CaseStudy

With Dublin Bus being the work horse of public transport in Dublin and with several comments having emerged in the survey, highlighting frequent problems, a case study was created to illustrate common problems. Focus of this case study was the customer experience. As it cannot be taken for granted that a prospective customer of Dublin Bus has insider knowledge of Dublin, a realistic journey made by a person not native to Dublin, but not a tourist either was chosen.

The complete case study can be downloaded here (should make for an entertaining read): ArisV_MA-thesis_CaseStudy.pdf.

Case Study

Some of the problems observed include: The lack of maps that indicate stops, lack of stop/stage lists (e.g. inside vehicles), far too small stage names on bus poles or shelters and failure to announce approaching stops/stages inside vehicles (neither by display nor by announcement) leads to people being unaware of stop names.

This leads to a whole list of adverse effects. People can’t name desired destinations (curiously, boarding passengers state an intended fare, rather than a destination). Unawareness of stage is a missed opportunity for creating a culture of giving directions relative to bus public transport stops and stations, a practice well established in other cities. During journeys, missing stop name information leads to general disorientation and not knowing when to get off the bus.