A US$54 million research centre has been launched in Singapore which is aimed at tackling urban congestion and port management.
The Urban Computing and Engineering Centre of Excellence has been jointly set up by Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research; the Singapore Management University; and Japanese multinational Fujitsu to model and simulate urban congestion in Singapore, according to The Strait Times.
Congestion has been an ongoing problem for ports and terminals globally, with ports such as Manila taking urgent action to combat congestion through expansion.
The Port of Long Beach has also proposed a game-changing plan to alleviate congestion by implementing chassis operating units into its practices.
Applications and software developed from the research will provide consumers with real-time information on how to take the most efficient route to a crowded port.
It will also examine how Singapore's maritime ports can operate more efficiently by predicting the volume of shipments that are due for arrival and how best to reduce waiting times for ships.