Modelling factors affecting the use of ubiquitous real-time bus passenger information

Abstract

Ubiquitous real-time passenger information (URTPI) is state-of-the-art travel information for public transport passengers and an integral part of intelligent transport systems. URTPI enables travellers to access information before and during a journey. Passengers are offered information to make both pre-trip and en-route choices. The effectiveness of the information provision and the return on investments into necessary technologies could be increased by a better understanding of how URTPI influences traveller behaviour. Understanding passengers' decision-making under the influence of URTPI, would help transport planners in predicting the demand distribution over the network. In addition, this would help improve the information provision, to ensure a seamless end-to-end journey experience for public transport users. However, our knowledge of the extent of use of the URTPI sources and the impact it makes on travellers' choices is limited. This paper first investigates how much URTPI are being used by the passengers and then discusses what drives the use of URTPI. A bus passenger survey was conducted in the city of Edinburgh, UK. A total of 1645 completed responses were collected where more than half of the participants used at least one form of ubiquitous sources of information. Modelling results revealed that the use of URTPI is influenced by passengers' demographics and trip characteristics. Participants' age and length of trip are the most influential factors in driving the use of URTPI. Younger participants are found to be more likely to use URTPI compared to the older participants. Passengers tend to use URTPI for longer trips compared to short trips. Time of day did not exhibit any significant impact on the use of URTPI. The paper also identifies the factors influencing the consultation of different sources of URTPI.