Sydney Trains passengers will be able to choose their carriage based on real-time train occupancy data, in what NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian says is an Australian first.
Sydney’s Waratah trainsets have been kitted out with technology to enable data which will inform more than 600,000 customer trips each day.
Using the average weight of a Sydney Trains passenger (a figure the Government hasn’t shared publicly), the weighing technology translates carriage data to travel apps like TripView, NextThere, Anytrip, TripGo and Transport for NSW’s Opal Travel App.
“Since 2016, customers have had access to bus occupancy data to help choose the right service for them. Now train customers can see how full their train is before it arrives,” Berejiklian said.
“Transport is no longer just about infrastructure but also about embracing technology to provide the best services possible for our customers. Only a handful of transport networks around the world offer this type of service.”
Transport minister Andrew Constance said passengers were encouraged to actively use their smartphones to choose emptier carriages on their commute.
“For customers who commute home from Wynyard to Penrith, for example, getting a seat can be a major factor in deciding which carriage to board,” he said.
“Letting customers know which services might be full or which carriages still have seats will make commuting choices easier and help ease congestion.”
Interesting that since 2016 “Tag off” is used by Sydney Buses to count the number of people on the bus and then transmit the information to potential passengers so they can choose a suitable bus or alternate route to catch.
Lobbying for similar benefits from “Tag Off” in Adelaide Metro has fallen on barren ground because Tag machines were only fitted to all doors on O-Bahn buses in December. No plans announced to extend the feature to all buses in Adelaide.
Real time data about occupancy but still no real time processing of Opal payments.
“Using the average weight of a Sydney Trains passenger (a figure the Government hasn’t shared publicly)…”
The old rule of thumb was ’16 inches per bum, 16 bums per ton’ but it is generally acknowledged that the bums are getting wider and heavier…