Uber and Lyft have made our lives easier in many ways, but public officials have a bone to pick.
From piles of e-scooters to heavy congestion, cities have struggled to adjust to ride-sharing’s impact on physical spaces.
Lacuna, a startup that uses digital twin technology to help cities manage and monetize transit networks, just raised $16m to help cities align policy with modern transportation, per VentureBeat.
Pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a virtual replication of a real-world entity.
The tech has been used for everything from art (think NFTs) to manufacturing plants, but cities may be the ultimate use case. Among the companies in the space:
Lacuna’s software goes beyond planning and route optimization to help cities use data to implement policies.
… which isn’t exactly known for its open roads.
Since implementing the software, the city has crafted 110 digital policies to ensure ride-sharing platforms are aligned with public interests. As a result, one neighborhood saw complaints drop by 73%.
Lacuna’s software is open source, which means cities can learn from each other — so it’s only a matter of time before digital twins come to a city near you.