The impact of a mobile information system on changing travel behaviour and improving travel experience

Abstract

Our cities are struggling. Increasing growth in urban cohabitation has strained cities' systems and infrastructural capacity, especially in regards to the transport domain. This paper investigates the impact which mobile information systems can have on travelling behaviour. In our investigation we employ Occy, a simple web-based mobile application which provides bus timetable information to commuters. In this study, we studied the adoption, usefulness and impact of Occy on users' commuting behavior over a three week period through a diary study which included 25 participants on one of the busiest bus corridors in the UK. This was consolidated by a separate focus group, which included 8 participants, to shed light on participants' acceptance of Occy as an intervention for altering their travel behaviour and improving travel experience. The results show that transport information delivered through Occy did influence the behaviour of travellers, who started trusting the system and used it to target specific busses and thus reduce their bus waiting times. The follow-up discussions identified the features of flexibility and trust as crucial to the successful adoption of such mobile applications. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.