The transport sector has had some very mixed experiences with information technology. Hardly a week goes past without a story of trains not running when they say, penalty notices sent to cars that have never been in the country, or airports that ship your baggage to random destinations.
And yet...transport is more computerised than ever before. Just within the travel planning environment we have demand models, journey planners, booking systems and an array of real time information services.
The fact is, these systems are of real use. They get vastly more information out to travellers about their journey options, costs, disruptions etc than could be achieved by people unaided. Moreover, they can do this when the traveller needs it, even if it's 1am and by a remote rural bus stop. Travellers like having this information: they feel empowered.
There is even some evidence of technology leading directly to modal shift. For buses, for instance, a well-implemented real time information system, used to the full (including by the operator for headway management, schedule optimisation etc), can boost patronage
by over 10 percent - though the evidence is hugely variable, and is hard to tease out, because very few projects rely solely on a technology fix.
Having said this, putting a transport information system in place is a major challenge.
The systems industry knows this (though its salesmen sometimes get a bit coy). So do those parts of local authorities responsible for deploying the technology. So, actually, do travellers: they are very quick to pick up this kind of shortfall - though they still value the service that they do get. But it's a headache to elected members hearing hundreds of citizen complaints, and a frustration to senior managers when their projects fail to deliver their contractual promises.
If you advertise to a traveller that your system will provide him within instant, free, accurate and comprehensive information on the current transport situation, that is what he expects. If you merely give him information which is pretty quick, quite cheap, fairly accurate most of the time, covering the majority of his journeys, he will be disappointed. But that, in the real world of engineering, is as much as can reasonably be delivered.
Some high profile authorities have been so affected that they have turned off their systems. Should we all follow suit? No, absolutely not: that would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Technology isn't going to go away. Private transport users will continue to buy it even if public transport turns Luddite; and that certainly isn't going to help modal shift.
We do need to be clearer about expectations. Some contracts genuinely are not met, and deserve to be cancelled. But in other cases the problem lies with legitimate operational factors - radio coverage, power supply, logistics of getting systems installers in the same place as buses, training for drivers, timetable for testing, and a thousand others. RTIG exists as a national public-private community body to develop and share best practice in these areas.
We also need to get more 'joined up'. ACT TravelWise members are all about helping people make sensible journey choices; you understand people and their travel needs. RTIG members have the same aim and we understand how systems can help. You know the requirements, we know something about the solution. There is an essential partnership here, and I believe we need to work much harder together at both local and national levels.
If we can achieve this, then we can jointly make a robust case to senior managers for investment, covering both the technical and people side of public transport enhancement. Services will run better, people will be better informed, the mode balance will improve, and we'll be doing our bit for the big issues of environment, health and social inclusion, which would be good for all of us.
Mark Cartwright
RTIG General Manager
For more information contact:
Mark Cartwright
01483 688272
secretariate@rtig.org.uk
