Interviews with a small sample of people about their public transportation habits.

Woman 28. Gothenburg, Sweden. Works in the IT sector.

Do you own a car

No

How often do you use public transportation

Once or twice a week

What app or website are you using today?

Google Maps.

Longer travel vs. more switches

Fewer switches.

Do you mind doing a bit of walking to get to a bus, subway or tram?

I would rather do a 40 minute walk than to do a 10 minute walk to a bus.

Do you prefer a certain mean of transportation?

I prefer to walk, but if it's too far, I'll take the tram.

Is arrival and departure time important for you? Do you have any examples?

If I go to my Yoga class, I want to be there by a certain time. Sometimes we go out for lunch. When we got back, I want to know when the next tram leaves.

Man 42. Eslöv, Sweden. Works in the IT sector.

Do you own a car

Yes

How often do you use public transportation

city traffic – once a quarter regional traffic – once every other month train to another city – once a quarter international traffic – once every other year

What app or website are you using today?

The websites for each provider, such as SJ, Skånetrafik, Swebus

Longer travel vs. more switches

Fewer switches

Do you mind doing a bit of walking to get to a bus, subway or tram?

It's ok for me to walk a bit.

Do you prefer a certain mean of transportation?

I prefer trains. Energy efficient and comfortable.

Is arrival and departure time important for you? Do you have any examples?

If I need to get to a meeting or if I need to get to work. If it's a longer journey to some place far away I need to make sure I'm there in a sane time of the day and no too late in the night. I also need to know if there is a long time between buses or trains in more rural areas, or if it's a bad place to wait at.

Any additional comments?

No

Man 30. Stockholm, Sweden. Student.

Do you own a car

Yes, two cars

How often do you use public transportation

Between 5-7 days a week. There and back.

What app or website are you using today?

Stockholm Traveling App

Longer travel vs. more switches

Depends on the situation. If I need to read up on something before university, I don't mind sitting for longer. If I don't then I'm happy to change a dozen times to get to my destination quicker.

Do you mind doing a bit of walking to get to a bus, subway or tram? Preferably not

Do you prefer a certain mean of transportation?

I like everything on tracks. Less messy, easy to get on and stops at every station without you having to hit the stop button. It happens a lot in Stockholm that people are slow and messy when they get on the bus, want to stop where there is no stop etc.

Is arrival and departure time important for you? Do you have any examples?

In the mornings I check the arrival times to make sure I get to my lectures at university in time. In the night it's less critical, so I just take whatever subway that comes.

Any additional comments?

Really like realtime info in the app. Useful if a bus is too late or too early.

Woman 26. Rio de Janeiro. Student.

Do you own a car

No

How often do you use public transportation

4 times a week.

What app or website are you using today?

The subway had a phone app called Metro Rio. I tried to use it, but it was really bad. It was not really reliable and had bad stuff like manual refresh. It had very basic info. Instead I just go to the subway close to where I live and get on the train that comes next.

Longer travel vs. more switches

Faster is better. Changing mean of transportation could result in a lot of waiting, since buses are not punctual due to traffic jams and the subway can be at least 5 minutes late.

Do you mind doing a bit of walking to get to a bus, subway or tram?

Data unknown.

Do you prefer a certain mean of transportation?

Subway. It's less affected by traffic jams, and there is a stop next to where I live.

Is arrival and departure time important for you? Do you have any examples?

For arrivals and departures, the app “Move it in Rio” doesn't have real-time info about the buses, so it's hard to estimate where the next bus is, and when it's coming. In Saõ Paulo you can see where the bus is currently.

Any additional comments

No

Woman 33. Gothenburg. Illustrator

Do you own a car

No

How often do you use public transportation

Depends on the season. Summer: every two weeks Winter: every day

What app or website are you using today? Gothenburg: the app from Västtrafik (ios app). Stockholm: Res i Stockholm (ios app) Tokyo: Jorudan (ios app) As well as Google Maps every once in a while.

Longer travel vs. more switches

If the difference is less than about 5 minutes between the two alternatives, I prefer fewer switches. This becomes even more important if it's a train that goes between cities where the waits can be longer. I also find it important to know if a tram will take a longer route (brings up tram number 6 in Gothenburg as an example)

Do you mind doing a bit of walking to get to a bus, subway or tram?

Data unknown

Do you prefer a certain mean of transportation?

I prefer traffic that moves on tracks over buses. Buses are warm and shakes a lot. I also have a tendency to get car sick.

Is arrival and departure time important for you? Do you have any examples?

If I have an appointment, arrival is most important. For the default state of an app, I find departure to be most natural.

Any additional comments

Tokyo has a system of several different companies with different ticket systems, so there is no monthly-nonstop card, but a payment card prefilled with money. The different companies have different fares. The ios app Joruban very clearly shows the ticket price for this reason. I also like that it shows a lot of different alternative routes and lists what it guesses is most relevant at the top.

Man 36. Alingsås, Sweden. Biologist

Do you own a car

I have access to a car via a car pool

How often do you use public transportation 2-3 times a week. Commuter train to Gothenburg and then trams and buses within Gothenburg.

What app or website are you using today? The Västtrafik smartphone widget. It shows the next 3 coming journeys to and from your set locations. It will also inform about traffic jams.

Longer travel vs. more switches My usual journey does not have any alternatives.

Do you mind doing a bit of walking to get to a bus, subway or tram?

Data unknown

Do you prefer a certain mean of transportation?

No.

Is arrival and departure time important for you? Do you have any examples?

My usual journey is very consistent. There is a commuter train every 30 minutes to Gothenburg. It is very important for me to get to a certain place in time.

Any additional comments If I'm gone to, say the city, I usually wants to get back the same way I came from. It's important to me that an application is forgiving about input. If I have a English keyboard and write "Alingsås" instead of "Alingsas", it should query for Alingsås in both cases. Also the case with "Linnéplatsen". Nobody ever writes the aphostrophe over the E. It is very important for me to know certain paylimits. If a ticket will become a lot more expensive at a certain point. Certain journeys around here you can only do with the top tier commuter card. It allows you to also ride on the regular trains without extra fees. If one is unaware of this fact, it can become very expensive. Mentions how Google is a lot more positive about margins for switching between different buses/trams/trains. Västtrafik is very negative and gives you a bit too much waiting time in between sometimes.

Summary