Photo: Google Maps/edited by autoevolution
Traffic congestions in big cities is a worrying thing these days. Everybody has a car and usually drives it to work alone, occupying about 5 square meters of road at a time. Multiply this by a hundred thousands and you get crawling traffic and high levels of air pollution during rush hours.
Some cities are struggling to cut this off, by imposing high taxes to those who want to drive in the middle of the city (like London does), while also plan to ban cars in about 15 to 20 years from now. And, of course, some city councillors like to think outside the box and do quite the opposite.
Instead of charging you for using a car, the Milanese authorities and the public transport department pay you not to use it. The team is completed by insurance agency Unipol and Octo Telematics.
If your car remains stationary from 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM, bam! You get €1.5 ($1.87). It’s not as much as you might have thought, but the money gets easily delivered via text message and covers a public transport ticket.
"Previously, the connected car has been all about navigation, infotainment and insurance," chief marketing officer at Octo Telematics Jonathan Hewett, told The Financial Times. "What we're seeing with this project is organizations from public and private spheres can get together and make life better for Europe's citizens."
Sounds cool and green and all, but this, as with many other technological services of today, comes at the cost of privacy deterioration. You may be getting free public transport up to a level, but then your car is monitored 24-7 for that.
Instead of charging you for using a car, the Milanese authorities and the public transport department pay you not to use it. The team is completed by insurance agency Unipol and Octo Telematics.
How does it work?
Very easy. Unipol customers get something like a “black box” installed in their cars, a telematics system basically, which lets the city officials know when you use the car.If your car remains stationary from 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM, bam! You get €1.5 ($1.87). It’s not as much as you might have thought, but the money gets easily delivered via text message and covers a public transport ticket.
"Previously, the connected car has been all about navigation, infotainment and insurance," chief marketing officer at Octo Telematics Jonathan Hewett, told The Financial Times. "What we're seeing with this project is organizations from public and private spheres can get together and make life better for Europe's citizens."
Sounds cool and green and all, but this, as with many other technological services of today, comes at the cost of privacy deterioration. You may be getting free public transport up to a level, but then your car is monitored 24-7 for that.
Google News