REAL-TIME PASSENGER INFORMATION About RTIG


RTIG is an association of local authorities, public transport operators and systems/service providers based in the UK. Its aim is to facilitate better public transport operations and a better passenger experience, through the use of technology systems. It does this through developing national specifications and good-practice guidance, and through topic-focussed community events. While RTIG is a UK-based organisation, it is not just for UK


stakeholders. Members are drawn from across the world, not just in mainland Europe but as far afield as South Africa and Australia. It is RTIG’s ambition to reflect as wide a range of interests as


possible, and it is always open to new members. If you are interested in becoming a member of RTIG then please visit our website at www.rtig.org.uk or email us at secretariat@rtig.org.uk.


New directions In the meantime the world moves on. When RTPI was first being delivered it was all about LED signage at stops and stations. Web- based delivery wasn’t even conceived of. Passengers might use their mobile phones to call a call centre, but no more. In today’s planning we are well into the third generation of RTPI


solutions. Across the country both transport operators and public authorities are thinking about things that simply wouldn’t have been possible at the time today’s systems were being designed. How can


» In today’s planning we are well into the third generation of RTPI solutions «


we get RTPI into journey planners? How can we integrate it to new ticketing regimes – smart tickets, yield management etc? How do we work with businesses, event managers and leisure services? The policy environment hasn’t stopped changing, either. The UK


public sector now operates on a presumption of making its data freely available to third-party developers and service suppliers, unless there is good reason to the contrary. This raises some new challenges in partnerships with public transport operators, who are mostly private sector and don’t see the same obligation to make their company data public. The bottom line is that collective working towards common


standards is still key and we need to keep working hard towards this goal. The easier we can make it to create, share and publish information, the better the services passengers will receive. And we should never forget that, however much competition exists within the industry, what we are really competing against is the private car.


Neil Scales is Chair of the Real Time Information Group (RTIG) and Chief Executive and Director General of Merseytravel. He has responsibility for the successful delivery of transport policies across Merseyside, including the Local Transport Plan, across bus, rail, ferry and tunnel services, as well as the supporting infrastructure.


Before joining Merseytravel, Neil was an independent transport and engineering consultant, carrying out work for the World Bank on various projects across Europe.


Neil has long been deeply involved in coordination groups in the UK and Europe, including the Commission for Integrated Transport, ACT-Travelwise, ITSO, PTEG, the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership and the European Platform on Mobility Management.


www.eurotransportmagazine.com


Eurotransport Volume 9, Issue 3, 2011


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15