User Journey with Intelligent Public Transportation System in Shanghai

Intelligent Public Transportation Systems (IPTS) are making contribution to better transport efficiency and energy user, as well as assisting travelers to have better experience while taking public transportation services. Existing literature paid more attention to the technical aspect around this topic, while left the user side not being examined thoroughly. The current study aimed to reconstruct user travel chains and to build a scenario-based user journey map for IPTS usage in the city of Shanghai. We approached this objective by conducting a combination of methods, including field observation, diary entries and in-depth interviews. Travelers’ behaviors, perceptions and needs were analyzed at each stage of the trip. Findings showed that IPTS are making it easier for people to travel with public transportation services, but meanwhile there are problems unsolved. Travelers want to have more control and certainty about their trips, but these needs cannot be guaranteed via travel assisting tools, especially when the trip is complicated with multiple transfers or even multiple means of transportation. Besides, people’s dependency on mobile trip planner and navigator seem to be high, which could lead to anxiety about not having enough mobile phone battery.