Partner News: TNO’s Connected Traveller workshop

Date: 20 November 2009

The traveller of the future will constantly have up-to-date information at his disposal, allowing him to know the fastest route from A to B and how long it will take. That is the idea, at least. But what kind of business model will make the idea a reality? ERTICO Partner TNO believes the best option is an open platform with public transport information. The Connected Traveller workshop, held on 11 December 2009, examined the pros and cons of such a model and what it has to offer.

The Connected Traveller is the traveller of the future. His computer, laptop or mobile phone has a constant stream of up-to-date information about traffic jams, road works and the arrival and departure times of trains and buses. His travel planner is connected to his agenda and warns him when he should depart to be at his appointment on time. If the traveller is waiting for a tram that is five minutes late, then the travel planner can pass that on to the kiosk on the platform which can offer a cup of coffee while he waits with a ten per cent discount. The travel planner calculates just as easily the travel time for multimodal transport as for a train or car. To be able to achieve all of this a few bottlenecks have to be overcome. The problems are not all technical by nature: for instance, may the kiosk on the platform be allowed to know that someone is waiting for the tram? Can it offer a discount on the coffee without violating his privacy? And who is going to pay for all this?

Pieces of the puzzle

The travel information group is currently being showered with public transport information from various transport companies. It thus has a de facto monopoly on this information, which is available to others to only a very limited extent. Three years ago TNO started thinking about the future situation; the first year focused mainly on the concept of the Connected Traveller, the second year the technical component and last year potential business models came under scrutiny. The central issue that keeps cropping up is that of an open platform where providers of services can access their public transport information. Open does not mean by definition free but that it is accessible for everyone. Such a platform offers parties outside the mobility sector possibilities to offer services that use public transport information. The National Databank for Public Transport developments are very promising. With this and the National Databank for Road Traffic Data, two important pieces of the puzzle are added.

Downside too

TNO spoke with the social networking service Hyves, among others. It indicated an interest in services based on an open platform with public transport information, like linking a travel planner to a buddy finder so that people can arrange to meet somewhere halfway along the route or alert the user to the fact that someone from his or her network is sitting in the same train. During the Connected Traveller workshop the pros and cons of an open platform will be reviewed. Maybe the Dutch railways will ‘lose’ advertising opportunities because people no longer check their ns.nl site and call in to the mobile Travel Planner Xtra for travel information? The question is what there will in its place: who is prepared to develop all kinds of services that use an open platform and what are the conditions for this. Who will pay for what? In short, how can we together ensure that the connected traveller concept becomes reality in the future?

For more information on the Connected Traveller Workshop, held on 11 December 2009, please click here

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