When the travellers decide for themselves

This thesis investigates the public transport system in the city of Uppsala in Sweden. This thesis bases itself on the fact that the development of a new ticketing and payment system is about to start. The purpose of the thesis is to help increase the number of journeys travelled with public transport. To achieve this, the goal of the thesis is to present a vision for UL’s new payment and ticketing system with concepts of interaction design in mind whilst investigating whether a simplified system might increase travel with public transport. The thesis uses surveys, interviews and usability testing of the present-day system. The opinions can be summarised such that people in general find difficulties in grasping the different fare zones of the public transport system and do therefore experience difficulties in buying the correct ticket for their specific journey. The new ticketing system should consist of a redesigned fare structure, where a complete removal of the fare zones would create perhaps the most intuitive ticketing system. The new ticketing system should also be able to handle contactless payments, easing the burden on bus drivers who will not need to issue tickets to passengers. In general, a downscaling of the current ticketing system is preferable to avoid confusing travellers. It is of the essence to consider the ticketing and payment system as a sociotechnical system since investigating neither technology nor people alone will lead to a successfully implemented system. They need to be investigated jointly