Real-time public transport information

Summary

Ljubljana is constantly working towards increased attractiveness of the public transport network. As part of these efforts, the city wants to provide staff and passengers with information about the services in real-time, therefore 58 displays with information on bus arrivals have been placed on bus stations.

Implementing sustainable mobility

Ljubljana sees a real-time information service as a solution that will help to make the bus network more passenger-oriented and build the image of the reliability of the service.

The main objectives were to:

• To provide staff and passengers with real time information about public transport services at different locations on the CIVITAS-ELAN corridor;
• Increase passenger satisfaction, retention and accessibility of public transport;
• Increase the number of public transport passengers.

Ljubljana equipped 54 bus stops with remotely managed LED information displays. The displays show the estimated arrival time of the next buses and other public transit related messages. They are integrated with the existing public transport management system of the public transport operator LPP.

Progress

Ljubljana has placed the required equipment for 54 bus stops and equipped them with 58 electronic displays as well as fitted them with a direct communication technology called Zigbee. The aim was to ensure accurate information that passengers can rely on. The displays have become very popular and well accepted by the citizens, the City of Ljubljana received several initiatives to expand the network of these displays.

Outcomes

Key results are:

The results for the accuracy of timekeeping show an increase of 3.4% in accuracy of announced arrivals and 23.3% increase of accuracy of announced departures. The average accuracy of arrival and departure announcements in June/July 2012 were approximately 85% and 77%, respectively. The targets of 90% reliable information have been substantially reached

After the implementation, the perception of quality has increased by 10-14.5% in the period between March 2011 and May 2012. The targets of 10% increase in the perception have been reached. This might be the result of the increase of accuracy of the displays.

The results of a survey, carried out by the University of Ljubljana in January 2009 and again in May 2012, show a large acceptance of the measure (approximately 80%), however the acceptance has dropped by almost 2% towards the 2012. A negligible increase in acceptance score was also observed in the acceptance of LED display service from the survey conducted by Telargo in the period March 2011-May 2012 (by 0.04 or 0.8% relative change). On the other hand, if only the categories 4 and 5 are considered (that relate to the statements “I agree + I fully agree with the statement that the because of the LED service I tend to use the PT more often”), a significant improvement in satisfaction can be observed (by 14% in relative figures). The targets of 10% increase in acceptance level have not been reached. A possible reason could be the punctuality issues of shown information, which were not on a level that was expected by the users. The expectations regarding the acceptance were too high; the public likes the displays, but they expect higher level of accuracy to be fully acceptable.