Role of Information (Internet) in the Route Choice at Sustainable Urban Public Transport

Abstract

The role of information is higher and higher in the modern society. It is the same in transportation, especially in urban environments. An increasing share of the world's population is living in urban environments, and the understanding of transport processes in this field is essential. To be able to produce a better public transport system, the decision-making process of the individual users must be understood. By helping them to make the right decision from the viewpoint of the whole urban society, a more sustainable system can be built up (through a more attractive public transport service, with fewer cars) with highly reduced chemical pollution. This paper deals with the issue of the helping force of collected information at the special decision of route choice. Five different scenarios will be described to show the power of information in individual decisions. As a basis, there is static information only (like a timetable). In the second case, there are only limited dynamic information sources (real-time user information at the bus stop), while in the third case, the possibilities of permanent dynamic information are considered on the real timetable with the help of IoT. In the final two cases, there is the assumption of a critical mass of IoT in the transportation system, like the passengers’ mobile phones and the vehicles themselves. This paper describes a novel theoretical framework. Quantitative and qualitative results are the subject of future work.