Passenger communications have undergone a revolution in the last decade, with more channels allowing passengers and the metro to pass information to one another, and amongst themselves as illustrated in the figure below. A CoMET 2013 case study explored the rapidly changing face of metro-passenger communications, and highlighted how technological developments are altering the nature of the relationship between metros and their passengers.
The study identified successful methods for delivering non-travel information, increasing passenger engagement and identifying opportunities for the future. Selected good practices were identified based on the best examples within CoMET of:
- influencing passenger behaviour (including the use of the British Government’s MINDSPACE principles)
- creating website journey planners and
- responding to comments and questions on social media.
The work demonstrated how best practice metros are taking advantage of burgeoning opportunities to open up their operations and organisations, communicating with passengers more widely and building better relationships than ever before.