TMN Begins PoC for the Third Stage of Digital Transformation with Niigata Kotsu, Continuing from Last Year’s PoC

Transaction Media Networks, Inc. (TMN) is pleased to announce that it will start a Proof of Concept (PoC) to visualize the usage status of public buses operated by Niigata Kotsu Co.,Ltd. (Niigata Kotsu) from December 12, 2024.

This PoC will be conducted with the support of Niigata City's "JFY2023 Niigata City Proof-of-Concept Study Support Subsidy Program" with the cooperation of Niigata Kotsu.

A preliminary test will be conducted at the Niigata City Sangyo Shinko Center (Industrial Promotion Center)’s 5G Business Lab on Dec. 12, 2024, then AI cameras will be installed on selected public bus routes to collect public bus usage data for eleven days from Dec. 12 to Dec. 22, 2024.

Aiming to Grasp the Usage of Public Buses for Sustainable Public Transportation

As public transportation services decline due to population decline and driver shortages, TMN is promoting bus digital transformation as an initiative to contribute to sustainable public transportation, believing that connecting transportation and places of spending can promote population flow and local community revitalization.

Optimization of public bus operation has been a challenge due to operational issues such as route delays due to traffic, weather, and peak/off-peak demand differences during the day. TMN believes that accurate passenger usage data can resolve such operational issues, and therefore are developing a boarding and disembarking information collecting system using cameras. TMN is developing a system to acquire usage information with the aim of accurately grasping the actual usage status and leading to the resolution of issues.

This PoC will acquire boarding and disembarking information, age, and attribute information (estimated user information), verify its system practicality and analyze acquired data, and aim to improve the accuracy for further practical application.

Details of the PoC

AI cameras installed at the boarding and disembarking doors convert the user's face image into data to estimate user attributes, identify the stops using GPS information, and if the estimated user at the time of boarding and disembarking matches, "when, where, and where the user got on and off" is recorded as boarding and disembarking information.

• ※ The video data taken inside the bus will be sent to the analysis system via a communication line with a secure environment and will be used only for the purpose of analyzing the boarding and disembarking of bus users, and will be strictly managed by TMN and deleted immediately after the PoC is completed. In addition, TMN does not identify bus users based on feature data.

Bus Digital Transformation Initiatives to Date

TMN has been conducting demonstration experiments to understand the actual usage status of public buses in Niigata City and Shibukawa City with the cooperation of Niigata Kotsu and Kanetsu Transportation respectively, and this is the third demonstration experiment in total.

＜Overview of Initiatives in Each Region to Date＞

• April 2023

  Shibukawa City, Kanetsu Transportation, and TMN sign a three-party partnership agreemen

• June 2023

  Selected for Niigata City's JFY2023 Niigata City Proof-of-Concept Study Support Subsidy Program

• December 2023

  PoC on Niigata Kotsu's public buses (Niigata City)

• February 2024

  PoC on Kanetsu Transportation’s public buses (autonomous driving demonstration) (Shibukawa City)

• June 2024

  Selected to receive Niigata City Digital Innovation Creation Promotion Subsidy Program for JFY2024

• December 2024

  PoC planned in Niigata City with Niigata Kotsu's public buses