Overview
An attempt to integrate Journey Planning engines to form a unified intermodal planner for international journeys, has been performed by the WISETRIP FP7 project. WISETRIP has addressed important needs of the international traveller including the provision of personalized information before and during the trip, under different usage scenarios.
An attempt to integrate journey planning engines to form a unified intermodal planner for international journeys has been performed by the WISETRIP4 FP7 research project. WISETRIP has addressed important needs of the international traveller including the provision of personalised information before and during the trip, under different usage scenarios. To this end, the project developed and validated an innovative service platform that provides and personalises multi-modal travel information sourced from connected variant journey planners and is accessible by travellers through various mobile or fixed devices before and during the journey. The main demonstrator of the project results is the WISETRIP web interface, currently available under http://www.wisetrip.travel,able to get requests and provide multimodal trip answers, for a limited number of international and national routes (Greece, Finland, United Kingdom, Italy and China).
The ENHANCED WISETRIP project built on the objectives and on the knowledge developed in the first WISETRIP project to bring new possibilities for planning, booking and travelling multimodal journeys adapted to all user needs, multiple trip criteria, environmental impact and personal preferences. To manage unexpected scenarios, the project planned to realize integration of real-time and non-real-time data sources based upon efficient communications and decision management mechanism that would be considered for traveller alerting and trip redesign. It also aimed to advance the state-of-the-art towards efficient and green planning of multimodal international trips, through its unique mixture of features, which were the:
(a) inclusion of a wide grid of criteria that form the basis of variant trip strategies and govern selection process either at planning or at trip redesign phase. Criteria include CO2 footprint, elderly and disabled preferences, typical factors (time, cost, hops) and various user-specific options;
(b) acknowledging user requirements by genuinely addressing door-to-door journey planning; considering real-time event data and information on extraordinary conditions (strikes, disasters, extreme weather); and offering the possibility of integrated ticketing;
(c) use of the most advanced mobile interfaces;
(d) expansion of the geographical coverage and of the number of transport modes supported by the existing open platform for the interconnection of journey planners; including
The ENHANCED WISETRIP project had a duration of 30 months. The strategy of the project implementation was mainly based upon augmenting and strengthening the content and functionality of the existing network of cooperating journey planners and their core functional engine, namely the WISETRIP platform. Therefore, the project's technical approach included the determination and implementation of an expansion plan which would deliver add-on modules and algorithmic adaptations on the WISETRIP platform, so that to fulfil the envisaged enhancements. The work plan involved: gap analysis, integration of additional transport modes and journey planners, algorithmic design and implementation, advancing of interface, and finally demonstration, validation, assessment, dissemination and exploitation.
WP2: Gap analysis and design approach
The workplan's initial aim was to record the various gaps as far as concerns the operating behaviour, performance and functional completeness of WISETRIP. Based on these findings a clear decision ('go / no-go') was taken on the lines of design and development including the ways:
(a) to calculate and adopt the CO2 footprint parameter within the trip decision making process;
(b) integrate real-time data within the multi-criteria routing algorithms; and
(c) to decide which the trip strategies will be in terms of additional user parameters and how they will be visualised to the user at the query definition process.
WP3: Integrating different transport systems into the core network of journey planners
Aimed to partly fill the gap of the international route content through the integration of international transport systems into the existing network of journey planners and distribution systems. Moreover, integrating journey planners with cycle, private car route information in the system would provide the option to combine cycle or car with public transport modes, thus, enhancing the trip alternatives offered. The core planning algorithm of WISETRIP and data framework was to be improved to accommodate additional modes.
WP4: Itinerary planning algorithmic and data management advancements
This part of the work worked with the design and implementation of additional functions and adjusting them to the existing grid of WISETRIP functions. Therefore, the real-time decision mechanism of WISETRIP was adapted accordingly and new multi-criteria algorithms for static and dynamic itinerary planning was implemented. The
Funding
Results
The following are included within the first 18 months of the project, as far as concerns the complete work, achievements and reached objectives:
- Gap analysis and design approach (WP2)
The identification of the ENHANCED WISETRIP user requirements took into consideration:
(a) The results of the evaluation of the initial WISETRIP project where issues relating to the needs of business travellers, elderly and or disabled people, tourists and eco travellers were highlighted.
(b) A literature review made to provide an overview of the major needs of the above mentioned key user groups considering also the requirements for integrated ticketing.
(c) A comprehensive review made, of 48 existing journey planning systems, to establish whether any of the gaps highlighted by WISETRIP had been covered by other systems and could be re-used to provide us with enriched data.
Analysis was performed identifying the main gap categories: elderly and or disabled people needs, integrated ticketing functionality, CO2 criteria considerations, trip strategies, real-time data effects, social media usage. Comprehensive table has been produced, summarising and prioritising the gaps and highlighting functions to be completed by the project.
Revealing the trip strategies was a major task of the design phase. Though a trip strategy is meant to be generic, as it describes all travel components, it should be able to address the travellers' needs following their specific requirements, when each component is detailed. This is imperative for ENHANCED WISETRIP to be used by travellers. To this end, a 'techno-experiential design assessment' (TEDA) comprising user interviews and a stated preference survey has been designed and implemented, aiming to identify rules and constraints for the trip strategy. The trip strategy modelling considers personalised choice criteria and representative travel situations based on forecasts or user defined possibilities of events. Five group interviews, including trials on user experience with potential scenarios and alternative presentations of travel information, were conducted. Following these interviews, an online stated preference survey was designed and carried out for three distance classes for international travellers. The outcomes of the interviews and surveys were used to decide which features of the trip strategies will and will not be implemented. This task has resulted in practical results that are considered critical in achieving an enhanced
Technical Implications
NHANCED WISETRIP can reduce unnecessary trip delays and provide qualitative information anywhere and anytime, allowing efficient trip planning and redesign. It promotes eco-friendly travelling and enables efficient time management for travellers even when conditions are badly affected by disruptions. It also offers the platform upon which integrated trip processes can be built upon, including planning, alerting, assistance and ticketing.
Strategy targets
Innovating for the future: technology and behaviour
- Promoting more sustainable development