Real-time information systems for public transport: user perspective

Abstract

Public transport (PT) agencies are expected to provide passenger-oriented services. There is a need to understand the user’s perception of information technologies, especially within specific socioeconomic and demographic groups. Because of this, and although public transportation agencies are integrating various systems, this work aims at assessing which type of real-time information (RTI) and display platform (DP) for PT are perceived as the most useful among different socioeconomic and demographic groups citizens. Surveys were disseminated in two different readiness level areas, to understand citizens preferences based on age, academic qualifications, public transportation usage, and access to such type of technologies. There was a total of 655 respondents, 196 in Portugal and 459 in Sweden. The most valued RTI were arrival/departure time (ADT) and trip planning (TP). Results suggest there are clear differences between the preferences of young and older users. While in Portugal, high percentage of young people prefer TP as RTI, in Sweden it was found that the percentage of respondents that prefer ADT or TP increases with the increase of age. With respect to DP, panels and apps are those with more votes. Results show in general, younger people prefer Apps and older people prefer RTI provided through panels. Moreover, the findings suggest that areas served with less technologies on information for public transport give more value of having access to RTI. These results are important to support public authorities on designing an integrated system with such technologies to be possibly implemented at a regional level.