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copyright 2002 by the ARTS Consortium. ARTS is a project within the fifth framework programme of the European Union - competitive and sustainal growth.
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Description of the demonstration in several languages
de | en | es | fi | gr | hu | sw
1. General Description of the Demonstration:
The Welsh demonstration involves the application of innovative transport telematics to the rural environment. The scheme brings Real-Time Information (RTI) to residents of rural areas of Wales, via mobile telephones (SMS) and land-line enquiry services. This demonstration is part of a wider strategic rural RTI scheme being implemented across the county of Gwynedd.
The system, known as 'Amserol' (the Welsh word for 'timely'), which is being developed by ACIS, was launched in December 2002. It provides Real-Time Information:
· on-street via displays at bus stops (26 bus stops in the county have RTI displays, which are also fitted with an audio announcement facility for the partially sighted)
· on-vehicle via scrolling displays on the bus (53 buses operated by 6 different operators are fitted with RTI equipment on-board)
· on-line via the internet (there are over 200 'virtual stops' on the internet which show live 'next bus' information)
The ARTS demonstration enables residents of the most rural areas of Gwynedd to access Real-Time Information prior to setting out on their journey, simply by calling an enquiry number from their home telephone. It will also enable those with a mobile telephone to receive the same kind of information either prior to or during their journey, via an SMS message sent to them on request. The demonstration focus on two local bus routes which operate daily and provide travel to work journeys and journeys for other local functions, for the most part linking rural areas with nearby rural market towns.
The introduction of the 'Amserol' system is part of an integrated package of measures aiming to improve the experience of bus travel for people in rural areas of Gwynedd. Bus services improvements are being made to increase frequencies and introduce more accessible vehicles. In addition, interchange facilities are being improved to enable passengers to transfer from one bus to another and from bus to rail (for example RTI is being introduced at Blaenau Ffestiniog to enable passengers leaving trains on either the Conwy Valley or Ffestiniog rail line to plan their onward journey with access to timely bus information).
2. Technology:
The RTI phone system will be introduced to cater for both mobile and static phones, to ensure that no social groups are excluded and all people are in a position to benefit. Over time, Welsh language provision has improved among mobile phone companies but is still imperfect. This problem has been tackled during the project, to ensure that the system is fully dual language.
2.1. The Mobile Phone Server - How the System Works:
Those people in the demonstration area with an SMS (short messaging service) enabled mobile phone will be able to access this service. The operation of the system is as follows:
· User sends SMS message containing relevant parameters to advertised phone number
· Network Operator passes message to aggregator.
· Aggregator passes message to SMS Server.
· Server receives message, looks up departure information and formats return message.
· Outbound message passes back through aggregator to mobile operator and is delivered to user.
The message received back to the user's mobile phone will be in the form of a 'virtual RTI display' for the bus stop requested.
Typically a user can expect to wait less than 45 seconds from the transmission of the inbound message to the receipt of a departure board. This message would contain data that was less than 70 seconds old.
2.2. The Static Phone Server - How the System Works:
The user dials the advertised number for the RTI service from a fixed line telephone. The phone server application picks up the incoming call and navigates the user through a number of menus, ending ultimately at a spoken 'Departure Board' (Passenger Information Point (PIP)) Simulator that will announce departures for that stop. There are three ways of navigating through the menu structure:
1) Public Service and Area:
The user types the public service he wishes to catch; the search is refined if there is more than one service that matches the user's requirement. The search is then further refined by asking the user which area he is interested in. The user is then provided with a list of stops on the selected service in the desired area, from which he selects his one particular stop.
2) Stop Reference:
Every stop has a unique reference number (URN). It is hoped that through advertising this number locally (in the bus stops) and on travel-related web sites, customers will use this method the most. If the user knows this reference, they can enter it from a choice on the first level menu, avoiding the need to navigate through the full menu structure.
3) Favourites / Caller Known (CLI):
If the caller has not withheld his phone number, and navigates using any of the above methods, the system can offer to save this 'favourite' against his phone number. When the same caller is recognised in the future, a shortcut can be offered to their favourite stop(s). As some callers' CLI will be the 'switchboard' number of their office, a 'password' function has been included, whereby the last four digits of the callers phone number / extension is required as additional security.
It is estimated that a call made via 'Area' or 'Public Service' methods will last between two and three minutes, including announcement of departure board and will be dependent on the number of stops on the public service and the amount of data on the departure board. It is estimated that a call made via 'Stop Reference' or 'Favourites' methods will similarly last for approximately one minute.
The list of stops available via the phone server is not necessarily all stops on the route, neither is it restricted to locations where a real Passenger Information Point (PIP) is installed in a bus stop.
Speech files have been recorded as a number of audio clips, both in English and Welsh, which are used in the announcements of the phone server. These include:
· configured bus stop names
· destination names
· route numbers, and
· other specific messages
3. Expected benefits for users and operators:
The key benefits to those people who currently travel by public transport will be increased confidence in the bus service as a result of having access to accurate, timely bus information. The service should appear more reliable and enable people to make more informed decisions prior to setting out on and during their journey, based on the accuracy and timeliness of the information provided.
The operator benefits are that they will have more contented customers who are less likely to complain if their bus is running late as they will be aware of any delay in advance and updated on a regular basis. The introduction of Real-Time Information should also help to attract new customers to consider the bus rather than the car as a result of being able to access timely information. Potential users will be able to make decisions regarding the mode to use on a trip-by-trip basis, based on the timely information provided by the RTI system. The individual operators have not been required to pay for the installation of the on-bus equipment necessary to operate the RTI system; as a result, they will benefit from happier existing users and ideally, an increased number of passengers choosing to travel using a more attractive bus service.
Several problems have been encountered within the start -up phase of the Welsh demonstration project, that hinder the implementation of the measures:
· the funding for installing the telephone aspects of the RTI system is only available during the current financial year (i.e. until 31 st March 2003) and also the funding from the National Assembly for Wales for operating the system is only available for a three year period after it has been implemented; thus the long-term financing is not secured.
· some bus-operators in the area are resistant or unwilling to adapt their vehicles to install the necessary on-bus equipment even though they do not have to pay for it.
· the implementation of the RTI system takes a longer time than expected, because it has been tailor-made for the demonstration project and therefore both the system developers and government bodies are learning as they go; an additional problem for the system provider is the requirement that information be provided in both Welsh and English.
· the innovative transport supply is difficult to promote as information is difficult to transfer to very remote households; in addition visitors to the area are unlikely to have advance information about the new system and would, therefore, be unlikely to use it.
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