Smartphones have overhauled public transportation. Here’s how transit agencies can use them to improve the passenger experience.
Public transportation in the United States is not terrific. Despite relative boom times in many of America’s cities, unreliable and infrequent service plagues transit agencies.
Luckily, transit agencies have an asset at their disposal: the smartphone that’s probably in your pocket (or in your hand, displaying this) right now.
“Smartphones have disrupted transportation.”
You’ve heard those four words before, probably numerous times. And whoever first said them probably was referring to Uber and Lyft – their ability to hail a car with the press of a button.
But ride-hailing isn’t the only way smartphones have changed transportation. The smartphone has deeply impacted the everyday transit experience, from how people integrate buses and trains into their plans to how they pass the time onboard.
As 77 percent of Americans own smartphones (although a smaller percentage have reliable mobile Internet access), transit agencies can use smartphones to make public transportation better.
Modernize real-time arrival information.
With real-time arrival information, you never have to wait at length in the cold for your bus: you can walk outside when the bus is one minute away.
Results of research conducted in numerous cities, including Tampa, Atlanta, and Chicago, confirm that availability of real-time transit data leads to shorter wait times, improved customer satisfaction, and possibly increased ridership.
Transit providers need to make sure this information is always available to the public – for example, in my experience, WMATA’s real-time bus arrivals are never accessible after midnight, even though riders facing limited bus frequencies at these hours would benefit substantially. Real-time info could help Washington DC’s nighttime revelers understand that the bus is a viable option for them, easing the ride hailing-caused traffic congestion and chaos plaguing popular areas such as Connecticut Ave and U Street.
Make APIs available for developers.
APIs – application programming interfaces – are basically codes that let different programs communicate with each other. If you want to access real-time arrival information on apps like Citymapper or Transit, they’re essential: APIs communicate the transit agency’s real-time GTFS to third-party apps.
Opening their APIs for use by developers is an easy way transit agencies can improve the passenger experience. By letting people use the third-party trip-planning apps of their choice, they might be more inclined to ride.
Install phone charging stations on transit vehicles and in stations.
A low phone battery is a stress-inducer, so if potential customers come to view transit as a place to ease this stress, they might be more likely to ride. Props to DC Circulator for including this feature on their new buses!
Provide cell reception in subway tunnels.
Transit systems serving tech-oriented areas (such as BART and Seoul’s rail system) did this a long time ago, and WMATA is joining them. America’s phone companies covered the costs of the cell towers that provide reception to as much as 97 percent of our national highway system, so large transit agencies can do more to economically incentivize them to fund telecom infrastructure for their millions of paying subscribers who ride underground trains each day.
Transit agencies should embrace the competitive advantage smartphones have given them.
The ability for riders to multitask and relax has long been a strong selling point for transit. (And it’s even been a strong selling point for smartphones themselves – check out this Sprint commercial for the Samsung Galaxy.) Smartphones are not only an essential element of this multitasking, but also something that helps make bus and rail systems more accessible to riders in the first place.
Phones help keep us transit riders connected to our personal lives, even when we’re on a crowded train or bus. As Stephanie Fairyington wrote for CityLab recently, this has mixed impacts, as it’s become easy for riders to become engrossed in their own worlds to the point they forget they’re sharing space with other people. As Broadway’s first acapella musical captured, one of transit’s greatest attributes is its ability to bring people together, serving as a shared nerve for millions. Even as technology renders more aspects of our lives virtual, transportation is something we’ll always be in together.
But that said, it is pretty nice to be able to read the latest Mobility Lab article, watch videos, or make sure I haven’t received any important work e-mails when in transit. This luxury has made transit an even more enjoyable way to get where I need to go.
While drivers also have demonstrated a desire to remain connected, all smartphone use has done for them is make their mode even more dangerous. Ride-hailing may be a culprit since drivers are required to use their phones to connect with passengers.
Transit riders, on the other hand, don’t have to feel the least bit guilty about using technology. This is something transit agencies should embrace.
Photo by Sam Kittner for Mobility Lab.