NweRIDE Pilot 2 Ridesharing connected to public transport

Transcription

1 NweRIDE Pilot 2 Ridesharing connected to public transport 1

2 Contents Contents... 2 The NweRIDE project... 3 Pilot 2 description... 4 Test users... 5 Test user tasks... 5 Test user experience... 5 Conclusion

3 The NweRIDE project NweRIDE s aim is to improve the connectivity of the partner regions by reducing the number of cars on the road through empowerment of dynamic ridesharing systems to work together transregionally and connect to public transport. This will lead to higher car occupancy, a mobility shift towards public transport, and congestion relief. The NweRIDE project is a collaboration between the following partners. Cetic, Charleroi, Belgium Sellmark Electronic & Consumer Services BV, Maastricht, The Netherlands Sestran, Edinburgh, United Kingdom Staffordshire County Council, Stafford, United Kingdom Stellwerk bv, Heerlen, The Netherlands Taxistop, Gent, Belgium Vlaams Instituut voor Mobiliteit, Diepenbeek, Belgium - For more information please visit the project website 3

4 Pilot 2 description Pilot 2 has been organized in May and June 2015, we have asked test users to evaluate applications that have been created by the technical partners of the NweRIDE project. More specifically, we asked the test users to evaluate the following applications and functionalities. Taxistop/ Eurostop ridesharing application CoCar ridesharing application Tripper ridesharing application Public Transport information Focus of Pilot 2 is on cross border travelling, in combination with Public Transport, in the region around Maastricht, Limburg, The Netherlands. 4

5 Test users A total of 101 test users have participated in the pilot, under supervision of three NweRIDE partners: - Vlaams Instituut voor Mobiliteit; host for 18 test users - Taxistop; host for 49 test users - Sellmark Electronic & Consumer Services B.V.; host for 34 test users Test user tasks The partners have organized information sessions where the test users have received instructions on what was expected of them. Test users where asked to test the Taxistop, CoCar and Tripper applications and to give feedback about their experience, both verbally and in two surveys. Manuals of all the applications that needed to be tested where provided to all test users and a dedicated contact person was appointed to every test user. Test user experience Test users were in general very enthusiastic about the applications. Incidental errors have been reported and fixed by the technical partner in charge. The most common problem users encountered was getting slow results of the various platforms, most commonly in combination with longer trips. Almost all test users indicated that they would prefer further integration of the various platforms. At this moment users need to manually search for NweRIDE results on the ridesharing websites, and test users indicated that it would be easier if this search would be performed automatically. 5

6 Conclusion Pilot 2 offered a good proof of concept. The tested applications did what they promised, but could be more streamlined, and faster. In order to continue the services created during the NweRIDE project, the platform should be faster and the applications should be even better integrated. The suggestions given by all the test users will be used by the NweRIDE partners to further enhance their applications and the platform. 6