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The potential of personalized travel information in public transportation
KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Civil and Architectural Engineering, Transport planning. K2 Centrum. (Urban Mobility Gourp)ORCID iD: 0009-0003-1987-6600
2026 (English)Licentiate thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Sustainable development
SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities
Abstract [en]

Passenger information systems (PIS) in public transport aim to enhance passengerexperience by personalizing travel information to individual needs, preferences, andcontextual conditions. Despite a growing interest in personalization, the field lacks astructured understanding of how personalization is configured, how suchconfigurations can be systematically evaluated, and how passengers respond todifferent levels of personalization. Addressing these gaps, this licentiate thesisinvestigates the potential, feasibility, and acceptance of personalized travelinformation in public transport through a three-part research design. Paper I focuses on identifying and structuring personalization in PIS. A systematicliterature review is conducted to extract and synthesize recurring configurations ofpersonalization dimensions across existing conceptual models, prototypes, andimplementations of personalization in PIS. These recurring configurations are usedto define a set of generalized levels of personalization, capturing how variations insystem design influence the degree of automation in the personalization. The resultsidentify three core functionalities underlying personalization in PIS and establish fivegeneralized levels of personalization that describe increasing degrees of automatedand adaptive information delivery. Paper II builds on this conceptual foundation with the development of an assessmentframework to quantify and evaluate levels of personalization in PIS. Functionalbenchmarking is applied to translate each level into expected system actions,supporting systematic comparison and analysis of personalization capabilities acrosspersonalized PIS. The results identify 83 system actions as performance measuresdistributed across the levels of personalization. The framework demonstrates itseffectiveness in distinguishing between different levels of personalization inreal-world applications, identifying areas for improvement and confirming its utilityas a diagnostic tool. Furthermore, the comparative assessment highlightstechnological bottlenecks that constrain the implementation of highervpersonalization levels, particularly regarding privacy concerns. Paper III examines passenger acceptance of different levels of personalization. A between-subject experimental design evaluate and respond to varying levels ofpersonalization, using three prototypes developed in accordance with the levels ofpersonalization. The results show that performance expectancy, social influence, andprivacy concern are significant predictors of passenger acceptance of personalization. Furthermore, passengers demonstrate higher acceptance of lower levels ofpersonalization compared to higher levels, primarily due to lower perceived privacyrisks and insufficient increases in performance expectancy associated with moreadvanced personalization levels.

Abstract [sv]

Passagerarinformationssystem (PIS) i kollektivtrafiken syftar till att förbättraresenärers upplevelse genom att anpassa reseinformation efter individuella behov,preferenser och situationella förhållanden. Trots ett växande intresse förpersonalisering saknas det en strukturerad förståelse för hur personaliseringutformas, hur sådana utformningar kan utvärderas systematiskt och hur resenärerreagerar på olika nivåer av personalisering. För att hantera dessa kunskapsluckorundersöker denna licentiatavhandling potentialen, genomförbarheten ochacceptansen av personanpassad reseinformation i kollektivtrafiken genom entredelad forskningsdesign.

Artikel I fokuserar på att identifiera och strukturera personalisering i PIS. Ensystematisk litteraturstudie genomförs för att extrahera och sammanställaåterkommande konfigurationer av personaliseringsdimensioner i befintligakonceptuella modeller, prototyper och implementationer av personalisering i PIS.Dessa återkommande konfigurationer används för att definiera generaliserade nivåerav personalisering, som beskriver hur variationer i systemdesign påverkar graden avautomatisering i personaliseringen. Resultaten identifierar tre kärnfunktioner somligger till grund för personalisering i PIS och etablerar fem generaliserade nivåer avpersonalisering som beskriver ökande grader av automatiserad informationsleverans.

Artikel II bygger vidare på denna nivåer genom utvecklingen av ettbedömningsramverk för att kvantifiera och utvärdera nivåerna av personalisering.Funktionellt benchmarking används för att översätta varje nivå till förväntadesystemhandlingar, vilket möjliggör systematisk jämförelse och analys avpersonaliseringsförmåga i olika PIS. Resultaten identifierar 83 systemhandlingar.Ramverket visar sig effektivt för att skilja mellan olika nivåer av personalisering iverkliga tillämpningar, identifierar förbättringsområden och bekräftar dessanvändbarhet som ett diagnostiskt verktyg. Vidare visar den jämförandeutvärderingen på tekniska flaskhalsar som begränsar implementeringen av högreviipersonaliseringsnivåer, särskilt kopplat till integritetsfrågor.

Artikel III undersöker resenärers acceptans av olika nivåer av personalisering. Enexperimentell design med mellan-gruppsupplägg används för att utvärdera ochstudera olika nivåer av personalisering, med hjälp av tre prototyper. Resultaten visaratt förväntad nytta, social påverkan och integritetsoro är betydande faktorer sompåverkar resenärers acceptans av personalisering. Vidare visar resenärer högreacceptans för lägre nivåer av personalisering jämfört med högre nivåer, främst pågrund av lägre upplevda integritetsrisker och otillräckliga ökningar i förväntad nyttavid mer avancerade personaliseringsnivåer.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm: KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 2026. , p. 42
Series
TRITA-ABE-DLT ; 2629
National Category
Transport Systems and Logistics
Research subject
Transport Science, Transport Systems
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-388599ISBN: 978-91-8106-693-7 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-388599DiVA, id: diva2:2103248
Presentation
2026-10-09, V3, Teknikringen 72, KTH Campus, public video conference link https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/67658048255, Stockholm, 14:30 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Note

QC 20260921

Available from: 2026-09-21 Created: 2026-09-21 Last updated: 2026-09-29Bibliographically approved
List of papers
1. Personalised passenger information systems in public transport: a review and a 5-level personalisation taxonomy
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Personalised passenger information systems in public transport: a review and a 5-level personalisation taxonomy
2025 (English)In: Transport reviews, ISSN 0144-1647, E-ISSN 1464-5327, Vol. 45, no 6, p. 1016-1047Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Providing relevant information to passengers is essential for the functioning of the public transport system. With the digitalisation of passenger information systems (PIS), passengers currently have access to large amounts of information. To avoid cognitive overload among passengers, public transport systems experiment with applying personalisation to PIS, allowing for the provision of tailored information according to the needs and desires of passengers. Notwithstanding, systematic definitions and guidelines for designing personalised PIS in public transport are currently lacking. We, therefore, introduce a framework for assessing the personalisation levels of PIS, to close the gap between theoretical conceptualisations and practical implementations of PIS. Our framework defines five levels of personalisation, which are substantiated by a review of 40 papers focusing on personalisation in PIS.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Informa UK Limited, 2025
Keywords
information systems, passenger information, Personalization, public transport, taxonomy
National Category
Transport Systems and Logistics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-370088 (URN)10.1080/01441647.2025.2537203 (DOI)001564746500001 ()2-s2.0-105015218471 (Scopus ID)
Note

QC 20260120

Available from: 2025-09-19 Created: 2025-09-19 Last updated: 2026-09-21Bibliographically approved
2. ‘Mind the Gap’: Evaluation Tool for the Implementation of Personalization in Passenger Information Systems
Open this publication in new window or tab >>‘Mind the Gap’: Evaluation Tool for the Implementation of Personalization in Passenger Information Systems
2026 (English)In: HCI International 2025 - Late Breaking Papers - 27th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2025, Proceedings, Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH , 2026, p. 52-62Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Providing relevant information is crucial in public transport systems. With the rise of digital passenger information systems (PIS), personalization has emerged as a means to meet passengers’ information needs better. To better understand how personalization can be implemented in PIS, five levels of personalization have been identified in the literature, highlighting varying degrees of system autonomy and passenger involvement. While these levels have advanced the understanding of personalization, their practical application remains limited. This paper builds upon an existing framework of personalization levels. It introduces an evaluation tool composed of distinct performance measures to help PIS developers assess their system’s current personalization level and identify opportunities for technological advancement. The tool enables a comparison of the personalization functionalities against the best practices defined by the personalization levels. The paper further outlines the creation of the tool through functional benchmarking, introduces system behaviors across levels, and evaluates commercial PIS through case studies, offering actionable insights for advancing PIS personalization.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2026
Keywords
Passenger information system, Personalization, Public transport
National Category
Vehicle and Aerospace Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-376723 (URN)10.1007/978-3-032-12764-8_6 (DOI)2-s2.0-105028309333 (Scopus ID)
Conference
27th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCI International 2025, Gothenburg, Sweden, June 22-27, 2025
Note

Part of ISBN 9783032127631

QC 20260218

Available from: 2026-02-18 Created: 2026-02-18 Last updated: 2026-09-21Bibliographically approved
3. Passenger Acceptance of Personalized Information in Public Transport Systems
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Passenger Acceptance of Personalized Information in Public Transport Systems
(English)In: Travel behaviour and societyArticle in journal (Refereed) Submitted
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier
National Category
Transport Systems and Logistics
Research subject
Transport Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-388655 (URN)
Available from: 2026-09-21 Created: 2026-09-21 Last updated: 2026-09-22

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van Ardenne, Michelle

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