In-vehicle public transport infotainment should not be seen as a stand-alone system. For public transportation companies, in-vehicle infotainment is in most cases a part of a complete customer/passenger communication platform. The vehicle infotainment system works complementary with the station/platform information system, the website, sms information services… Often the real-time travel information broadcasted in the vehicles gets the real-time date from the same backbone system as the platform/station system, the website…
Secondly the vehicle display infotainment system is like many other subsystems (e.g. passengers counting system, audio public announcement system, camera security system, onboard computer…) often a part of the IT based vehicle infrastructure. The challenges for all IT based vehicle components is similar; remote monitoring and management. Most public transport operators prefer a single monitoring and management system that links with the various IT based vehicle systems. Therefore the public transport infotainment system should allow building interfaces with other IT-based vehicle systems and must be compatible with third party remote monitoring and management systems.
Dzine has supplied equipment for the infotainment platform on Jungfraubahn (Switzerland) – this line was built at a very high altitude. Passengers have access to the digital guide during the journey; the infotainment system provides information about the history of the line, as well as other visual info in up to eight languages.
Why do public transport operators invest in display infotainment systems in vehicles.
Cover passengers basic information needs
Many unmanageable aspects influence the time schedule of public transport. Today’s public transport users want to be informed accurately and if possible in real-time about delays, hick-ups, route changes, interconnection possibilities… Compared to day to day users, inexperienced or irregular public transport users face a lot of questions or uncertainties when using public transport. These types of users need detailed information about the route/line, timing, interconnection possibilities… The barriers for first time or inexperienced users must be as low as possible in order to convince them to use the public transport services.
Compared to simple LED banners or audio announcement systems, a TFT based infotainment solution allows presenting information (real-time as well as predefined) in a graphically attractive and easy to understand way. A display infotainment system allows presenting information in a similar way as other modern communication platforms (tv, internet…).
Dzine is the supplier of many transport companies in Germany. With the help of the infotainment system, passengers benefit from precise, up-to-date and dynamic information about the following station; they can also see the current position of the vehicle, the estimated time of arrival etc.
Enhance the travel experience
Public transport users are often waiting; waiting for the bus/train/metro, waiting to get of a vehicle at a certain location/stop. The broadcasting time on the TFT based infotainment system can be easily shared between travel related information items and more generic entertainment content (e.g. news, local news, sport news, weather forecast…). People are entertained during their trip making their trip more pleasant.
Kick back through advertising
When having installed a display network in vehicles and having at the same time captivated viewers (information & entertainment) revenues can be generated based on broadcasting of advertisement. The advertisement revenues mainly depend on the number of viewers that can be reached. However general indications show that advertisement revenues can cover most of the operational costs involved but are insufficient to cover investment cost for an infotainment system.
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