SAN JOSE, California, November 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

This week, the New Cities Foundation (http://www.newcitiesfoundation.org) launched a Task Force on connected commuting at City Hall in San Jose, California. The initiative will look at ways to improve the overall commuting experience by making it more efficient, engaging and fun, using social media platforms. The project is a collaborative effort between the City, several leading companies in this field and first rate academic partners. NCF believes transportation and mobility issues are among the most important challenges facing cities worldwide and this is an area where IT-based innovations can make a radical change.

Task Force membersinclude NCF Founding Member Ericsson, San Jose's Department of Transportation, the University of Berkeley, MIT, Orange Telecom and two start-up mobile phone app companies, Waze and Roadify.

By setting up a social network of commuters in the Bay Area who share the same daily commute routes, the study will investigate what kinds of information commuters share with each other when they are connected to one another other real time. Based on this examination of commuter behavior, the Task Force hopes to spur innovative products, technologies, and services that enhance commuting.

Participants came in from Stockholm, Paris, San Francisco, San Jose, Berkeley, New York and Washington, DC to attend the meeting.

According to Mathieu Lefevre, Executive Director of NCF, "We are excited to be here in San Jose to launch this great project. Commuting and mobility are among the most important issues facing cities here in California and across the globe. We believe this initiative will encourage collaborative thinking among the private, public and academic sectors and generate ideas that will apply whether you are in San Jose, Singapore or Sao Paolo."

"The massive population growth of future cities is a great challenge," said Patrik Cerwall, Director of Strategic Marketing, Ericsson. "Commuting is just one issue, but an important one. As a part of this task force, we are excited to look more deeply into the application of social and mobile as a way of improving the lives of city commuters."

About the New Cities Foundation: The New Cities Foundation is a Swiss non-profit institution which aims to be the premier high-level platform for innovation and exchange on the future of urbanization. NCF believes the unprecedented rate of urban growth that defines the 21st century represents a unique set of challenges as well as a chance to build more sustainable, vibrant, innovative and equitable communities in the developed and the emerging world. NCF hosts a series of Task Forces and a major global event which will take place next year, the New Cities Summit.

For more information, telephone + 1-917-846-6159 or email contact@newcitiesfoundation.org

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SOURCE New Cities Foundation