Hand in hand with digital technology is information that is dynamic. But why is this necessarily a better way to present what customers need to know compared with traditional, static signs? the system could identify where a person is going to or coming from, and when they pass a screen you could show the exact… Read more
Posts Tagged: ideas
Improving Transport Environments Through Designing Their Infostructure
Improving the infrastructure of a city can at times be a complex and difficult task. It’s generally expensive, a lengthy process, and sometimes controversial. What’s often more achievable is improving what we call the ‘infostructure.’ The infostructure makes use of mobile and ubiquitous computing technologies, coupled with dynamic urban displays, to give users access to… Read more
Visualising perspectives with rich pictures
In dealing with a wicked problem like transport, it is sometimes difficult to have all parties involved seeing eye-to-eye and having a common understanding about the issues involved. The ‘Rich Picture’ methodology goes some way to attempting to make some of the perspectival differences clearer to those involved in the process. A ‘rich picture’ is… Read more
Into the loop
Historically, the interaction between person and machine was very simple – a person knew what they wanted to do and that they wanted to use the machine to do it, so they went and pressed a button and it happened. The interaction between these peers only went one way, from person to machine, with nothing… Read more
Wayfinding case study Hong Kong
Overseas, transport systems employ a range of different methodologies to assist people in navigating stations. These can include static signs, dynamic displays, and interactive information points. Hong Kong can be seen to use a mixture of these in helping customers wayfind around a typical station. As you enter the station and go down the escalator,… Read more
The language of syndromes to identify ways of enhancing public transport services for customers
When someone is ill, there are two choices available to them. On the one hand, they can take painkillers or lozenges to mask their sore throat or headache. But while this makes their symptoms disappear for a few moments, it doesn’t address their underlying syndrome. It’s more desirable to take antibiotics as these will both… Read more
How ‘wicked’ are your public transport operations?
Transport planning is a wicked problem. A wicked problem is a problem so complex it seems insoluble. Take the health issue of smoking in Australia – stakeholders include government, consumers, the tobacco industry, the health sector, and the rights and freedoms of the public. Different political parties don’t see eye to eye, people hold different… Read more
Customer service and the ethics of influencing travel behaviour to improve public transport operations
Influence is a powerful phenomenon. As people go about their daily lives, they are pushed and pulled in various directions by forces as varied as advertising, the news media, their significant other, even signs and information points – these all influence the decisions they make. These relationships are positive if they are in the best… Read more
Using personalised digital information to increase peak spreading on public transport services
Public transport providers come under pressure in peak periods. Providing for high passenger volumes on networks running at their upper capacity means time windows for recovering from service disruptions are smaller and more can potentially go wrong if delays with one service cascade into another. In Sydney, like many other cities around the world, the… Read more
Keeping customers happy and transport operations stable: reducing the steady state
Imagine a bucket with water in it. It’s got a hole in the bottom and a tap above it. Depending on how big that hole is, and how much the tap is flowing, there’s some level of water that stays the same. In some ways train stations hold true to this analogy. Trains act as… Read more