How Innovactory apps streamline and facilitate daily commutes, frequent trips and journeys

As the world slowly begins to embrace a “new normal” and workers return to the office, there’s been an obvious uptick in traffic on the roadways. More cars on the road means traffic congestion, jams and safety concerns are back. Drive times, pollution and traveler anxiety are also increasing. It looks like we’ll be back to spending 35 hours per year in traffic jams and 100 hours per year searching for parking.

This is where Innovactory comes in. As a mobility innovation startup, Innovactory was founded with a goal of providing unique mobility services that allow users to seamlessly plan and efficiently navigate their journeys. Users benefit from proactive, context-aware travel services available through mobile personal assistants. For the urban traveler, this spells good news.

Traffic is back, and with it comes frustration

In Europe, 75 percent of the population is living in cities. With coronavirus lockdowns easing, this means more people trying to get from point A to B in our cities. Urban infrastructure is again stressed, accessibility is challenged, and quality of life is compromised.

To help offset this burden on infrastructure, transport and mobility need to be smarter, greener and safer.

Convenient access to informed travel options

Innovactory saw these transport and mobility problems years ago and decided to take up the challenge head-on. The company launched a product called TimesUpp, an app that helps users optimize their travel from one place to another.

TimesUpp transforms a user’s calendar into a personal travel assistant. It’s a tool that helps drivers find smarter alternative routes and entices them to postpone their trips during periods of heavy congestion or make use of alternative transport means.

The app features include:

• The latest traffic information

• Alerts when it’s time to depart

• Travel times logged as events in your calendar so you can view your journey time automatically

• Outlook on weather that is likely to impact your journey is factored into the routing equation

• The ability to link to your favorite navigation platform

As time went on, Innovactory observed that cities like Amsterdam, offering a variety of multi-modal travel options, were still difficult to navigate. So, the company launched Gaiyo.

Gaiyo is an innovative app that functions as a one-stop shop for any form of shared mobility. Gaiyo users can easily plan their trip and get access to all forms of shared mobility (cars, e-scooters, e-bikes), public transport and cabs. Gaiyo is also the most affordable parking app in the Netherlands. At the end of 2020, Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant called Gaiyo, “the most convenient and comprehensive transport app of the moment”.

Gaiyo offers:

• Ease of use: Register once and you have access to many different modes of transport

• Flexibility: Combine your own car and bicycle with parking and access to other modes of shared transport

• Alternatives: If your preferred mode of transportation is not available, Gaiyo helps you find alternatives to get you to your destination

• Certainty: Arrive on time with up-to-date travel advice. You receive updates on delays, traffic jams and alternative routes

Today the TimesUpp and Gaiyo apps are available to users in the Netherlands.

Innovactory solutions are being noticed. The company has been awarded the first of seven Dutch MaaS pilots that the Ministry of Infrastructure and regional governments organize. The highly congested Randstad area, with relatively high car ownership and usage, is an ideal proving ground to introduce Innovactory’s unique services.

The secret ingredient: Location content

A travel app is only as good as the location data it’s built upon. Innovactory selected TomTom for its map and traffic information for several reasons. The company found that using TomTom map and real-time traffic data enabled it to generate highly reliable route and travel time information. The TomTom street network is scalable and robust, and traffic samples sizes are comprehensive.

Additionally, TomTom is one of the few location data providers offering a comprehensive map and traffic data solution. Its real-time traffic information, used for alerts and warnings for traffic conditions, is always on. Geocoding, used for finding business and residence locations, is precise.

“

We’re a startup, so having easy access to great products and product experts is key. TomTom has demonstrated time and again to be a leader, not only in product quality, but in customer support.

Lucien Groenhuijzen

CEO & Founder of Innovactory

Convenience and visibility lead to a better driving experience

Innovactory provides a unique mobility service that meets a very real demand. The traveling public need smart mobility solutions that conveniently help them navigate their daily commute, frequent trips and journeys to every destination. TimesUpp and Gaiyo have proven to be successful in positively influencing navigation. The TimesUpp app was developed based on an evaluation study on behavioral insights. This study shows how behavior makes it possible to offer travelers suitable alternatives and reach the best possible effect using as few resources as possible. TimesUpp and Gaiyo have also been used in behaviorial change projects for clients in the Netherlands and Belgium. These projects have shown that Innovactory apps offer road authorities a range of tools to reduce the number of car trips on their roads.

Users are satisfied and the traveling experience is more convenient and efficient. In time, roads will see a better distribution of traffic, leading to less congestion and pollution.

The next big thing

Innovactory recently received €1.5 million in a funding round. This new capital will be used for product development, connecting more transport providers and increasing the number of users of their app.

Their solutions will be tested in the Dutch MaaS pilot organized by the Ministry of Infrastructure and regional governments. Additionally, new Gaiyo features will be introduced, further enhancing the company’s offering. Finally, Innovactory plans to roll out the app to European countries outside the Netherlands.

As user adoption grows, the benefits of proactive, context-aware travel services will lead to reduced traffic congestion, safer roads, less anxiety for travelers and a cleaner environment.

Learn more about Innovactory here.