The improvement of the public transport service and thus a lasting transfer from car to public transport can only be achieved by a detailed and reliable passenger information. In this connection, the passenger information has to be dynamic, that means that not only schedule data but also real time data have to be indicated. Furthermore, the information has to be at the passenger's disposal at any time (en-route). In the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Area), the use of mobile phones for dynamic passenger information will be tested on behalf of the Ministry of Transport. 120 persons will receive a mobile phone and have the occasion to get real time information about the actual waiting and departure times of all local buses, regional buses and the trains in Hofheim and Bad Soden. The data supply concept is based upon Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), available in 1999 for the first time, which filters the information on an Internet page into a form that can be sent over the cellular network and displayed on a mobile phone screen. The technical feasibility and the acceptance of the system as well as the shifting potential in the modal split will be studied by means of a project-accompanying "before-after analysis". (A*)
Abstract