Strengthening competitiveness and reducing costs are perhaps the most important business objectives. However, in many cases operating cost reductions are unlikely to be successfully combined with productivity gains, especially for supply chain companies with significant vehicle fleets. This hard bet aims for success Taxi app Iborn in his laboratories University of Thessaly and offers comprehensive door-to-door combined transportation services based on grouping travel demand. The purpose of this innovation is based on car sharing, in the use of the vehicle by as many passengers as possible. However, in this case, its creators provide as a service to third parties an application that has a wide range of applications in the private and public sectors. “Taxi Me” has already been piloted JACA and now its creators – professors and researchers from the University of Thessaly – are launching a spin-off, as the companies that use the results of academic research are called.

“The application we developed is based on data processing and analysis of information provided by users about the type of route they want. In this way, the optimal use of resources, i.e. vehicles, is ensured, and citizens are also better served, ”explains Thanasis Korakisassistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Thessaly and one of the app’s co-founders.

The rationale for this innovation is based on the use of the vehicle by as many passengers as possible.

The service created as part of a research project (part of the Research – Creation – Innovation campaign of EYD EPANEK and EYD ETAK), coordinated by the Optimization Lab, Dr. Athanasios Lois from the Department of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Thessaly and the researchers of the Department of Electrical Engineering Alexandros Valanthasis and Christos Theologou have been pilot tested in municipality of Chaydari. In the fall of 2021, it was put into trial operation. “Smart Bus”application created in collaboration with OASA for the sole purpose of frequency generation movementsat the request of the townspeople, on the bus line of the city of Western Attica.

According to Mr. Korakis, the leaders of the upcoming spin-off are looking to expand the commercialization of the application, which is attracting significant interest. “Stakeholders include municipalities, schools providing student transportation services, and private companies that want to efficiently manage their fleet of vehicles. The system we have developed has several aspects. It could be used, for example, for the distribution of goods by retailers, for the provision of better social protection services by municipalities, such as the program “Home Help”. Even for better organization of garbage truck routes in combination with the use of Internet of Things (IOT) applications. In the cities of the future, transport will not be monolithic, dominated by private and public vehicles with low passenger capacity, wasting precious resources, exacerbating the traffic problem and increasing air pollution,” adds Mr. Korakis.

The business model of the combined transport application, which will be made available as a service to third parties, will be based on the payment of certain fees by users of the application. The Greek market has significant prospects for the development of the application. According to the Association of Hellenic Transport Experts, every day drivers lose an hour and 8 to 10 euros due to traffic jams, while the number of trips in Athens is seven million, of which only 2.5 million are by public transport. mass transport. The French Organization for Ecological Transition (ADEME) has calculated that 12% of carbon dioxide emissions come from car travel. A one-passenger car is estimated to contribute to an annual reduction of approximately 1.2 tons of CO2 emissions. Also, according to the idea of ​​the creators, “Taxi Me” could offer “smart” combined transfers “from door to door”. For example, a user can select their transport from Athens to Volos and the application will offer them one or more modes of transport (for example, only by car, taxi, bus, or a combination of them), which will be based on a car sharing model. More efficient use of the fleet is a requirement at the European level and for transit companies. In the European Union, “dead” kilometers, that is, the distance traveled by trucks without cargo, is estimated at 34 billion, which is more than 1/5 of all routes traveled by freight.