CAReLess

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  • Greece

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  • Finding sustainable destinations

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Description

💎 Idea

Have you ever been to a Greek Island? If yes, you might have enjoyed an idyllic sea view. However, it is equally probable that you encountered an absence of sustainable mode alternatives, lack of information on existing mobility offers and services, extensive usage, and need for private motorized cars. All of the above lead to congestion at the port/airport or near beautiful beaches, high noise levels, and increased temperature discomfort. With CAReLESS we launch a holistic approach that reduces the (necessity of) private car usage on islands and leads to a reduction of the corresponding environmental and social footprint of tourism. CAReLESS has three main parts: a) a fleet that contains sharing vehicles and micromobility services (e-car, shared vans, e-bike, bicycle, e-scooter) b) one web and one mobile application, and c) stakeholders/actors. All parts contribute toward a local system in which tourists travel sustainably around the island. The whole fleet is offered as shared vehicles, which can serve both scheduled or spontaneous rides. The involvement of accommodation providers in the stakeholder part allows for creating shared rides from the moment people arrive at the island by plane or ferry. Accommodation providers report expected customers on the web, including details on the number of passengers, arrival mode of transport and time, and special needs, etc. Travellers via the app, choose their desired mode and their willingness to share a ride with other travellers. Furthermore, they can indicate from the initial phase special needs e.g., child seat (bike/car), equipment e.g. wheelchair and large sports equipment. A vehicle routine algorithm detects all travellers with similar needs and optimises their distribution in vehicles- shared or for private use. An important function of the app is the simultaneous route/mode recommendations via a multicriteria algorithm. An innovative algorithm optimises the route recommendations to match the traveller reported needs while using real-time weather data, air pollution, and CO2 information and historic and real-time road accident data. Further data are fused in the algorithm, to provide alternative destinations if needed, for example in case of increased air pollution at a destination point. Via tracking the travellers (GNSS data via the app and the vehicles), the trips conducted are stored in the app. A second algorithm estimates the deviation from optimality and awards travelers with points; the more sustainable the more points. The points are then transformed into suggestions for local business discounts (part of stakeholders), and products of the merchandise #CAReLESS campaign. 

All parties involved have the opportunity to report issues and provide feedback to all services in order to ensure the continuous enhancement of the CAReLESS experience.


🛰️ EU space technologies

CAReLESS combines multiple information sources into its core algorithms. We use Copernicus data to collect information about the atmosphere, climate, natural disasters, land use and marine conditions. We use the information to track changes in land use and CO2 emissions and air quality, to perform both before-after and cost-benefit analyses. We also use real-time weather data from the OpenWeatherMap API, signals from Galileo and other GNSS constellations. We add trip tracking from flight-radar.eu and marinetraffice.com. Historical police reports and real-time user reports are exploited for the estimation of road safety. All the above, are used from our algorithms to provide optimal decisions to travellers. Among others we provide mode/route recommendation based on multicriteria sustainability index and vehicle routing algorithms. For both mentioned algorithms, street network data, from OpenStreetMap are extracted and GNSS data from the mobile application and the vehicle fleet are used.

In addition, the design of CAReLESS allows constant growth, and can integrate more and more data sources as we go. CAReLESS can evolve together with Copernicus, and any other platform that can provide fruitful features.


🏖️ (Re)Visit Europe

CAReLESS tackles Challenge #1: Finding sustainable destinations. Sustainability concerns not only environmental, but also social security, safety, and economic footprint. While reduction of CO2 is of core concern, the CAReLESS project improves multiple sustainability aspects. Travelers are given the opportunity to make informed choices, travel sustainably by having access to various modes, get new local experiences, enjoy a more stress-free vacation and be part of a cool #CAReLESS family. Accommodation providers automate the pick-up/drop-off of their customers and increase their professionalism in handling customer requests. A big gain for this industry is the decreased need not only to own vehicles but also for parking infrastructure. The latter enables the increase of the business revenue space via better allocation of land uses. Municipalities and business owners share the benefit of getting access to a digitalized shared platform that encourages local synergies and communication. All stakeholders get access to online information on business and tourism analytics via the web application which enables performance evaluation, forecasting, and future adaptation to travellers' needs. Furthermore, both the municipalities and the industry increase their visibility via the #CAReLESS campaign and their sustainability branding.


💪 Team 

A team of four. Small, strong, and committed. Roles within the team are distributed based on individual expertise and team needs. Roxani Gkavra’s responsibilities include conceptualization, algorithm development,  travel choice theory integration, network analysis, and stakeholder communication. Pantelis Kaniouras is responsible for team management, data extraction, processing and analytics, and cloud deployment. Giannis handles the communication with clients and stakeholders, designs the web application interface, and develops the campaign and merchandising. Michalis works on UI Design, project management, stakeholder communication, and branding. 

Roxani is a Transport Planner who holds two MSc degrees, from AUTH and TU Delft and currently is a researcher and PhD student in mobility behaviour and choice modelling. Pantelis is a Geomatics Engineer with a background in remote sensing and photogrammetry and holds two MSc degrees, from AUTH and TU Delft. His current position is Product Engineer and Scrum Master at ESRI. Giannis is an architect. After completing his bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture, he is currently working as a project manager in an architectural company on the planning of new sustainable housing solutions. He also participates in international architectural competitions. Among other things, he also manages a 30-year-old family business specializing in product design, marketing, and communication with suppliers and manufacturers. Michalis is currently doing his master's in architecture at the Technical University of Vienna and is working in this field. He is a member of a small team of engineers designing the new headquarters of one of the biggest public transport companies in Europe.