Submitted on 27 Jul 2023
greenmov app screens

People on the move want a door-to-door solution. That solution may include Blue-bikes, shared bikes at train stations in Belgium that allow commuters to reach their exact destination when traveling by train. The GreenMov app, developed by imec, Digital Flanders and the GreenMov partners, combines real-time train data with Blue-bike availability, making it possible to easily plan your journey and check whether a Blue-bike will be at your disposal upon arrival.

greenmov app screens
Screenshots of the GreenMov app, illustrating how to plan your journey from Antwerp to Ghent using both the train and a Blue-bike. According to the application, 43 and 32 bikes will be available upon arrival in Gent-Sint-Pieters.

People on the move want a door-to-door solution. That solution may include Blue-bikes, shared bikes at train stations in Belgium that allow commuters to reach their exact destination when traveling by train. The GreenMov app, developed by imec, Digital Flanders and the GreenMov partners, combines real-time train data with Blue-bike availability, making it possible to easily plan your journey and check whether a Blue-bike will be at your disposal upon arrival.

Blue-bike users have tested the application, and their feedback has been consistently positive. They responded that the app:

  • is easy to use;
  • shows relevant information and;
  • shows information that should also be included in related apps, such as the Blue-bike app, the NMBS app from the national railway company, and route planners.

To retrieve quick updates on the real-time situation, we have republished the Blue-bike data as a Linked Data Event Streams (or LDES). LDES is an open linked data standard that unlocks real-time data for applications, making it accessible for machine learning models. To increase accessibility, smart data models need data standards. Using OSLO semantics (Open Standards for Linked Organisations) in the GreenMov app ensures standardization for data exchange.

data infrastructure
Figure depicting the data infrastructure principle on which the GreenMov app is based, making use of LDES and the IoT content broker to create a mobile application.

By focusing on interoperability of the data, we facilitate the reuse of the data in many different applications. This approach is in line with the Flemish strategy to standardize data exchange, taking away the hurdles and lowering the costs for new services to reuse and publish the data. By using this approach for GreenMov, we hope to contribute to more sustainable solutions for mobility, for now and for the future.