TY - JOUR
T1 - Build an app and they will come? Lessons learnt from trialling the GetThereBus app in rural communities
AU - Corsar, David
AU - Cottrill, Caitlin
AU - Beecroft, Mark
AU - Nelson, John D.
AU - Papangelis, Konstantinos
AU - Edwards, Peter
AU - Velaga, Nagendra
AU - Sripada, Somayajulu
N1 - Funding Information:
The research described here was supported by the award made by the RCUK Digital Economy programme to the dot.rural Digital Economy Hub; award reference: EP/G066051/1
Publisher Copyright:
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017.
PY - 2018/4/1
Y1 - 2018/4/1
N2 - Real-time passenger information (RTPI) systems have been identified as having benefits in terms of passenger willingness to travel by public transport and their satisfaction levels with services provided. The lack of this amenity in rural areas, however, may hamper public transport use, thus reinforcing patterns of over-reliance on personal vehicles. To explore the potential impacts of providing RTPI in rural areas, a smartphone application (GetThereBus) was developed to allow rural bus passengers to share real-time public transport data, and access real-time and timetable information. Through user testing of GetThereBus, this work aimed to address questions related to the impact of the limited availability of rural digital infrastructure on the provision of RTPI; the potential for crowdsourced information to supplement published timetable information given digital limitations; and the potential impacts of such a system on the traveller experience. This study describes the GetThereBus development and evaluation phases. The authors found it was possible to design and develop a system that overcame many of the technological limitations experienced in rural areas, and users reported a positive response to the system. However, despite a campaign of user engagement, it proved difficult to recruit and motivate sufficient users to provide the data needed to achieve area-wide coverage.
AB - Real-time passenger information (RTPI) systems have been identified as having benefits in terms of passenger willingness to travel by public transport and their satisfaction levels with services provided. The lack of this amenity in rural areas, however, may hamper public transport use, thus reinforcing patterns of over-reliance on personal vehicles. To explore the potential impacts of providing RTPI in rural areas, a smartphone application (GetThereBus) was developed to allow rural bus passengers to share real-time public transport data, and access real-time and timetable information. Through user testing of GetThereBus, this work aimed to address questions related to the impact of the limited availability of rural digital infrastructure on the provision of RTPI; the potential for crowdsourced information to supplement published timetable information given digital limitations; and the potential impacts of such a system on the traveller experience. This study describes the GetThereBus development and evaluation phases. The authors found it was possible to design and develop a system that overcame many of the technological limitations experienced in rural areas, and users reported a positive response to the system. However, despite a campaign of user engagement, it proved difficult to recruit and motivate sufficient users to provide the data needed to achieve area-wide coverage.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042939169&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1049/iet-its.2016.0216
DO - 10.1049/iet-its.2016.0216
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85042939169
SN - 1751-956X
VL - 12
SP - 194
EP - 201
JO - IET Intelligent Transport Systems
JF - IET Intelligent Transport Systems
IS - 3
ER -