A 20-year-old Romanian student has won 60,000 euros in European funding for an artificial intelligence-based project aimed at improving the predictability of public transportation, according to adevarul.ro.
Șerban Pirvulescu, a native of Oradea and a student in the Department of Computer Science at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, heads the software development company Zexsoft, which was selected to implement the Urban Way project in Bălți, Republic of Moldova.
This company is the only one from Romania among the 14 startups and small and medium-sized enterprises selected to develop mobility solutions in 14 European cities.
Funding is provided through the RAPTOR 2026 program, implemented by EIT Urban Mobility. The program connects local governments facing transportation challenges with technology companies capable of rapidly developing and testing solutions.
How Artificial Intelligence Will Be Used in Public Transportation
In Bălți, Zexsoft will develop a platform to collect data transmitted by buses and trolleybuses equipped with GPS systems.
The information will be analyzed using artificial intelligence to more accurately calculate the arrival time of each vehicle at a specific stop.
“We will create a data platform where we will collect data from vehicles already equipped with GPS and use an artificial intelligence tool to predict a vehicle’s arrival time at a station,” explained Șerban Pirvulescu.
The solution will not be intended solely for passengers. The Bălți authorities will be able to use the platform to simulate various scenarios and analyze how changes in traffic or temperature fluctuations affect vehicle movement.
A component of the system will be integrated into the transit app already in use in Bălți. The information generated by the platform will also be displayed on electronic information boards at stations.
The project is scheduled for completion in December 2026, after which the system will be tested on one of the city’s public transit routes.
