MaRS client partners with Cisco Systems for Asian traffic study
TORONTO (Oct. 1, 2008) – Skymeter Corp. – a client of MaRS advisory services and tenant in the MaRS Centre – is partnering with global networking giant Cisco Systems to demonstrate its road-use metering technology in a Seoul, Korea pilot project.
Cisco’s Tony Kim, head of Connected Urban Development Seoul, announced the partnership at the Clinton Global Initiative conference Connectivity for Sustainability in Amsterdam last week – a coup for the Toronto-based start-up.
"They really put us through a tough test,” Skymeter’s Chief Technology Officer, Preet Khalsa, said of the tests that took place over the past six months. “It was imperative that we generated highly consistent charges every time we ran the same trip."
Skymeter has developed a GPS smart-metering system – housed in a small unit that sits on a car’s dashboard – which can be used for accurate pay-as-you-go pricing in road tolling, parking, insurance and more.
"I was asked to prove that we can operate reliably anywhere, no matter how tall the buildings – in what is called 'urban canyon',” Khalsa said. “Cisco chose the densest architectural parts of the city to test that our road-use metering technology always determines the correct charge – until now GPS for road use charging has been known to work reliably only outside cities in 'open sky'."
Cisco Systems and the Clinton Global Initiative are partners in a project called Connected Urban Development (CUD) in seven major cities (Amsterdam, Birmingham (UK), Hamburg, Lisbon, Madrid, San Francisco and Seoul), creating communications infrastructure that demonstrates how network connectivity can reduce carbon emissions in urban environments. CUD will help change the way cities deliver services to residents, manage the flow of traffic, operate public transportation and many other urban activities. Seoul's focus in this CUD project is connected and sustainable mobility solutions.
Also attending the New York conference was respected transportation economist Todd Litman, executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, an independent research organization in Victoria, B.C. He was encouraged by Skymeter’s technology: "Judging from early test results, Skymeter has removed critical barriers to the use of GPS for road use charging. They appear to have addressed reliability, cost and privacy issues. I look forward to seeing the results of a formal pilot in Seoul."
Check out the Financial Post article: "Cisco joins Skymeter to help unsnarl city traffic"
Cisco’s Tony Kim, head of Connected Urban Development Seoul, announced the partnership at the Clinton Global Initiative conference Connectivity for Sustainability in Amsterdam last week – a coup for the Toronto-based start-up.
"They really put us through a tough test,” Skymeter’s Chief Technology Officer, Preet Khalsa, said of the tests that took place over the past six months. “It was imperative that we generated highly consistent charges every time we ran the same trip."
Skymeter has developed a GPS smart-metering system – housed in a small unit that sits on a car’s dashboard – which can be used for accurate pay-as-you-go pricing in road tolling, parking, insurance and more.
"I was asked to prove that we can operate reliably anywhere, no matter how tall the buildings – in what is called 'urban canyon',” Khalsa said. “Cisco chose the densest architectural parts of the city to test that our road-use metering technology always determines the correct charge – until now GPS for road use charging has been known to work reliably only outside cities in 'open sky'."
Cisco Systems and the Clinton Global Initiative are partners in a project called Connected Urban Development (CUD) in seven major cities (Amsterdam, Birmingham (UK), Hamburg, Lisbon, Madrid, San Francisco and Seoul), creating communications infrastructure that demonstrates how network connectivity can reduce carbon emissions in urban environments. CUD will help change the way cities deliver services to residents, manage the flow of traffic, operate public transportation and many other urban activities. Seoul's focus in this CUD project is connected and sustainable mobility solutions.
Also attending the New York conference was respected transportation economist Todd Litman, executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, an independent research organization in Victoria, B.C. He was encouraged by Skymeter’s technology: "Judging from early test results, Skymeter has removed critical barriers to the use of GPS for road use charging. They appear to have addressed reliability, cost and privacy issues. I look forward to seeing the results of a formal pilot in Seoul."
Check out the Financial Post article: "Cisco joins Skymeter to help unsnarl city traffic"
ABOUT SKYMETER
Skymeter Corporation (www.skymetercorp.com) is a Toronto-based data services operator that enables location-based payments using financial-grade GPS telematics.ABOUT MaRS
MaRS is a non-profit innovation centre connecting science, technology and social entrepreneurs with business skills and capital to stimulate innovation, entrepreneurship and the creation of successful Canadian companies.FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information contact Linda Quattrin at lquattrin@marsdd.com or 416.673.8104.MaRS FACTS
MaRS is part of many networks and consortia, but it did not emanate from any pre-existing partnership. MaRS is a new and autonomous entity.