Touchpoint Txt Engine
Helps Auckland Passenger Rail Service Steamroll Innovation Award
03 November 2004
A first ever SMS text messaging service that keeps Auckland rail
commuters up to date of train service delays has seen the Auckland
Regional Council scoop the BearingPoint Innovation award for local
government.
Powered by Touchpoint, over 1,900 Auckland rail users have subscribed
to the text update system, called Text Updates For Service Delays,
which automatically texts commuters with real-time delay information
for Auckland’s entire rail network.
While Auckland’s passenger rail system is being developed
and upgraded, the ARC identified a need to minimise the disruption
to commuters by keeping them informed. Text messaging was seen as
the ideal mechanism to communicate real-time passenger information
to help rail commuters better plan their travel.
The Auckland Regional Council Rail Contracts Manager, Peter Sansom,
said an ARC survey had established a high incidence of mobile phone
ownership and demand for information among passengers. “Rail
commuters want to understand how service disruptions might impact
on their plans and the reasons for delays. Texting was a natural
choice for communicating with rail users because mobile phones are
commonplace, outnumbering home computers and landlines, and offer
a simple low cost channel for instant mass communication,”
he said.
The ARC worked with Vodafone Business Services and selected Touchpoint’s
off-the-shelf solution that could broadcast high volumes of text
messages at specific moments in time.
“Though train delays are typically anticipated in advance,
the problem facing the ARC was communicating delay information to
a large number of subscribers in a timely fashion,” Sansom
said. “Touchpoint offered the ideal solution. It was a proven
system which didn’t require custom development or extensive
modification, it came within a limited budget, and was deployable
in a very tight timeframe – a matter of weeks.”
Costing only 20 cents to join, commuters are able register by texting
a simple code, rather than entering details over the web. Once the
customer has subscribed all text messages received are free. The
service works on both Telecom and Vodafone networks.
Details of delays are sent from train and signal box staff to the
Britomart Transport Centre platform office, where they are entered
into the message system through a simple web interface. A template
scripted text is then instantly broadcast to any number of users.
Registration segmentation codes ensure text updates are sent only
to the commuters affected by the delay.
Sansom said the system was completely replicable to any timetabled
public transport service in the world. “The system does not
rely on existing automated delay notification systems and can be
integrated with public information displays to ensure consistency
of information to commuters.”
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