Since the nineties, there have been suggestions on ways to use mobile phones for passenger information, independent of the location of the passenger and independent of a part time call center on duty. The commitment to realize these suggestions depends essentially on the availability of suitable phones. At the turn of the year 2000/2001, approximately 48 million devices were sold in Germany. Therefore, theoretically more than every second German citizen is potentially equipped with mobile-based passenger information. A mobile phone is reachable at every location unlike a printed timetable brochure. This high availability encourages mobile information services to be established. For this reason, besides a normal telephone conversation, two technologies are also available in Germany: Short Message Service (SMS) and the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). The perhaps most popular mobile based information service is the service which Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) provides, found in the WAP part of the internet. However, also communal transport companies and corporations and even small regional bus companies are switching to new mobile-based information and communication technologies. At present, online information services in mobile and stationary parts of the internet particularly serve the requirements of occasional users who want to spontaneously get to know what is on offer as regards public transport. This form of providing information is however less attractive for the large number of commuters. These passengers are familiar with the timetable and usually only wish to know whether their connection is on time. The daily retrieval of information is therefore in this case not a practical solution. On the other hand, there are passengers who are strongly affected by changes to the normal timetable, especially those who have to travel with infrequent trains, or those whose missing connection could amount to enormous costs (connecting flights) as well as those who daily use public transport.
Abstract