Overview and User Background
In Villach, Austria, public transportation plays a crucial role in maintaining the city’s quality of life, emphasizing both efficiency and reliability. Fabian Unterkofler, a transportation planner at Dr. Richard Linien GmbH & Co. KG, an Austrian-based operator and the largest private owner-operated bus company in the German-speaking region, is at the forefront of ensuring the seamless operation of the city’s bus services.
Fabian’s task: Make service information available to passengers in an accessible, informative, and easy-to-understand format.
Challenges: Inefficient legacy system with labor-intensive, manual processes complicating the workflow
Previously, the city of Villach’s bus billboards required only basic service information, including stops from point A to point B and departure times. However, these billboards lacked up-to-date information and detailed travel times, causing frustration to passengers.
Today, Villach has upgraded their bus service information standards, requiring billboards to include “pearl-string” route information in a consistent format, run times between stops, and QR codes that enable access to up to date information data. These changes aim to enhance the passenger experience by providing more detailed and reliable route and service change information. To meet these new demands, Fabian and his team had to shift from generating basic schedules to reliable and up-to-date information displays.
However, their existing legacy system lacked the efficiency and flexibility needed to support the transition. Error-prone, labor-intensive, and time-consuming manual processes made it difficult to keep information accurate and up to date. Additionally, managing this data required the use of two separate systems, complicating the workflow.
Optibus Billboards: Design, configure, and print passenger displays with just a few clicks
The team needed a solution that was fully integrated into their existing Optibus Planning and Scheduling system. Optibus Passenger Billboards met all of Villach’s requirements, providing an automated way to create and update billboards directly from the platform. This integration enabled quick, accurate, and consistent communication of route information, significantly improving operational efficiency and passenger satisfaction.
Optibus Billboards is a quick and easy-to-use design automation tool that simplifies the workflow of converting complex service data into modern, streamlined passenger information displays with just a few clicks. The product has enabled Fabian and his team to meet the new municipal requirements, as they can create service information designs with Optibus data using a uniform template.
Impact and Benefits
#1: Reduced Route Network Update Time by 75%
Today, with Optibus Billboards, it takes much less time to update timetables and print billboards for bus stops, regardless of the scope of work. For a complete overhaul of the route network, the process took approximately 1-2 hours and individual route updates could be accomplished in just 30 minutes.
#2: Streamlined Timetable Changes Implementation in Less than a Day
The process of implementing timetable changes and printing billboards has become significantly easier. From timeplan changes to schedule adaptations and billboard printing, the entire process can now be completed in less than a day, with billboard printing taking just 5-10 minutes.
#3: Supporting Villach’s Unique Requirements and Enhancing Communication with Passengers
Optibus Billboards fully supported Villach’s specific layout needs, including the addition of travel times for subsequent stations. The system also facilitated QR code placement on the bus signage. Communication about service changes to passengers enables them to access up-to-date bus information directly, enhancing the overall user experience while also meeting the city’s updated specifications.
#4: Visualizing Route and Travel Time Alternatives
Fabian’s team can now visually display all connecting lines and the travel times on all route variants in a clear, easy-to-understand format, making it simpler for passengers to explore and navigate their journey options.
Conclusion: Positive Community Impact and Enhanced Operational Efficiency
We’ve seen a positive response from the community with noticeable improvements in the accessibility and reliability of information at bus stops. The adoption of Optibus Billboards highlights how digital innovation is transforming public transportation. My work has become more streamlined, helping Dr. Richard achieve greater operational efficiency and improve passenger satisfaction. It’s a clear demonstration of the powerful benefits of integrating technology into urban transport systems.
Fabian Unterkofler, Transportation Planner, Dr. Richard
- Largest private owner-operated bus company in the German-speaking region
- Reduced the time to update the entire route network's billboards by 75%
- Updating and printing billboards now takes just 5-10 minutes from start to finish
- Launched QR codes, enabling passengers to access up-to-date bus schedules and service updates directly on their smartphones.
- Product: Optibus Billboards