June 2012: Michelin Will Provide Better Bus Transport for the London Olympics

For the well awaited London Olympics that will take part between the 27th of July and the 12th of August 2012, Michelin will bring to the market its latest technological achievement, the “communicating tyre”.

The Michelin tyres that will be used during the London Olympics on the public transport buses use a new technology, the combination of Radio Frequency Identification Chips (RFID) which are for the first time used in tyres and the Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) that maximizes the RFID chips functions.

The Michelin tyres that will receive the RFID chip are the Michelin X InCity tyres. With the aid of the TMPS sensor the user will be able to obtain crucial information about the tyre, such as tyre pressure, temperature and even overall tyre history, in a considerable shorter amount of time.

With the Michelin X InCity tyres the public transport in London will become much safer and it will at the same time improve the overall mobility of the public transportation system.

Besides the new public transport tyres, Michelin will extend the tyre line gradually to trucks and other industrial areas.

Why Do The Michelin X InCity Tyres Matter?

What will be the impact of the new Michelin X InCity tyres on the public transport during the Olympic Games?

First off, this is the third time that London will be hosting the Olympic Games. From the geopolitical point of view this event will require from the British organizers the highest level of security and diplomacy.

From the organizational point of view this event implies the highest organisation capabilities and as a consequence improved viability in terms of public transport, among other issues.

The increased demand for well organized public transport comes as a result from the estimated number of passengers during the event.

Presently, the British authority estimates that around 10 million spectators, 10500 athletes, 21000 journalists and 3000 official attendees will be present in London for the event, from which a substantial fraction will use the public transportation system.

The preliminary estimates are that the public transportation system will have around 500,000 extra passengers daily during the event, with the peak number being the 8th day of the Olympics when there are expected an additional 800,000 to 1,000,000 passengers.

The problem is that this surplus number of passengers comes in addition to a system that has almost reached a saturation point. Therefore, the public transportation system and, more specifically, the bus transportation system will be restructured and improved to comply with the rising demand while offering proper conditions and increased safety.

So, besides increasing the transportation functioning hours and improving surveillance for increased safety, the integrity of the buses and the tyres also needs to be constantly checked. By using the new Michelin X InCity Tyres that include the RFID chip and the TMPS sensor monitoring the tyre integrity of an entire fleet of buses will be done in considerably shorter amounts of time, becoming considerably more cost effective and feasible.