Journey Planner Analysis


Introduction
This component of the iMOVE 3-007 project “Managing transport system investment risk” is investigating Journey Planners that are available to consumers, their features and how they are used by the general public.
Journey Planners are software systems which allow people to see information that help them plan how they will get from point A to point B – it could be via walking, cycling, public transport, car or other methods. They are available on mobile phones, tablets, computers and other digital systems.
While traditionally thought of as only providing routing and navigational directions – such as “turn left in 200m” or “board the 999”, modern Journey Planners provide much more contextual information. With some state-of-the-art systems providing ‘live’ information on traffic conditions, bus crowding and arrival times, there is much more information available for people to be able to make the best choice for them as to how to get from point A to point B.
Some common examples of Journey Planners used throughout Perth are the Transperth App or the Transperth web-based Journey Planner, the TripGo or Transit Apps for public transport, Google Maps or Apple Maps, the Waze App for car travel and many more.
Current Status
As at July 2020
A draft report outlining the differences between Journey Planners available from the web, the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store has been produced for the Department of Transport, which also investigates surveying techniques for mobile application usage.
Currently, as part of this project, a telephone survey is being undertaken by the ECU Survey Research Centre to ascertain the public’s experiences with using Journey Planners throughout Perth, including within the context of COVID-19. The results of this survey will be analysed to determine areas of interest for future development of resources to support Journey Planners and to understand how they are used today.
As at November 2020
The final report has been finalised and submitted to the Department of Transport and iMOVE CRC, containing analysis and discussion of aggregated results from the survey. It will soon be available for the public to peruse.
As at June 2021
The final report is now available for viewing in the ‘Technical Reports‘ section of the PATREC website.
HREC Approval
This research has been approved by The University of Western Australia Human Research Ethics Committee with approval identifier RA/4/20/6284 and has reciprocal approval from the Curtin University Human Research Ethics Committee with approval identifier HRE2020-0338.
For more information on this project, please contact the Chief Investigator Sharon Biermann at sharon.biermann@uwa.edu.au or the Co-Investigator Tristan Reed at tristan.reed@curtin.edu.au or by phone on (0)8 6488 2767.