Social interactions around public transportation

Abstract

In this work, we explore how information services can be used to improve the travel experience in public transportation and reduce the perceived travel time. More specifically, we describe the creation of a mobile application for assisting passengers, which explores the integration of social networking features into the traveling experience. The overall objective is to understand how social networking concepts can become part of the travel experience and enrich that experience in a way that allows passengers to reduce the "psychological travel time" and to change the perception of waiting. We have conducted a focus group with 10 participants to elicit new forms of interaction within the transportation system and uncover new directions for integrating social network concepts. We have implemented some of them in our own mobile app for public transportation and shown how they can be combined with the more informative side of those applications.