A Framework for How to Make Use of an Automatic Passenger Counting System

Abstract: Most of the modern cities are today facing tremendous traffic congestions, which is a consequence of an increasing usage of private motor vehicles in the cities. Public transport plays a crucial role to reduce this traffic, but to be an attractive alternative to the use of private motor vehicles the public transport needs to provide services that suit the citizens requirements for travelling. A system that can provide transit agencies with rapid feedback about the usage of their transport network is the Automatic Passenger Counting (APC) system, a system that registers the number of passengers boarding and alighting a vehicle. Knowledge about the passengers travel behaviour can be used by transit agencies to adapt and improve their services to satisfy the requirements, but to achieve this knowledge transit agencies needs to know how to use an APC system. This thesis investigates how a transit agency can make use of an APC system. The research has taken place in Melbourne where Yarra Trams, operator of the tram network, now are putting effort in how to utilise the APC system. A theoretical framework based on theories about Knowledge Discovery from Data, System Development, and Human Computer Interaction, is built, tested, and evaluated in a case study at Yarra Trams. The case study resulted in a software system that can process and model Yarra Tram's APC data. The result of the research is a proposal of a framework consistingof different steps and events that can be used as a guide for a transit agency that wants to make use of an APC system.