Bus passengers in the HSL area are offered information about how full the bus arriving at the stop is using the application. The data can be used, for example, in choosing an alternative vehicle.
In the future, HSL’s route guide will provide information about bus congestion. Anu Kivistö / Joel Maisalmi
The route guide for the transport of the Helsinki region and the HSL application start to tell in real time how many passengers are on the bus.
HSL states in its announcementthat in the initial phase data is available for about 400 of the newest buses, but the number will increase gradually.
If the experiences are good, the technology may also be used in other means of transport.
A passenger using “Tungostieto” can, for example, jump on a bus traveling a slightly different route, if he does not want to squeeze into a full bus, or, for example, check the congestion situation of the buses on his line and choose a less crowded route.
A four-point scale
HSL says that it measures the number of passengers with door-mounted counters or light sensors. In the route guide, the level of bus congestion is described on a four-step scale:
- Not crowded
- Not too crowded
- Almost full
- Very crowded
The feature does not need to be activated separately.
– Since the information is based on real-time, it appears in the route suggestions about 10 minutes before the bus arrives at the stop. In this way, the information corresponds as accurately as possible to how many passengers are on the bus, HSL says in its announcement.
Source: HSL