Information Design for Public Transportation

This research project explores how effective information design can increase public transportation ridership by making transit systems more accessible and understandable for all users. Despite public transportation’s role in enhancing safety and promoting mobility equity, there are gaps in how information such as maps, schedules, and safety updates are communicated, leaving many potential riders unaware of available services. By analyzing how various information types affect users' travel choices, this study aims to create a strategic information dissemination framework that can improve public awareness and encourage a shift from private car use to public transit. Leveraging insights from information design, marketing, and game theory, the project will develop a choice experiment to assess the preferences of different transit information formats. This data will inform a model for optimizing information presentation to maximize ridership and support safety and equity goals. Ultimately, the project will provide public transit agencies with actionable strategies to design information in ways that encourage transit usage, potentially reducing traffic fatalities and making transportation more affordable for economically disadvantaged populations.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $206000
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348301

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  University of Massachusetts, Amherst

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  130 Natural Resources Road
  Amherst, MA  United States  01003
• Performing Organizations:

  University of Connecticut, Storrs

  Connecticut Transportation Institute
  270 Middle Turnpike, Unit 5202
  Storrs, CT  United States  06269-5202
• Principal Investigators:

  Lownes, Nicholas

  Day, Robert

• Start Date: 20240901
• Expected Completion Date: 20250831
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program
• Subprogram: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Information display systems; Information dissemination; Outreach; Passenger information systems; Public transit; Travel behavior
• Subject Areas: Design; Policy; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01935922
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: New England University Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348301
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Nov 5 2024 11:36AM