Passenger Focus on ticket machine usability
Passenger Focus have launched an attack on rail station ticket machines saying that the lack of usability is meaning that people are rejecting them for all but regular journeys and consequently the queues at the ticket windows are increasing. They are calling for the machines to provide better information to help the passenger select the right ticket.
This is an issue we have been talking about on our blog for some time. High on our list, and that of Passenger Focus, is the lack of clear information on ticket restrictions so the passenger can't make an informed decision on which ticket type to buy.
Our work with Transport for London on bus ticket machines found that only a detailed observational study of how people actually used the machines gave the full picture and allowed improvements to be made.