BUSYNESS, AS USUAL
After a successful pilot scheme, our new ‘busyness’ information screens are being rolled out across the network
Customers using our service at peak times will certainly know where they stand, now our new “busyness” technology is being rolled out to station screens across London.
Busyness Screens use loading indicator graphics on the station's Wonderwalls to help passengers find less crowded parts of the train they plan to travel in.
A pilot at Shepherd's Bush station is now completed, and it's fair to say that the programme has been a success so far. We surveyed 150 customers as part of the original pilot, with 70% saying it positively impacted their overall satisfaction with London Overground. Just 5% said there had been a negative impact. That pilot went so well that the screens are now being introduced across 33 London Overground stations. The map below shows where the screens are currently operating.
A win-win for passengers and colleagues
The screens show customers where there is likely to be space available on the train, based on typical levels of busyness for this service. On departure boards, you’ll see a small graphic of a train with three boxes. A green box indicates an area that usually has free space. A grey box indicates an area is usually busy. The boxes mark the train’s front, middle and back so passengers can work out where to stand on the platform.
The busyness screens were piloted at Shepherd's Bush station
The busyness screens were piloted at Shepherd's Bush station
A collaborative approach
The Busyness Screens project has been a collaboration between Arriva Rail London and Transport for London. We’ve led and funded the work while TfL designed the visualisations used on the screens. At the same time, the wider Arriva Group has developed a ‘passenger count model’, which merges unit allocation data from IVU Traffic Technologies UK and loadweigh data to calculate a ‘usual’ busyness result for the train. Meanwhile, our partners at Blackbox integrated the software into the station display.
“This project has been a great example of collaboration between Arriva, Blackbox and TfL,” says Matt Bromley, innovation & business excellence manager. “It will hopefully make customers’ journeys more comfortable and solve some important performance challenges.”
Building on the pilot
With last year's successful pilot behind them, the team have been refining the design. They've also worked to develop a solution with Blackbox to ‘suppress’ the information if it’s incorrect. To support the rollout, the team are also putting together some training for our control teams.
A video has been uploaded to our social media channels to introduce the screens to customers. In it, Shelton Shaw, customer service assistant at Hackney Central, explains how the busyness info is displayed. You can watch it here.
With more of the screens now up and running, we’re looking forward to seeing how they continue to improve the customer and colleague experience. Please get in touch with Matt Bromley, to learn more about the screens.
Built with Shorthand