Public transport passenger information systems

Outlines the work being undertaken in Birmingham within the QUARTET project to develop, implement and test a range of measures to improve traffic and transport efficiency using Advanced Transport Telematics (ATTT) technologies, with the intention of integrating such measures and technologies where appropriate. Public transport has an important role to play in the future transport strategies of major cities affected by the impact of traffic growth and congestion, yet in the UK in particular there has been little investment in the sorts of high-tech management and information systems which has occurred elsewhere in Europe which help make public transport a viable alternative to the car. Moreover, deregulation of buses in the UK in 1986 created a whole new set of problems for bus users particularly that of obtaining accurate and up to date timetables. This paper illustrates some of the problems and the work being done in the Quartet and BLUEPRINT projects in Birmingham to secure improvements. QUARTET is being carried out in the cities of Athens, Birmingham, Stuttgart and Turin, with each city concentrating on particular aspects of ATT development. Birmingham (through Centro) is taking the lead in the area of public transport management and information systems: the ATT project in Birmingham is known as BLUEPRINT.