Passenger Information: A Goldmine of Possibilities to Make Travelling Easier

The quality of passenger information is dependent on the state of the public transit system itself. To provide an optimal passenger information service, it is vital that even a differentiated public transportation system is designed to be simple and easy to use for everyone. This article discusses how passenger information can best be provided and describes how passenger information is being optimized in Norway. The goal of passenger information systems should be to get already interested people to actually use public transportation. Developing and publicizing a simple system, such as making bus times predictable, is an example of providing useful passenger information. In Oslo, two new information systems have become available to the traveling public: a real-time passenger information implemented on the metro and a travel planner for iPhone. Web-based travel planners on a regional or even national level are being developed in several countries. Although technological innovations and developments in real-time information will open up new passenger information solutions in the near future, transit agencies should ensure that these solutions are adaptable to all members of the traveling public.