External communications

External Communications

Description / objective

Tactical planning of external communications relates primarily to the allocation of responsibilities between the relevant institutions, and then the development of customer service strategies and communication with stakeholders. This will include corporate image and marketing, product and launch promotion, passenger information media, and journey planning services.

ITS applications

The principal ITS applications in this domain relate to real-time information for travelers, and dynamic journey planners. In turn, these will rely on vehicle location and a variety of information retrieval and travel information display technologies. Information can be provided at home before the journey, at stops and terminals prior to boarding, and on vehicles during the trip.

Advantages and cautions

Information about the actual travel service on the day, rather than the theoretical service offer, is of greatest use in areas of low frequency of provision. However this may make the provision of fixed infrastructure for the purpose uneconomic, and SMS automated enquiry services may be preferable.