Building public transport information around the needs of passengers.

Author(s)
Cohen, T. & Dillion, M.
Year
Abstract

Steer Davies Gleave has recently undertaken two pieces of research: the Merseyside Information Demonstration Project (for Merseytravel); and Tyne and Wear Information Research (for Nexus). Highway authorities in England and Wales are required under the Transport Act 2000 to produce a bus information strategy. Little emphasis is currently placed, however, on either establishing objectives or ascertaining the performance of current transport information delivery. At the same time, each authority has its own set of systems for the processing and delivery of information which benefit, to a greater or lesser extent, from the co-operation of commercial operators. It is suggested that much of today's public transport information is based on design and delivery that reflect the operator's perception of the network. The presentation of maps, printed timetables, bus stop flags and web-based information is often based on ingrained practices that have, to some extent, been accepted by the public. But can passengers in general understand these articles? More importantly, do they address the questions that passengers need answered? It is suggested that public transport information could be far more effective in every respect, if it were reconceived with the requirements of the passenger as the starting point. The Merseyside Information Demonstration Project started by defining the "question-based approach", a simple set of functional questions which anyone contemplating a journey may need answered. These were divided into four sets: pre-journey, at-stop, on-vehicle and at-interchange. This led to the creation of a long list, containing all conceivable information products, static and dynamic, generic and personalised. Each was then appraised against a set of criteria including: effectiveness at answering questions, accessibility, cost and feasibility. Ultimately, a set of preferred options arose, being products which appeared to offer the best value for cost (a combination of money, time, effort and risk). As a parallel part of the research, a unique approach was taken to the production of a simplified visual representation of the full transport network in Merseyside, based on an innovative approach to the naming of points and regions. The market testing of this map provided very interesting insights into the needs and expectations of actual and potential public transport users. The Tyne and Wear Passenger Information research project used members of the public as "mystery shoppers", asking them to plan and then execute public transport journeys in seven categories that reflected different combinations of familiarity with public transport in general, and familiarity with the public transport journey in question. In addition, each traveller was allocated a "first port of call", being the information form (printed, website, telephone-based etc) which they were asked to use in planning their journey. Mystery shoppers completed a detailed questionnaire on every aspect of the experience which was followed up with telephone interviews, and a focus group directed at printed bus information. These provided a very useful mixture of both quantitative and qualitative data. It was found that an approach to transport information that focuses the products on the specific needs of the individual passenger can provide substantial advantages over traditional, "passive" provision of printed, oral and virtual media. Even with the assistance of an interpreter, though, way-finding within the system and recognition of locations are still essential to completing the journey successfully. Indeed, it is the building blocks of information provision - names of places, modes, routes and boarding points that so often confuse the potential user. For the covering abstract see ITRD E126595.

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Publication

Library number
C 33786 (In: C 33295 CD-ROM) /72 / ITRD E127013
Source

In: Proceedings of the European Transport Conference ETC, Strasbourg, France, 8-10 October 2003, Unpaginated

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