Contrary to the science fiction vision of a future where self-driving cars compete for space on congested roads, it appears that car ownership in the US may decrease in the coming years. A McKinsey study predicts that the number of passenger vehicles in the country will decline by 80% by 2030, falling from over 200 million to just 44 million in only seven years!

This decrease in car ownership is expected to be accompanied by an increase in the use of ride-hailing and car-sharing services. While this shift in lifestyle may not necessarily reduce the amount of travel people undertake, it could mean that instead of owning a personal vehicle only used occasionally, people will turn to mobility services to get from place to place.

To succeed and expand into new markets, manufacturers like yourself in the mobility space will need to address issues such as reducing costs and improving the user experience. The good news is there is a technology that can help minimize the headaches manufacturers face; it is called precise positioning.

What is precise positioning?

Precise positioning determines a vehicle's location, altitude, and orientation accurately. The technology allows businesses to collect data on distances traveled, speeds achieved, and other metrics that can be used to optimize their operations.

Self-driving cars are not a fantasy anymore; researchers predict a global rise from 20.3 million units in 2021 to an exponential 62.4 million units by 2030. Therefore, precise positioning becomes increasingly essential as we proceed toward smart transportation.

How does precise positioning work?

Precise positioning works as a global navigation system that uses an accurate calculation to determine an entity's location. Through the waves transmitted by Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), it is possible to locate any mobile device without any human intervention.

What role does precise positioning play in the future of mobility?

Precise positioning enables safer navigation by providing greater visibility into road conditions or hazardous areas. Accurate positioning is a breakthrough in the automatic transport industry. According to KPMG, the trends of smart mobility include:

• Mobility-as-a-Service
• Electrification of vehicles
• Connected and autonomous vehicles

Each one of these will disrupt the mobility sector as we know it today by 2030. That is where precise positioning will support the trends and contribute to building a sustainable mobility ecosystem.

The role of precise positioning in safe and efficient transportation

Precise positioning has the potential to lead to various improvements in the mobility sector, such as efficient and convenient public transportation, reliable trains, and responsible vehicle services. Precise positioning can help enhance the safety and efficiency of transportation through:

• Integrating mobility contracts with single payment options instead of separate bills for fuel, tickets, and travel cards ensures a passenger has everything they require.
• Owning a personal vehicle, carrying an extra maintenance charge for occasional use, and driving a license would be redundant.
• Electric-powered, driverless, and autonomous mobile vehicles with a fully-functional digital environment to assist passengers with instant controls.
• Energy-saving technologies such as kinetic energy road harvesting will make private and public transport sustainable.
• Smart sensors and AI-driven technology minimize accidents and driving penalties. Riding with dashboard cameras, automatic monitoring, and real-time analytics solutions for frequent learning is safer.

Precise positioning technology can help solve many challenges shared mobility services face, such as vehicle rentals. With its ability to track location with an accuracy of up to 10 centimeters, precise positioning can encourage responsible vehicle usage by rewarding good behavior and punishing irresponsible parking or use.

It can also allow for close monitoring of vehicle usage to ensure compliance with rules such as speed limits and authorized areas. It can make it easier for operations teams to locate vehicles for battery swaps and maintenance. Additionally, it can provide users with information on where vehicles are parked for their next ride.

Developments in precise positioning and their impact on mobility

The rise of this technology has profoundly impacted how we move around and significantly helped manufacturers improve the mobility their systems offer to the end-users based on the understanding of how precise positioning works. Precise positioning can be used in the following ways:

1. High-precision GPS and indoor positioning systems

Indoor Positioning System (IPS) is one of the most efficient ways to track people and objects indoors. Hospitals, factories, retail warehouses, or other smart businesses require real-time indoor positioning systems to monitor a particular entity's location, state, and quantity.

Different technical approaches exist to install IPS through Bluetooth, WiFi, UWB (Ultra Wide Band), acoustic systems, and IR (Infra-Red Systems):

• Bluetooth-based systems are promising enough to serve real-time position accuracy at a low cost.
• WiFi makes the process accessible for a greater region of three to five meters.
• UWB allows you to expand further. It transmits a vast pulse over a GHz of spectrum. However, the setup would be more expensive than Bluetooth and WiFi.
• Acoustic systems are similar to UWB, but it uses sound in the ultrasonic range as the transmitter.
• IR systems use light pulses to locate the position of an indoor object with keen accuracy.

2. Autonomous vehicles

The future of mobility in public and personal transportation will comprise autonomous vehicles. Different stages of automatic control make vehicle handling convenient.

Utilizing the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) method with satellite regulation and digital map sensors makes it easier to handle vehicles with autonomous accessibility.

From manual control with zero automation to complete machinery control, sustainability, and safety - all parameters enhance proportionally in precise positioning.

In addition, satellite navigation with GNSS accuracy of 10-20 m with live maps makes the technology even more efficient in directing autonomous vehicles under the expected outcome.

How precise positioning helps develop smart cities

Precise positioning is essential in developing smart cities and can revolutionize future mobility public transport. In its simplest form, the technology identifies an object's exact location in 3D space, including altitude, longitude, and latitude. Let us explore how precise positioning enables the development of smart cities:

1. Enhanced safety and efficiency

Not only does precise positioning provide greater safety standards and enables more efficient network operations due to its high accuracy. By tracking vehicle and passenger movements at all times on a highly granular level, it becomes possible to monitor traffic flow more effectively and react quickly to any potential problems or delays on the road.

2. Minute and error-free navigation

It allows for precise navigation that can be used to coordinate autonomous vehicles as well as optimize route planning for public transport systems.

3. Greater emphasis on data accuracy

Precise positioning provides real-time data that, in turn, helps in efficient traffic control to keep the transport flow undisturbed and make the vehicles face lesser accidents and traffic penalties. This systematic workflow is essential for the development of smart cities. 

Precise positioning technologies, such as GNSS and RTK, help in critical data acquisition. Clear-cut and real-time location data can improve urban planning, optimize traffic flow, inform public safety protocols, and aid in emergency response times.

4. Streamlined infrastructure development

Precise positioning allows city planners to identify where improvements or upgrades are needed in both existing city infrastructure and services and potential new investments. 

Location intelligence, for instance, can be used to map roads more efficiently and determine which areas should receive additional transportation resources.

With accurate geospatial insights into pedestrian movement patterns and road congestion levels at different times of day, it is possible to design better urban layouts that facilitate safe navigation while reducing unnecessary vehicular trips.

Overall, precise positioning makes road transportation convenient and faster, a boon for any city, let alone a smart city.

5. Extensive adoption of energy grids

Smart transportation systems - banking on precise positioning technology - can be used to monitor and manage electricity usage. The technology can help reduce energy waste, optimize the use of resources, and ensure greater stability in the supply chain.

Location intelligence can also identify areas with high electric vehicle penetration or where renewable sources have been adopted on a large scale. Using the information gathered by the devices, utilities can develop a perfect understanding of customer demand and plan for future investments accordingly.

How precise position benefits the end-user

The precise positioning technology benefits drivers and passengers looking for an efficient journey. Using precise positioning, they can enjoy enhanced navigation capabilities. The technology offers the following benefits:

1. Improved safety

Precise positioning systems provide end-users with an accurate and up-to-date view of their surroundings, allowing them to make more informed decisions about their route and potential hazards.

2. Enhanced efficiency

By providing end-users with exact location information, precise positioning systems can help optimize route planning, route selection, and other processes that may impact the efficiency of a journey.

3. Increased convenience

Precise positioning systems can help end-users access more detailed and accurate maps and navigation tools, resulting in a smoother journey. Besides precise positioning, these devices provide advanced features such as location tracking, which can be immensely useful for those who want to keep track of their assets.

4. Reduced costs

Accurately planned routes can help reduce fuel consumption, resulting in considerable cost savings.

5. Convenient transportation

The precise positioning technology can also improve the safety and convenience of public transportation, such as buses or trains. By tracking each vehicle's location, operators can provide more accurate arrival times and reduce delays. It can provide precise navigation and control capabilities for autonomous vehicles.

6. Advanced analytics

Data collected from various sources can be used to generate valuable insights. The information can be used to identify areas that need improvement or investigate new routes and opportunities.

Over to you

The development of precise positioning technology is an essential step in smart transportation. It provides many benefits, including improved safety and convenience for public transportation users, straightforward navigation and control capabilities for autonomous vehicles, and valuable insights obtained through data analysis.

The thing is, the future of mobility depends on precise positioning. As cities become more congested and road traffic continues to increase, transportation services have to buck up and be able to locate a vehicle and plan the most efficient route.

By combining satellite navigation systems with powerful hardware and software, manufacturers can develop highly accurate location-based IoT solutions to help drivers find their way while avoiding congestion and other roadblocks.

What is more - as a cloud-based solution, precise positioning is scalable and can be used by an unlimited number of autonomous vehicles.

So what are you waiting for? Kickstart your smart mobility service with IntuThings. Make last-mile passenger journeys for your end-users sustainable and comfortable with a ready-to-launch precise positioning-powered IoT-based solution. Contact us today!