How Geofencing can become part of our cities

Geofencing is a virtual fence that bounds travel within a specific area, e.g. around daycare facilities and schools. Geofencing is one of several tools to achieve the objectives of transport policy and create a transport system with long-term stability which will contribute to safety.

In 2017 the government started a project to create safer and more sustainable cities with the help of geofencing. The project has resulted in a joint action plan developed by the Swedish Transport Administration, City of Stockholm, City of Gothenburg, Scania, Veoneer, Volvo Cars and Volvo Group.

The key points of the action plan are to:

• Establish a research and innovation program
• Promote legislation and regulations which support implementation of geofencing
• Develop organisational and digital processes and data for geofencing zones
• Develop systems, routines and processes for self-regulating systems and control of smart zones 
• Investigate socio-economic and commercial potential
• Promote national and international harmonisation 
• Encourage and drive demonstration and pilot projects

See the film about Geofencing

'A strategically important collaboration has begun within the Government Commission. Now, we want to take the next step to initiate large-scale pilot projects for live testing and long-term implementation of geofencing technology in identified zones within urban environments. CLOSER's role is to act as a neutral facilitator for the collaboration and to promote the collective innovation work,' says Lina Olsson at CLOSER, who is the project coordinator for the Government Commission.

'A concrete example where geofencing is already in use is bus lines 55 and 16 here in Gothenburg within the scope of ElectriCity (coordinated by Lindholmen Science Park). Geofencing is used here to limit the speed of the buses and to ensure that the buses run on the electric driveline when the should. Now we want to gear up and use geofencing for an entire zone in a city where the party responsible for the road can set the rules and ensure that vehicles move in the city on people's terms. In the long-term, this can mean smart and dynamic zones where vehicles adapt to the rules and potential requirements in a specific zone with the help of geofencing,' explains Lina Olsson.

Download the actionplan (in Swedish)

More information(in Swedish)