New bus-stop information technology in Dundee

Steer Davies Gleave has been working with Dundee City Council to introduce ‘QR code’ technology to every bus stop in the city.

Steer Davies Gleave has worked with Dundee City Council for almost ten years developing user-focussed travel information, including the creation of a system to generate printed, stop-specific timetable information and web-based planning tools at www.dundeetravelinfo.com.

This most recent upgrade to the award-winning Passenger Transport Information System includes the addition of ‘QR codes’ to every bus stop display across the city – approximately 1,000 bus stops. The QR codes provide smartphone users with direct access to real-time bus departure information for the stop they are at. Passengers just need to download a QR reader app onto their smartphones, and after ‘scanning’ the code with their phone they will be taken to a dedicated real-time page on the smart-phone enabled version of www.dundeetravelinfo.com

Since roll-out of the codes, monitoring of usage data has shown a 5% uplift in traffic to the website via mobile devices and tablets, directly attributable to the inclusion of the codes. Over 55% of all visitors to www.dundeetravelinfo.com are using a mobile device or tablet.

Dr Craig Nelson, who leads Steer Davies Gleave’s transport technology offer said, “Alongside Dundee City Council we noticed a growing appetite for mobile transport information in the city. Including a QR code on timetables provides direct access for smartphone users to real-time information for every stop in Dundee. Seeing the resultant instant uplift in mobile traffic in Dundee is exciting and shows that cities and transport systems can benefit from simple, user-focussed technology solutions.”