Travel tech this week: Starting a small revolution and more

This week, road transportation takes centre stage with Uber sharing speed data and Amadeus including Heycars in its system. A new app is launched that combines tech’s best products – social media and search engine.

Uber reveals road speed data

Uber has launched Uber Movement Speeds, an extension to its Uber Movement website that allows anyone to access reliable road speed data in London collected by the Uber app.

The service launched in London, New York City, Cincinnati, Seattle and Nairobi to help local authorities and urban planners make informed decisions about the cities the app serves.

The launch is a step forward in fulfilling Uber’s vision of becoming a key partner to cities, helping them solve complicated urban mobility challenges. Movement Speeds provides specific, hourly data on road speeds, adding a valuable dataset to the public domain and giving transportation planners a view into the functioning of the network.

The data is free, available to download and covers all types of city roads and streets. Speeds’ data will help planners and officials evaluate the impact of infrastructure investments and understand where congestion is occurring.

Movement Speeds is directly compatible with SharedStreets – a non-profit digital commons. This means that Speeds’ data can be combined with pedestrian-cyclist data to create additional insights.

As with all Movement data, Speeds is built with privacy in mind from the start. All data is aggregated and individual rider or driver data never disclosed.

“Access to this data…is key to tackling the different challenges we face”

Jeni Tennison, Open Data Institute CEO, said: “Transportation providers such as Uber collect large amounts of data about the use of our cities’ infrastructure. Ensuring that others have access to this data – while respecting privacy and commercial confidentiality – is key to tackling the different challenges we face, from congestion in urban environments to climate change.

“It’s good to see the expansion of the Uber Movement tool to include transport speeds. By making this data publicly available for non-commercial use, some cities and researchers will be able to use it to inform their decisions and produce new insights.”

BleexYou: The best rooms in the world

Searching for your next travel destination has never been so social. BleexYou is a new application that comes from the desire to find and share unforgettable places and experiences.

The new application works as a common room booking platform such as Booking and Airbnb, but with only the best rooms in the world. BleexYou is social media and search engine combined. Each bleexroom has its own profile page where the user can discover the beauty of the room and its next experience in each detail with photos, videos and a written presentation.

BleexYou only selects rooms that respect the canons of art, nature and beauty. It is, therefore, not an application designed for luxury, but to experience art. In fact, there are many rooms surrounded by nature that are not part of any large hotel chain. Each bleexroom is presented with different videos that show every detail, its history, its architecture and what the user can do inside.

BleexYou will start a small revolution in the world of tourism.

BleexYou is already making travellers dream on Instagram with BleexPlaces. Starting June, BleexYou will start a small revolution in the world of tourism. No more stars to the rooms, but a certified and shared experience.

Amadeus X Heycars

Arriving in a foreign country can be daunting, imagine being met by your very own English-speaking driver, in your choice of car in airport arrivals. Taking away the stress off that final leg of travel. Chinese start-up Heycars is now integrated into Amadeus Transfers and part of the Amadeus Transfers Platform, providing high quality chauffeured vehicles that can be booked in advance. Available in 83 countries, 214 cities and 240 airports, Heycars provides travellers with a seamless end-to-end travel experience.

Heycars’ collaboration with Amadeus means their content has exposure to Amadeus’ global travel agency network. The integration with Selling Platform Connect allows travel agents to give an end-to-end service to their customers, at the best possible pricing. End users can also make bookings in advance through Check My Trip, enabling them to skip queues and waiting time at airports and hotels.

Founded in 2015 with headquarters in Guangzhou, Heycars delivers a variety in chauffeured vehicles, ranging from an economy 5-seater to a luxury sedan. Heycars emerged from the Amadeus Next start-up program. Amadeus Next fosters knowledge sharing between entrepreneurs that are innovative and passionate, acting as mentors and partners helping start-ups scale into great companies.

Kai Zou, CEO and co-founder of Heycars, said: “Heycars facilitates the booking of chauffeur driven cars by the hour, ideal for foreigners who are unable to rent and drive in a country such as China. Whether it’s a simple airport transfer, a group coach booking or a daily chauffeured service, Heycars makes your journey smooth and stress-free from the first interaction.”

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