Accessible Ticket Machines
Transport for London
background
Historically, the passenger could purchase a ticket on the bus. This had the problem of lengthening the boarding time, reducing the speed and efficiency of the bus service and increasing journey times. To address this London Buses wanted to move to a strategy of a cashless bus system. Part of this strategy was the provision of ticket machines at bus stops to allow passengers to purchase their ticket before boarding. Early trials of the ticket machines had identified low take-up by passengers.
project
We were commissioned to look at passenger behaviour in using the ticket machines. In particular, looking at issues around transaction times and why passengers resisted using the machines. The aim of the project was to identify design solutions to help increase passenger use of the ticket machines and improve the usability of them.
implementation
Our team spent many hours observing passengers using the ticket machines and interviewing them about their experiences to understand their motivations, needs and difficulties.
We took recorded video of actual passenger interactions which was invaluable in demonstrating the variety of user behaviour to our customer.
outcomes
The project gained a useful insight why passengers resisted using the machines including the lack of change given, poor layout of the interface making use difficult, unfamiliarity with a new system and the lack of a person to deal with. However they recognised the improvement that it could make to the bus service.
We were able to make a number of recommendations on policy as well as on the physical design of the ticket machines.