Singapore Installs Bluetooth Smart Racks for Bicycle Parking

Bluetooth solutions provider Viatick and the housing development board (HDB) of Singapore have partnered to create and install bluetooth smart racks for bicycle parking – smart bicycle/personal mobility device (PMD) racks that can be used without people having to use their own locks. Using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology, users can unlock the locks on the bicycle racks, and park their own bicycles there, via their smartphones.

The smart bicycle rack runs on the BuzzVox platform which combines bluetooth for its locking mechanism, GPS for location tracking, artificial intelligence (AI) for route recommendations, a Chatbot for communication and inquiries, and Blockchain for booking transactions. It also has a back end for AI maintenance for each station, and big data to aid in planning.

Bikeep is a San Francisco based start-up also producing smart bike racks that enable cyclists to lock all mass-produced bicycles, charge e-bikes, and act as P2P bike share platforms. BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) plans to use the technology to reduce bike theft in their stations. A pilot project has been installed at the 16th Street Station in San Francisco where people can use their Clipper Card (transportation cards used in the San Francisco Bay area) to register for the free, secure parking.