Erma Suryani ST MT PhD shows the interface of Intravtas User application in smartphones

ITS Campus, ITS News – Traffic jam has always been a problem for large townspeople, including the city of Surabaya. To help face congestion problems and increase the interest of people to ride public transportation, the lecturer of Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) created an application innovation named Intravtas User and Intravtas Driver.

The application is a collaboration between Erma Suryani ST MT PhD, Rully Agus Hendrawan SKom MEng, and Arif Wibisono SKom MSc which is a lecturer of the Department of Information Systems with the professor of Mathematics Department Prof. Dr Basuki Widodo MSc.

Leveraging the simulation model and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), the team designs applications that can detect the presence of Angkot users, monitor the availability of public transport, and provide traffic navigation. “The application utilizes GPS and Maps system,” said Erma.

The closest stop information display, the number of stops, and the city transport profile on Intravtas Driver (public transportation driver)

The lecturer who has served as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (FTIK) exposes, the application is working both ways and there are two application options for passengers and also public transport drivers. Instrastav User is intended for passengers, through which the application will be able to identify the current location of nearby public transport. “No need for passengers to wait without the certainty of a roadside as it has been happening,” she said.

According to Erma, the thing that makes passengers reluctant to use public transportation is often due to the unpredictable travel time of public transport. For example, city transport (Angkot) often waits for a new passenger (Ngetem) to operate or the road. “With Intranstav Driver application, the driver also does not need to wait long because it is already seen where the location of the passenger is going to ride,” she said.

Alumnus S1 Electrical Engineering ITS revealed, the main cause of congestion is the volume of vehicles that are too dense. The strong volume is because road users are not interested in using public transportation, so many people use private vehicles. “With this application, it will attract road users to use public transportation,” she claims.

The closest stop information display and the availability of city transportation (Angkot) on Intravtas UserFor Erma, this application that has been developed since 2018  is targeting Lyn public transport and city buses. The two public transport supports the realization of the three points that are the aim of the application. The first point is economic sustainability that makes Surabaya’s transportation flow more effective and efficient. “In other words, congestion will be reduced,” she added.

Then, continue with Erma, the second point is social sustainability. That means the solutions offered can reach all circles of the community. Selected transportation is a very affordable public transportation and a route that reaches the narrow streets. “We utilize transportation equipment that has been operating long ago and already known to the community,” explain alumnus S2 ITS Industrial Engineering and S3 Industrial Management NTUST, Taiwan’s.

Erma Suryani, Rully Agus Hendrawan (fourth and fifth from right), and research assistant Faturochman Pranacahya Andrianto (rightmost) with the staff of Dishub Surabaya City during the socializationThen, the third point of environmental sustainability is the biggest effect that is to be achieved, namely reduced carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) along with reduced use of private vehicles. “In addition, when the public transport enthusiasts increase rapidly, the possibility of transport quality will be upgraded to be more comfortable by the government,” she hopes.

The application that has been socialized to the representatives of users and public transport drivers Surabaya has been working together with the Transportation office of Surabaya. Erma and the team hope that in the future there will be cooperation between ITS, Surabaya City Transportation Office, Google (as an API service provider), as well as telecommunication provider as a data package provider so that this system can be enjoyed by the driver Angkot with a very affordable cost.

Furthermore, Erma said that the application is expected to help the city government (Pemkot) Surabaya in tackling congestion and the high volume of private vehicles to create Surabaya the jam traffic-free city. (ai/Anjani/ITS Public Relation Officer)