At the beginning of the summer, Föri was equipped with a sensor that is one application of the rapidly evolving IoT, i.e. Internet of Things. The sensor, which functions with GPS tracking, has already been installed in Föri’s wheelhouse. The sensor has no effect on Föri’s operation.
The application functions online, and you can also easily bookmark it on the home screen of your smart phone, for example.
The addition of this smart function to Föri was a joint idea by the City of Turku and Cerion Solutions Oy, a Turku-based technology company. Cerion is the city’s partner in Turku’s extensive Knowledge Management project, which seeks to identify methods for developing the city’s operations through various means related to digitalisation.
The toispual.fi service shows Föri’s movements in real time and provides a forecast of when the ferry will be on each side of the river.
Cerion’s offices are located right next to Föri, and this idea was in fact inspired by watching the ferry.
– Although it takes less than two minutes for the ferry to cross the river, these minutes are very important for many passengers, who may be in a hurry to make it to a bus on the opposite shore, for example. Toispual.fi now tells passengers when the ferry is on their side of the river, says Laura Laiho, Business Director of Cerion Solutions Oy.
The service also provides information on when the buses operating on Itäinen and Läntinen Rantakatu are at the bus stops next to Föri, how many times Föri has crossed the river in the past few days and how far the ferry has travelled on that day, that month and to which city it would already have travelled in the month in question if it had travelled freely.
Smart City provides residents of Turku with smart applications and happiness
For a while now, the City of Turku has been making an effort to make its operations and the city environment smart. With its Smart City concept, Turku seeks smart applications for the services provided by the city as well as transport, energy solutions and housing.
Turku is actively seeking new methods for revamping and improving its services by building strong cooperation between the city and companies.
– Smart City involves not only the innovative utilisation of ICT technology, but also the will to make information public and utilise it further in various services and applications. Cerion’s toispual.fi is an excellent example of this. The bus timetable information incorporated into the service was implemented with open data provided by the city, says Jussi Vira, Strategy and Development Director of the City of Turku.