Understanding the customer experience of urban travel

The world is changing at a rapid pace. We all know that. Even with all the data that tells us we’re living in a mobile world, car ownership is declining, or that city populations are rapidly increasing, it’s difficult to take those facts and convert them into actionable steps.

We know the solution is to be data-driven and constantly adapt to a smarter and more connected world. But here’s the thing: Government and transportation agencies shouldn’t have to figure it out all on their own. Public and private sectors must come together to embrace change and make a difference in the communities we serve.

It starts by listening to people: The riders, the commuters, the citizens who identify their current mobility needs and what should be modernized to make a difference in their lives. To do that, we recently worked with Ipsos, one of the largest market research companies in the world, and commissioned a global transportation survey that interviewed people in 23 cities spanning North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. The purpose of our upcoming report is to identify global trends:

• What do citizens see happening within the next 10 years?
• Do they envision their transit activity increasing or decreasing?
• What would help change their behavior so that they are riding public transit more often?

Insights from such a study will help us identify the proverbial trees and understand the forest of our public transit challenges. In a nutshell, key areas that can significantly improve the constituent experience. If commuters say that their main reason for not using public transit is because their train or bus is always late, then we need to work with transit agencies on data integration and analytics to improve real-time options. If people are getting accustomed to smartphones for purchases on the go, then the solution could be mobile ticketing instead of waiting in line to purchase a ticket, and then stand in yet another line to get on the bus. And what if they tell us that they’d like to have one app for all their transportation needs? Or be able to use a self-driving car?

Albert Einstein once said: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

All commuter challenges won’t be solved with existing solutions. As our world evolves so does our need to rethink our transportation systems and come up with new, innovative solutions. That’s why it’s important to create tomorrow’s future today by simply listening to people who live and travel around cities, and then innovate upon what we’ve learned. Trying new things and testing different ideas are critical to the modernization of our communities. The results from the survey will also work its way back to our R&D centers, so that our researchers can digest the information and create or partner on new solutions that will get ahead of commuter desires.

We know we can make a difference in the lives of those we touch by helping agencies understand global transportation trends, and how our technology helps them adapt to commuter needs. Connecting the current situation to a vision of the future, and a path to make it all possible, is how we’re pushing the boundaries to a less-congested world. It starts by putting people at the center of everything we do.

The global transportation report, “The Customer Experience of Urban Travel” will be released at the end of March. Please register to receive the full report here.

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