Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
- within public transportation : inside the bus with a map of the route or a
loudspeaker announcement for the next stop; in station areas with direction
signposts and a list of the stations linked by the service; on the platforms with the
waiting time displayed before the next subway train, etc.;
- on ourselves : this is probably the “place” that will hold the most
contextualized and personalized services of traveler information in the future.
In the transport domain, three kinds of information coexist:
- Theoretical information, such as the network map, drawings of public transport
lines, or vehicle departure times, has a lifespan of several months to several years.
- Factual information provides details of predicted, planned and programmed
events, such as works, construction sites, service cancellations, strikes, etc. Its
lifespan is in theory known.
- Dynamic information is based solely on using a transport system in real time.
It can take the form of waiting time and, in the case of incidents or accidents
involving people, a disturbance alert is broadcast, a delay announced, or alternative
routes suggested in the event of a prolonged blockage on the line.
Mastering this complexity leads us to adopt a starting point that is focused on the
travelers. Based on the questions the client is asking in a given place, at a given
time, envisaging which answers to supply, this includes the risk of the client turning
away from the public transport network. This philosophy differs from a “technical
orientation”, in which the possibilities offered by a given technology are first
considered in order to apply them to traveler information. The continuous
appearance of new information and communication technologies in the domain of
data transmission (Bluetooth, WiFi, 3G, 3G+, etc.) such as information-receiving
equipment (such as cell phones, personal assistants and nomad computers) has a
tendency to cause operators who wish to offer a traveler information services using
the latest innovations to throw caution to the wind.
Nonetheless, it is advisable to focus above all on the basics and only a global
approach can bring a certain amount of coherence to this ensemble. This so-called
functional approach consists of announcing information that must be supplied to the
travelers (current or potential), in each place before any technological solution, in
order to answer the questions they are asking themselves in each place.
Thus, the functions assigned to a system of traveler information can be
distributed according to the four following families:
- the promotional functions : meet the commercial objectives of the transport
company;
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