Potentials of Context-Aware Travel Support during Unplanned Public Transport Disturbances

Travel support for public transport today usually takes no or little account of the traveler’s personal needs and current context. Thereby, travelers are often suggested irrelevant travel plans, which may force them to search for information from other sources. In particular, this is a problem during unplanned disturbances. By incorporating the traveler’s context information into the travel support, travelers could be provided with individually tailored information. This would especially benefit travelers who find it more difficult than others to navigate the public transport system. Furthermore, it might raise the accessibility and general attractiveness of public transport. This paper contributes with an understanding of how information about the traveler’s context can enhance the support provided by travel planners, in the case of disturbances in public transport. In particular, the paper includes a high-level analysis of how and in which situations context information can be useful. The analysis shows how information about the traveler’s context can improve travel planners, as well as highlights some risks in relation to some identified scenarios. Several technologies for retrieving information about the physical context of the traveler are also identified. The study is based on a literature review, a workshop, and interviews with domain experts.