QUT Creative Industries Early Career Researcher’s Grant
2008 – 2009

Abstract
This study aims to research ways to significantly reduce the waiting time at bus stops of commuters using public transport. The design research will trial a tool that tells them where exactly their bus is currently physically located before they make their way to the bus stop. This tool is based on a Google Maps web application that displays the real-time location information of a particular bus – in our case, the QUT shuttle bus service 391. A mobile phone application using the phone’s built-in GPS and 3G network will be installed on the bus to continuously upload its location.

The outcome is a working prototype for the 391 shuttle bus service that includes the mobile application for the bus and the Google Maps web application. This will serve as a demonstrator and proof of concept for the Brisbane TransLink Transit Authority, for which such an application would be extremely valuable considering the low-density of Brisbane’s bus network. Furthermore, future research could utilise the deployed infrastructure to also log who (demographic characteristics) is using which bus (bus number, time, frequency), e.g., by turning a bus into a Cityware node (www.cityware.org.uk).

Team

• Assoc. Prof. Marcus Foth
• Ronald Schroeter (PhD Candidate)
• Sean Mailander (Honours Student)

Publications

Brereton, M., Roe, P., Foth, M., Bunker J. M., & Buys, L. (2009, Nov 23-27). Designing Participation in Agile Ridesharing with Mobile Social Software. In J. Kjeldskov, J. Paay & S. Viller (Eds.), Proceedings OZCHI 2009 (pp. 257-260). Melbourne, VIC: The University of Melbourne. (eprints >)