pilot, the Thessaloniki pilot test section of the RideSafeUM website (https://ridesafeum.com/thessaloniki-pilot-test/) was designed for users to easily access Thessbike’s website where all details to participate in the pilot test were included. These details included information about offered discount codes and free membership from Thessbike for trying their app with the RideSafeUM module activated.
Ultimately, in order to evaluate the impact of the pilot we were able to obtain data from the developed dashboard, user surveys and finally, direct feedback from the City Council. One of the main discovered challenges was related to battery consumption, as users reported a significant drop of battery while the app was in use. However, in Thessaloniki, with the integration of the RideSafeUM module into the sharing service operator’s application, there has been a decrease in battery consumption compared to the previous setup.
In Thessaloniki, external cameras were installed on micromobility vehicles deployed for the pilot tests. However, users preferred to use their own camera, probably for security reasons and avoiding the process of connecting an external USB to their device. Therefore, although it has been verified that RideSafeUM can be used with an external camera, the use of these devices in the next project year is discarded, installing external cameras without integrating them with the vehicle does not have a cost-benefit ratio that makes this effort worthy.
Building upon the computer vision feature, the developed algorithm has demonstrated its capability to recognize lanes in real-time using either a phone or an external camera. This functionality enables the app to comply with specific regulations for cycling or riding on different types of lanes. During the initial phase of the pilot, tests were conducted to address concerns regarding video quality, as it could potentially impact the reliability of the computer vision algorithm in identifying lane types.
The app’s capability to detect accidents is a noteworthy feature. Similarly to the cases of Barcelona and Rome, the pilot tests were not comprehensive enough to fully evaluate this function, but preliminary results suggest its overall effectiveness, aside from a few instances of false positives. In order to ensure the success of the commercial strategy, optimizing this crucial functionality will be incorporated into the 2023 work plan, treating it as a priority for improvement.
Considering app adoption, the RideSafeUM pilot in Thessaloniki gathered a larger number of users than the pilots in Rome and Barcelona, with 226 unique users and a total of 1,421 trips. This data may point out that one of the key items to consider for high adoption rates is the integration of the developed solution into operators’ apps, making it easier for the user to utilize the product.
In conclusion, to increase the user base and conduct the second pilot test in Thessaloniki, the city council and Dott will enhance their in-person engagement and dissemination efforts. With the introduction of new features and significantly improved user experience (UX), they aim to attract more users. Leveraging the success of the previous pilot, the valuable results and feedback gathered by MDAT will play a crucial role in actively supporting the commercialization strategy for 2023.
