The Project

Transport researchers and policy makers today face several challenges as they work to build efficient, safe, and sustainable transportation systems. From rising congestion to growing demand for public transit, the travel behaviour and transportation preferences of  city dwellers are changing fast.

Leveraging Big Data to Manage Transport Operations (LeMO) project addressed these issues by investigating the implications of the utilisation of such big data to enhance the economic sustainability and competitiveness of the European transport sector.  The project studied and analysed big data in the European transport domain in particular with respect to five transport dimensions: mode, sector, technology, policy and evaluation. LeMO accomplished this by conducting a series of case studies, in order to provide recommendations on the prerequisites of effective big data implementation in the transport field.

Through case studies, LeMO investigated methodological, technological, governmental and institutional issues, which in turn contribute to evidence-based decision making. LeMO supplemented these case studies with a trend analysis that identifies the barriers and limitations of the transportation system to exploit big data opportunities. In collaboration with a strong advisory and reference group, and expert stakeholders, LeMO devised and developed a research and policy roadmap that will provide incremental steps necessary towards data openness and sharing to make transport safer, more efficient and more sustainable. Notably, LeMO brought crucial issues linked to privacy, data security and legal aspects to the forefront, paving the way for future legal framework for the collection and exploitation of big data in transport.

Furthermore, LeMO disseminated project findings to a large population of stakeholders, including transport authorities and industries leading to better understanding of travellers' and consumers' behaviour, targeted information and identified policy interventions.
LeMO partners provided a balanced portfolio of research, development and case studies activities. LeMO was a stimulating project that required an engagement with a wide range of different types of organisations. Thus, the LeMO consortium used their existing networks and close relationships with external organisations and individuals to set up a well-balanced advisory and reference group (ARG) to assist them in the successful completion of the LeMO project and the future sustainable implementation of the LeMO recommendations.