Improving public transport information

Summary

The technical modernisation of public transport systems must go hand in hand with the appropriate design and management of accurate, good-quality real-time information.

Implementing sustainable mobility

At the time of measure implementation, public transport in Suceava attracted relatively low numbers of passengers due to the poor quality of the existing vehicles. It was expected that a combination of modern, less polluting buses, together with the implementation of bus priority and other support measures, would produce a substantial increase in passenger numbers, providing those measures were accompanied by a new and reliable information system. The goal was to increase the number of passengers using public transport by between 4 and 8 percent.

Progress

Activities included:

• the dissemination of information about public transport services;
• the publication of information on public transport and sustainable mobility opportunities on the City Hall and Mobility Centre websites;
• awareness raising via newspaper articles, television campaigns and on-street events;
• the installation of variable message signs (VMS) centrally in the ciy; and
• the installation of an electronic display board providing real-time transport information.

Outcomes

• 22.6 percent of respondents used a VMS to obtain public transport information; 20.5 percent of respondents obtained information from leaflets; 18.1 percent visited the City Hall website for transport information; 17.8 percent obtained information from the bus stops or on board public transport vehicles; and 12.2 percent of respondents used the Mobility Centre as a source of information.
• Widespread acceptance of the implemented measures contributed to the creation of a new urban mobility culture, on which to build further measures.
• Awareness was raised of efforts to introduce cleaner public transport vehicles: 82 percent of respondents were aware of the alternative vehicles and fuels.