Human-Computer Interactions in Transport

Christophe Kolski, Christophe Kolski

• Publisher: Wiley-ISTE
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781118601884
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Design
• Subtopic: UI/UX Design

The human-computer interactions are more and more present in our everyday life, and lead to many conceptual and methodological problems for the designers and evaluators of interactive systems. This book is about Human-Computer Interaction in Transport domain, in which the traveler becomes a user of information systems, particularly before and during the travel(s). This book will focus on traveler information and personalized systems, using a human-centered design approach.

Chapter 1

Principles, Issues and Viewpoints of Traveler Information in a Multimodal Context ¹

1.1. Introduction

Traveler information in a multimodal context covers all of the information necessary for the preparation and realization of a journey that uses several means of transport. The term multimodal, often used in literature related to human-computer interaction (HCI) (or more generally human-machine interaction), must be interpreted in the sense of mobility here, that is to say the use of several means or modes of transport. It is rare that a journey is monomodal (only one mode being involved). As an example, the use of an automobile requires the “walking” mode to access or leave the vehicle. In this field, when asked “what is traveler information?” it is customary to answer: “information is what reduces the traveler’s uncertainty”.

This rough definition allows two main points to be put forward: that it is centered on the traveler, the receiver of information; it highlights the fact that the value of information is measured in the reduction of the resulting uncertainty: any message that does not lead to a reduction in uncertainty must be considered noise.

Surveys [GIL 97] have shown that the traveler awaits “hot” signals from dynamic information, such as information about the arrival of the next metro or bus for example. The main objective of information is therefore to reduce the traveler’s uncertainty. The information must be clear, precise and meet the needs of the person and his context of mobility; for example, by giving him the quickest multimodal itinerary or the delay for his connecting train. It is worth noting that, from a terminological point of view, traveler information is more closely related to the world of public transportation, whereas in English-speaking literature the term traveler information is dedicated to information for road users and essentially concerns road traffic and guidance. The term ATIS (advanced traveler information systems) is more generic and is currently eliciting numerous scientific publications, both in engineering sciences and social sciences [LYO 07].

In this chapter, we will present the different aspects of traveler information and show its complexity, depending on the receivers, places and diffusion media. We will then define the multimodal information system enabling a database that classifies all the information relative to the offer of mobility to be constructed, such as train, bus and tram times, the subway train frequency, etc., enabling the traveler to plan his journey and guide him when he carries it out. The viatic research concept, the aim of which is to try to bring added value to the only information linked to mobility by agreement services during the journey and by simplified payment, will be described. We will then present PREDIT (the national program for experimentation and innovation research in terrestrial transport; see www.predit.prd.fr) research projects linked to traveler information. In terms of viewpoints, information becomes increasingly personalized and thus requires highly refined human-machine interfaces.

1.2. A complexity that must be mastered

Like the transport networks that it must enable the use of, traveler information requires a complex domain that is due in particular to the diversity and multiplicity of different items:

– the situation of the travelers involved: the regular users or commuters (who make the same journey daily), the occasional users (who do not know the network) and the non-residents (tourists, for example);

– the information producers (the transport system operator and the transport organizing authority¹, which is the public body that finances the transport system, not applicable for countries with privatized transport system, such as Network Rail in the UK);

– the travelers’ queries (which mode of transport will take me from place A to place B? Which bus timetable should I use? What are the fares for this route? At what time is the next connecting train/bus?, etc.);

– the places where information is made available (at the traveler’s home, at the station or on the bus, etc.);

– the media and usable mediums (paper for timetables or network maps, internet for remote access, mobile telephones or mobile objects such as personal assistants, tablets, displays, loudspeaker announcements, face-to-face conversations with transport personnel).

More specifically, the different types of travelers can be characterized according to their intentions with regard to public transportation:

– Potential travelers, with no intention of traveling: it is necessary to suggest destinations or motives for travel to them, combined with public transportation services. For example, “to visit that museum, take tramway line B towards the hospital”.

– Travelers in a situation of modal choice: these travelers have a choice of several modes of transport to reach their destination. It is necessary to increase the chances of public transportation being chosen over other means, and therefore to present the comparable advantages.

– Travelers “wanting to use public transport”: these are regular users of the network, but it is nonetheless necessary to help them program and plan their occasional journeys.

– Travelers in transit: it is necessary to help them carry out their trips, by guiding them, giving them landmarks and reassuring them throughout their journey. This is achieved, for example, via clear and coherent signage, pictograms and the use of colors that can easily be noticed.

There are many places where information is available and they are not just confined to transport network offices:

– public places: in public areas, such as the street, where an arrow will be placed pointing towards the metro stop;

– private places: at home, at the work place, in hotels, in a person’s own car where information could appear on paper (timetable) or digitally (on a screen);

– town/transport interface: at the bus stops with the network map and times, outside trains with the direction of travel and carriage number, at the entrance of stations with the name and destinations they are going to, etc.;

– within public transportation: inside the bus with a map of the route or a loudspeaker announcement for the next stop; in station areas with direction signposts and a list of the stations linked by the service; on the platforms with the waiting time displayed before the next subway train, etc.;

– on ourselves: this is probably the “place” that will hold the most contextualized and personalized services of traveler information in the future.

In the transport domain, three kinds of information coexist:

– Theoretical information, such as the network map, drawings of public transport lines, or vehicle departure times, has a lifespan of several months to several years.

– Factual information provides details of predicted, planned and programmed events, such as works, construction sites, service cancellations, strikes, etc. Its lifespan is in theory known.

– Dynamic information is based solely on using a transport system in real time. It can take the form of waiting time and, in the case of incidents or accidents involving people, a disturbance alert is broadcast, a delay announced, or alternative routes suggested in the event of a prolonged blockage on the line.

Mastering this complexity leads us to adopt a starting point that is focused on the travelers. Based on the questions the client is asking in a given place, at a given time, envisaging which answers to supply, this includes the risk of the client turning away from the public transport network. This philosophy differs from a “technical orientation”, in which the possibilities offered by a given technology are first considered in order to apply them to traveler information. The continuous appearance of new information and communication technologies in the domain of data transmission (Bluetooth, WiFi, 3G, 3G+, etc.) such as information-receiving equipment (such as cell phones, personal assistants and nomad computers) has a tendency to cause operators who wish to offer a traveler information services using the latest innovations to throw caution to the wind.

Nonetheless, it is advisable to focus above all on the basics and only a global approach can bring a certain amount of coherence to this ensemble. This so-called functional approach consists of announcing information that must be supplied to the travelers (current or potential), in each place before any technological solution, in order to answer the questions they are asking themselves in each place.

Thus, the functions assigned to a system of traveler information can be distributed according to the four following families:

– the promotional functions: meet the commercial objectives of the transport company;

– the pedagogical functions: facilitate public transport learning and lead travelers to conform to the user regulations;

– the operational functions: facilitate the programming and execution of the trip;

– the appropriative functions: facilitate appropriation and mastering of the transport system.

To correctly define the functional approach, it is therefore advisable to answer the following questions:

– what are the objectives assigned by the producers of traveler information?

– what are the different types of travelers involved?

– where is the information being made available?

– what are the functions that traveler information will have to fulfill?

We have presented and defined traveler information in the context of a public transport system, as well as the functional approach that its players must adopt, based on [FAI 96]. Nonetheless, during his trip the traveler uses several individual transport systems, such as the car, as well as collective ones, such as the train, bus or tram. The term multimodal information is then used.

1.3. Multimodal information

Specific French laws called Grenelle de l’environment² defined the main points of sustainable development and were in favor of sustainable mobility. To try and respond to the challenge of sustainable mobility, which involves restoring the balance between the car, on the one hand, and public transport and more generally the soft modes³, on the other, a concept is starting to emerge in France: multimodal information. The idea is to create a “unique counter”, focusing on all of the forms of mobility on offer in a given territory [UST 00]. It is a matter of proposing the global offer including public transport, parking possibilities, how long automobile journeys will take, cycle lanes, taxis, carpooling offers⁴, the routes pedestrians take, bicycle or electric scooter hire, etc. All individual and collective forms of urban mobility must be brought together to produce a database allowing us to optimize the mobility resources in a territory. The valuation of such a mutualization of data, called a multimodal information system (MIS), must not only be carried out via services destined for the user-client, but also to institutional, professional and economic worlds.

Therefore, the mutualization of data can help the authority organizing the trips and the users of transport to better optimize public spending [PER 02] in the definition of the offer, as well as in the domain of the coordinated use of networks. For example, MIS can make it possible to update inconsistencies in the forms of mobility on offer, with regards to transit, or even redundancies in the same itinerary. A better knowledge of transport demand could also lead to the appearance of new for...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Introduction
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1. Principles, Issues and Viewpoints of Traveler Information in a Multimodal Context
• Chapter 2. User Needs Analysis Methodology for the Design of Traveler Information Systems
• Chapter 3. A Generic Method for Personalizing Interactive Systems: Application to Traveler Information
• Chapter 4. A Formal Framework for Design and Validation of Multimodal Interactive Systems in Transport Domain
• Chapter 5. From Human-Machine Interaction to Cooperation: Towards the Integrated Copilot
• Chapter 6. ICT and New Human-machine Interactions for Trucks and Buses of the Future: e-Truck and e-Bus Perspectives
• Chapter 7. User-centered Approach to Design an Adaptive Truck Driving Assistance: Detection of Vulnerable Users in Urban Areas
• Chapter 8. Menu Sonification in an Automotive Media Center: Design and Evaluation
• Chapter 9. Consideration of the Travel Time Experience in the Conceptual Models of Personalized Interactive Applications
• Chapter 10. Towards New Interactive Displays in Stations and Airports
• Chapter 11. Transport: a Fertile Ground for the Plasticity of User Interfaces
• List of Authors
• Index