Intermodal Journey Planner
Encyclopedia
An Intermodal Journey Planner (IJP), or Trip Planner is computer system which can provide a traveller with an itinerary for an intermodal passenger transport
journey. The system can provide timetable, routing and other travel information. A single journey may use a sequence of several modes of transport, meaning that the system must know about public transport
services (bus, train, aeroplane, tram
, metro
) and about transportation networks (roads, footpaths, cycle routes) for private transportation (automobile
, walking
, bicycle
).
engine with public transport timetable and road routing information and knowledge of the stops and interchanges
: it may also be able to supply maps. An IJP will also have one or more user interfacess optimised for different purposes, for example, for online self-service use with a Web browser
, for call centre
agents, for use on mobile devices, or special interfaces for visually impaired users. An IJP will provide specific journey plans made up of one or more journey legs. It may also support other representations such as, full timetables, stop departures boards, etc.
Fully featured IJPs are capable of incorporating real-time
information along with the planned timetable, for example to provide live departures from a particular stop, to include incident information about situations that may affect a journey, or to compute journeys that take into account predicted delays, allowing the user to perform journey repair to recover from a disruption to normal services. IJPs may also cover road-real time data and may be considered part of an Intelligent Transportation Systems.
An intermodal journey planner (IJP) calculates the best overall journeys between origin and destination for the user's preferred modes.
Most engines are not capable of multimodal fare optimisations (e.g. cheapest, or most flexible) but may be able to advise fares for a single mode.
, kiss and ride, etc.). Typical optimisations for car routing are shortest route, fastest route, cheapest route and with constraints for specific waypoints.
Some advanced IJPs can take into account average journey times on road sections, or even real-time predicted average journey times on road sections.
which may be used by different front-end applications which manage interaction with the user). Interaction will be optimised for different types of user and device, for example:
In order to develop data sets that can be integrated economically and robustly, data standards and conceptual models, such as Transmodel
are used.
into their computations. This may be of two main types
(AVL) Systems know the actual position of their vehicles compared to the timetable and can pass on the real-time and forecast information to the IJP system. The IJP engine incorporates this up-to-date information into its database and considers it in all requests. Based on this information IJP is able to indicate the punctuality or delays for each mode of transport in a departure monitor. An IJP will use a real time interface such as Service Interface for Real Time Information
to obtain this data.
Real time Road Information may come from systems such as UTMC
, TPEG
or DATEX2
to obtain Situation information.
Incidents are captured through an Incident Capturing System (ICS) by different operators and stakeholders, for example in Transport Operator Control Rooms, by broadcasters or by the emergency services. Text and image information can be combined with the trip result. Recent incidents can be considered within the routing as well as visualized in an interactive map.
Intermodal passenger transport
Intermodal passenger transport involves more than one mode of transport of passengers. Some modes of transportation have always been intermodal; for example, most major airports have extensive facilities for automobile parking and have good rail or bus connections to the cities nearby. Urban bus...
journey. The system can provide timetable, routing and other travel information. A single journey may use a sequence of several modes of transport, meaning that the system must know about public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
services (bus, train, aeroplane, tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
, metro
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
) and about transportation networks (roads, footpaths, cycle routes) for private transportation (automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
, walking
Walking
Walking is one of the main gaits of locomotion among legged animals, and is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults over the stiff limb or limbs with each step...
, bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
).
Basic features
Fundamental to an IJP is a journey plannerJourney Planner
A journey planner is a specialised electronic search engine used to find the best journey between two points by some means of transport. Journey planners have been widely used in the travel industry since the 1970s by booking agents accessed through a user interface on a computer terminal, and to...
engine with public transport timetable and road routing information and knowledge of the stops and interchanges
Transportation hub
A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include train stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stop, airports and ferry slips. Freight hubs include classification yards, seaports and truck...
: it may also be able to supply maps. An IJP will also have one or more user interfacess optimised for different purposes, for example, for online self-service use with a Web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
, for call centre
Call centre
A call centre or call center is a centralised office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone. A call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers. Outgoing calls for telemarketing,...
agents, for use on mobile devices, or special interfaces for visually impaired users. An IJP will provide specific journey plans made up of one or more journey legs. It may also support other representations such as, full timetables, stop departures boards, etc.
Fully featured IJPs are capable of incorporating real-time
Real-time data
Real-time data denotes information that is delivered immediately after collection. There is no delay in the timeliness of the information provided. Real-time data is often used for navigation or tracking....
information along with the planned timetable, for example to provide live departures from a particular stop, to include incident information about situations that may affect a journey, or to compute journeys that take into account predicted delays, allowing the user to perform journey repair to recover from a disruption to normal services. IJPs may also cover road-real time data and may be considered part of an Intelligent Transportation Systems.
An intermodal journey planner (IJP) calculates the best overall journeys between origin and destination for the user's preferred modes.
Public transport routing
For public transport routing, the engine will consider journeys that combine different public transport modes, constrained by times of arrival or departure. It may support different optimisations - for example, fastest, least changes, with constraints to go via or to avoid specific way points.Most engines are not capable of multimodal fare optimisations (e.g. cheapest, or most flexible) but may be able to advise fares for a single mode.
Car routing
The planning of road legs is usually done by a separate subsystem within an IJP, but may consider both single mode trip calculations (e.g. with private traffic and/or public transport) as well as intermodal scenarios (e.g. Park and RidePark and ride
Park and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...
, kiss and ride, etc.). Typical optimisations for car routing are shortest route, fastest route, cheapest route and with constraints for specific waypoints.
Some advanced IJPs can take into account average journey times on road sections, or even real-time predicted average journey times on road sections.
Pedestrian routing
An IJP will be able to provide detailed path routing for pedestrian access to stops, stations, points of interest etc. This will include options to take into account accessibility requirements for different types of user, for example; 'no steps', 'wheelchair access', 'no lifts', etcBicycle routing
Some IJP systems can calculate bicycle routes, integrating the off-road path network as well as the road network. Advanced systems allow the user to specify preferences for quiet or safe roads and may also support contour optimisation to minimise the effort needed to overcome vertical differences.User interfaces
An IJP will typically comprise one or more back-ends (exposed as web servicesWeb service
A Web service is a method of communication between two electronic devices over the web.The W3C defines a "Web service" as "a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network". It has an interface described in a machine-processable format...
which may be used by different front-end applications which manage interaction with the user). Interaction will be optimised for different types of user and device, for example:
Interactive channels
- Online Web BrowserWeb browserA web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
- Online browser for the Visually Impaired
- Online mobile Wireless Application ProtocolWireless Application ProtocolWireless Application Protocol is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network.A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that uses the protocol.Before the introduction of WAP, mobile service providers had limited opportunities to offer...
Browser - SMSSMSSMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...
query/response system. - Smart Client on a Personal ComputerPersonal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
with a LAN or WAN connection - Smart Client on a mobile device with an internet connection
- [Interactive voice] Engine voice recognition and synthesized voice:
Printed output
IJP may also provide multiple printed output, for example:- Personal journey plans
- Specific Stop Timetables
- Timetable pages
- Route Option Maps
- Local Area Maps
Public transport data
An IJP integrates a number of different types of data about the planned services for the Public Transport system, including:- Information to identify and navigate stop, stations and other transport interchanges.
- Information about origins and destinations that users may want to travel to and their relation to stops and stations, for example Points of Interest and their access points, Towns and cities.
- Information about the TopographyTopographyTopography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
of a country and its relation to transport systems. - Information about the Network topologyNetwork topologyNetwork topology is the layout pattern of interconnections of the various elements of a computer or biological network....
and the routes and lines. - Schedules for different modes of transportMode of transportMode of transport is a term used to distinguish substantially different ways to perform transport. The most dominant modes of transport are aviation, land transport, which includes rail, road and off-road transport, and ship transport...
- Schematic maps of Transport interchanges.
- Schematic maps of the Transport networkTransport networkA transport network, or transportation network in American English, is typically a network of roads, streets, pipes, aqueducts, power lines, or nearly any structure which permits either vehicular movement or flow of some commodity....
. - Maps of the country and of the area around stops.
- Information about facilities at stops and stations.
- Information about fares, Tariff zones and fare products.
- Information about the Carbon footprintCarbon footprintA carbon footprint has historically been defined as "the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person.". However, calculating a carbon footprint which conforms to this definition is often impracticable due to the large amount of data required, which is...
costs of usage of different modes.
In order to develop data sets that can be integrated economically and robustly, data standards and conceptual models, such as Transmodel
Transmodel
Transmodel is the CEN European Reference Data Model for Public Transport Information; it provides an abstract model of common public transport concepts and data structures that can be used to build many different kinds of public transport information system, including for timetabling, fares,...
are used.
Private transport data
An IJP also integrates a number of different types of data about the transport networks available for use by private vehicle and pedestrian access,- Road transport Network topologyNetwork topologyNetwork topology is the layout pattern of interconnections of the various elements of a computer or biological network....
. - Foot path and Cycle path network topology, with Accessibility information.
- Bridleway & Cycle path Network topologyNetwork topologyNetwork topology is the layout pattern of interconnections of the various elements of a computer or biological network....
.. - Topographical maps.
- Contour profile data.
- Information about facilities for the motorist.
- Information speed restrictions.
- Information about road works and disruptions.
- Information about average journey times
- Information about fuel usage.
- Information about the Carbon footprintCarbon footprintA carbon footprint has historically been defined as "the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person.". However, calculating a carbon footprint which conforms to this definition is often impracticable due to the large amount of data required, which is...
of usage of different vehicle types
Real-time data
Advanced IJP engines are capable of integrating Real-time InformationReal-time computing
In computer science, real-time computing , or reactive computing, is the study of hardware and software systems that are subject to a "real-time constraint"— e.g. operational deadlines from event to system response. Real-time programs must guarantee response within strict time constraints...
into their computations. This may be of two main types
Real-time prediction information
Automatic Vehicle LocationAutomatic vehicle location
Automatic vehicle location is a means for automatically determining the geographic location of a vehicle and transmitting the information to a requester....
(AVL) Systems know the actual position of their vehicles compared to the timetable and can pass on the real-time and forecast information to the IJP system. The IJP engine incorporates this up-to-date information into its database and considers it in all requests. Based on this information IJP is able to indicate the punctuality or delays for each mode of transport in a departure monitor. An IJP will use a real time interface such as Service Interface for Real Time Information
Service Interface for Real Time Information
The Service Interface for Real Time Information or SIRI is an XML protocol to allow distributed computers to exchange real time information about public transport services and vehicles....
to obtain this data.
Real time Road Information may come from systems such as UTMC
Urban Traffic Management and Control
The Urban Traffic Management Control or UTMC programme is the main initiative of the UK Department for Transport for the development of a more open approach to Intelligent Transport Systems or ITS in urban areas....
Situation information
A Situation is a software representation of an Incident (for example security alert, cancellation or bad weather) or Event that is affecting or is likely to affect the transport network. An IJP can integrate Situation information and use it both to revise its journey planning computations and to annotate its responses so as to inform users through both text and map representations. An IJP will typically use a standard interface such as SIRIService Interface for Real Time Information
The Service Interface for Real Time Information or SIRI is an XML protocol to allow distributed computers to exchange real time information about public transport services and vehicles....
, TPEG
TPEG
The Transport Protocol Experts Group or TPEG, for short was founded in 1997 by the European Broadcasting Union. It is a group of experts led by the EBU coming from all areas of the Traffic and Travel Information businesses, as well as broadcasting. The group developed the TPEG specifications for...
or DATEX2
Datex2
Datex2 is a standard developed for information exchange between traffic management centres developed in line with the ITS Action Plan.-External links:*...
to obtain Situation information.
Incidents are captured through an Incident Capturing System (ICS) by different operators and stakeholders, for example in Transport Operator Control Rooms, by broadcasters or by the emergency services. Text and image information can be combined with the trip result. Recent incidents can be considered within the routing as well as visualized in an interactive map.
See also
- Journey PlannerJourney PlannerA journey planner is a specialised electronic search engine used to find the best journey between two points by some means of transport. Journey planners have been widely used in the travel industry since the 1970s by booking agents accessed through a user interface on a computer terminal, and to...
- Public transport route plannerPublic transport route plannerA public transport route planner is a type of journey planner designed to provide information about available public transport journeys, nowadays often made available as a Web application...
- TransmodelTransmodelTransmodel is the CEN European Reference Data Model for Public Transport Information; it provides an abstract model of common public transport concepts and data structures that can be used to build many different kinds of public transport information system, including for timetabling, fares,...
- TPEGTPEGThe Transport Protocol Experts Group or TPEG, for short was founded in 1997 by the European Broadcasting Union. It is a group of experts led by the EBU coming from all areas of the Traffic and Travel Information businesses, as well as broadcasting. The group developed the TPEG specifications for...
- Service Interface for Real Time InformationService Interface for Real Time InformationThe Service Interface for Real Time Information or SIRI is an XML protocol to allow distributed computers to exchange real time information about public transport services and vehicles....
- Transport Direct PortalTransport Direct PortalThe Transport Direct Portal is a distributed Internet-based multi-modal journey planner providing information for travel in England, Wales and Scotland. It is managed by Transport Direct, a division of the Department for Transport...
- Intelligent Transport Systems
- Modes of transport
Examples of IJP systems
Large scale Examples of IJP systems include- JourneyOn - IJP comparing rail, buses, driving, walking and cycling developed by Steer Davies Gleave
- Deutsche BahnDeutsche BahnDeutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
- using the IJP of Hacon - A-Train for Atlanta, GA - using Open Source called Five Points
- Transport for LondonTransport for LondonTransport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
- using the IJP by Mentz Datenverarbeitung GmbH - Traveline and Transport Direct - using the IJP's of Trapeze Group, Jeppesen, JourneyPlan and Mentz Datenverarbeitung
- Journey.fi http://journey.fi is an IJP for planning trips across Finland - using IPJ by Logica
- Helsinki Metropolitan Area CouncilHelsinki Metropolitan Area CouncilThe Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council was a co-operation agency operating in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, now replaced by HSL and HSY. The organisation had a few responsibilities, most notably regional public transport and waste management. It was subordinated to the city councils of the four...
maintains an IJP for planning trips around the Finnish capital and surrounding areas http://reittiopas.fi/en - using IPJ by Logica - OV9292 for the Netherlands http://www.9292ov.nl/
- ResRobot covering the whole Sweden http://www.resrobot.se
- reseplanerare.trafiken.nu http://reseplanerare.trafiken.nu/bin/query.exe/en? in Stockholm compares public transport, car, bike, walk and combinations in one search.
- Zoombu http://www.zoombu.co.uk finds and compares door-to-door routes from the UK to Europe via plane, train, car, coach, ferry. Currently in Beta.
- Networked Traveler (Path2go) http://www.networkedtraveler.org, a real-time multimodal traveler information system, supporting driving, driving-to-transit, transit and bicycling for the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States. Developed by the University of California at Berkeley.
- Regional wide IJP: Tuscany Region IJP http://muoversintoscana.regione.toscana.it/, and Marche Region IJP http://orari.trasporti.marche.it/ are examples of integrated multimodal and multi-operator IJP
- National wide long distance JP: http://www.giralitalia.com is an example of JP / booking platform to travel long distances across Italy and Europe.