Leveraging Electronic Ticketing to Provide Personalised Navigation in a Public Transport Network

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2011

Authors

Ana Aguiar (Author) FEUP; Francisco Nunes (Author) Other; Manuel Silva (Author) Other; Paula Alexandra Silva (Author) Other; Dirk Elias (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems

Vol. 99 No. 99

ISSN: 1524-9050

Publisher: IEEE

Scientific classification

FOS: Natural sciences > Computer and information sciences

CORDIS: Technological sciences > Technology > Communication technology ; Physical sciences > Computer science > Computer systems ; Physical sciences > Computer science > Computer systems > Human computer interaction ; Physical sciences > Computer science > Programming > Software engineering ; Physical sciences > Computer science > Systems design

Other information

Resumo (PT): Public transport networks (PTN) are difficult to use when the user is unfamiliar with the area she is traveling to, as shown by a user survey we present in this paper. This is true both for infrequent users (including visitors) and for regular users in need to travel to areas that they are not acquainted with. In these situations, adequate on-trip navigation information can substantially ease the use of a public transports and be the driving factor in motivating the travellers to prefer it over other modes of transportation. However, estimating the localisation of a user is not trivial though critical for providing relevant information. In this paper, we propose to use the electronic ticketing infrastructure of a PTN operator for positioning within the context of the PTN to give on-trip personalised navigation cues. To our knowledge, this is an innovative contribution, not described or deployed to date elsewhere. We assess relevant design issues for a modular, cost-efficient, user- friendly on-trip navigation service that uses the position sensor, and present the details of a proof of concept prototype running in our lab. We also present and analyse the results of a user survey on the usefulness of the service and its acceptance by users.

Abstract (EN): Public transport networks (PTN) are difficult to use when the user is unfamiliar with the area she is traveling to, as shown by a user survey we present in this paper. This is true both for infrequent users (including visitors) and for regular users in need to travel to areas that they are not acquainted with. In these situations, adequate on-trip navigation information can substantially ease the use of a public transports and be the driving factor in motivating the travellers to prefer it over other modes of transportation. However, estimating the localisation of a user is not trivial though critical for providing relevant information. In this paper, we propose to use the electronic ticketing infrastructure of a PTN operator for positioning within the context of the PTN to give on-trip personalised navigation cues. To our knowledge, this is an innovative contribution, not described or deployed to date elsewhere. We assess relevant design issues for a modular, cost-efficient, user- friendly on-trip navigation service that uses the position sensor, and present the details of a proof of concept prototype running in our lab. We also present and analyse the results of a user survey on the usefulness of the service and its acceptance by users.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific