Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information Measure title: system in Debrecen Measure City: Debrecen Project: MOBILIS 12.4.D number:

A Introduction

The tram serves as north-south axis of the public transport grid of the city. To achieve a sustainable and clean urban transport system, it was crucial to make ts usage appealing to the highest possible level. The quality level of service of the tramline has a very substantial impact on the overall usage of the PT network at city level. As north-south axis, it also provides direct link between the university and the central railway station where an inter-modal junction is also planned in the near future.

The implementation of the pedestrian zone in the city centre had cut major routes of individual traffic, especially in the north – south direction. Journey time had also increased on the longer and more congested alternative routes.

A1 Objectives

Improve public transport service (tram priority, tram information system) Improve operational efficiency Improve the effectiveness of the operation of the centre for traffic control Prevent the town - centre from heavy traffic and decrease pollution

By providing an excellent quality of service on the tramline it was foreseeable that the percentage of citizens rather choosing PT to reach their destinations would raise on the north-south axis

NB: In the technical annex 11-B,the expected results and targets were:

Results

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

• Significant reduction of travel time of public transport passengers on trams. The expected time saving will be defined by the public transport priority study. • Data for fleet management and other operational services, e.g. real-time public transport passenger information system. • Improved service quality level of public transportation, higher passenger satisfaction • Final result is higher usage of the tram and trolley line. Furthermore, as the tram connects the city with the main railway station – an inter-modal junction that is planned to be extended with the coach-station as well – this measure might have also some regional impacts. If travellers can access the inter- modal junction with a better tramline, than they might choose these alternative transport modes instead of individual traffic.

Targets • AVL system on 18 tram vehicles and 31 trolley buses • Real time tram passenger information at 23 tram stops • Tram priority in 2 selected traffic junctions • The final searched result is, by providing an excellent quality of service on the tramline, to obtain higher passenger satisfaction and higher usage of the tram and trolley line on the north-south axis.

A2 Description The next map indicates the tram and trolley lanes of the city: yellow line refers to tramway, green line to trolleybuses No 2 and No 3, while red line represents trolleybus no 3E.

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

Figure 1: tram and trolley network

To achieve these goals DKV (Municipal Transport Company, operator of tram and trolley bus network) had planed to install a passenger information system for all the vehicles (on board) and at all the stops, to announce the time remaining till the next vehicle arrival. The tram and the trolley bus fleets have been both involved in the

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

action; all trolley buses have been equipped with on-board computer system for vehicle location. On the new trolley buses the passengers’ information was already solved.

To even further reduce the travel time on this axis, the crucial traffic junctions have been identified and PT priority introduced for the trams. The numbers from 1 to 6 show the locations of possible sites. The first equipped junction is actually the crossing of the Route Nr. 4.

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

Figure 2: The tramline of Debrecen, and the major junctions that it crosses

Within the project a network wide vehicle location system has been installed for tram and trolley bus vehicles. The system is able to fulfil several functions such as automatic vehicle location for trams and trolley buses, complete fleet management for the vehicles and handling priority requests of tram vehicles at traffic signals. At 23 tram stops electronic information display system has been installed which announces the time remaining till the next coming vehicle. The trams and trolleys have been equipped with LCD information displays. The system is based on automatic vehicle location and the electronic schedule system.

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

B Measure implementation

B1 Innovative aspects

Innovative Aspects: • Use of new technology/ITS

Use of new technology/ITS:

The state of the art of automatic vehicle location and management system provides reliable data on the actual location of the vehicles of the tram system and on the performance of the fleet and drivers. With this measure , Debrecen became the first city in Hungary having an integrated public transport priority at traffic lights and real-time passenger information system for its tramline . Even in the neighbourhood countries there is a lack of such systems. The developments in Debrecen could be good model for other cities.

B2 Situation before CIVITAS

Public transportation missed a significant amount of time due to heavy individual traffic and detrimental junction signalling. At the beginning of CIVITAS MOBILIS no real-time vehicle location was used in Debrecen, also the management of the vehicle fleet has been paper-based. There was only radio voice-communication between the drivers of the vehicles and a dispatcher: According to former situation, 25% of bus vehicles, 100% of tram and trolley vehicles and terminals were equipped with radios. The new urban traffic control system in Debrecen was under construction before CIVITAS MOBILIS started. The system made by Siemens became still modularly enlargeable. As for the information at stops: beside the static schedule information at some places in Debrecen, there were electronic dynamic counters that counted only the elapsed time since the last vehicle. According to the traffic count – which was carried out for the Sustainable City Traffic Development Plan – 290.000 tram journeys occur on an average working day. Tram transport represents 15% f the public transport share. The tram transport is the choice of 42.000 passengers on a daily rate, which results in 94.000 passengers – kilometre daily. Unfortunately there is no data availableto meaure the changes of operational speed regarding PT during the last years.

Tram 15% Trolley bus 8%

Bus

77%

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

B3 Actual implementation of the measure The measure was implemented in the following stages:

1. Elaboration of technical studies (from February 2005 - August 2005). In line with the envisaged measure realisation path, as a basis of the development, three working documents were needed:

• The System design study for tram priority , AVL and passenger information system ; • the Traffic analysis and the • Design study for the extension of traffic control centre were carried out during the first 6 months of the project The operator validated these working documents.

2. Development of the traffic control system (from September 2005 - August 2006). According to the directions of these documents, at first step the development of the traffic control centre was carried out till month 18th of the project. During the process, it became clear that further development of the system had to be accomplished to support tram priority request. Finally the tram priority system and the software support operate till October, 2007 (month 32.). The traffic control centre is under development to support the priority requests of tram vehicles.

3. Installation of the location and priority system. A network wide vehicle location and priority system have been installed for tram vehicles. The system is able to fulfil the following functions: automatic vehicle location for trams (18 vehicles) automatic vehicle location for trolley buses (31 vehicles) fleet management for trams and trolley buses handle priority requests of tram vehicles at selected traffic signals The necessary hardware parts (onboard, on-street and control centre components) and software have been purchased, installed, tested and fine-tuned. Based on traffic study, priority scheme has been introduced. The system is able for further extension for trolley and conventional bus vehicle fleet.

4. Installation of electronic information display system at tram stops . At 23 tram stops electronic information display system has been installed, which announces the time remaining till the next coming vehicles. Also trams and trolley buses have been equipped with LCD information displays. The system is based on the automatic vehicle location and the electronic schedule system. The tram priority system has been implemented at the junction, which is marked with number 4 on the map displayed above.

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

Information displays at stops On board traffic information displays

AVL system surface at the operator

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

B4 Deviations from the original plan The deviations from the original plan comprised: 1. Implementation delay.

The measure has been carried out according to the envisaged realisation path, only a minor delay occurred concerning the operation of the tram priority system.

2. Modification in priority implementation . The original plan was to implement the priority system at 1 to 5 junctions but during the process the experts realised that the wider scale implementation would have resulted in traffic jams at other parts of the city, which could have been disadvantageous for other means of transport as well (e.g. bus transportation). The experts of the State Road Maintenance Company and the DKV simulated the foreseeable impact on the traffic of the city by using several softwares with the Traffic Management System and decided not to implement the priority system at more than 2 junctions.

B5 Inter-relationships with other measures The measure is related to another measure as follows: No. Measure title Relation 12.4.D Tramway priority scheme and real-time PT promotion passenger information system 12.2.T Implementation of bus priority scheme in PT priority Toulouse

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

C Evaluation – methodology and results

C1 Measurement methodology

The evaluation focused on the effectiveness of the new display system in providing the population with real-time information about the next coming vehicles as well as about any modifications concerning tramline. Since the questioner student wore a T- shirt with CIVITAS-logo, they also informed citizens about the project itself - thus the research served dissemination purposes as well.

A survey on citizens’ satisfaction concerning the electronic information display system has been carried out in October 2006. A systematic sampling has been used meaning the questioning has been based upon quota sampling (the proportions of the sample indicating gender and age is the same of the population of Debrecen). Six tram stops have been appointed for questioning (representing all areas surrounding the tramline), and the three periods of the day (morning rush hours, daytime, evening rush hours) have also been represented. The questioners were students of the University of Debrecen, Department of Sociology and Social Policy). All together 280 citizens were surveyed. In the sample the distribution of men (47%) and women (53%) is nearly equal .

Distribution of the sample by gender (percent)

Man 47 Woman 53

On the basis of ages – for the sake of further analysis – we have divided the sample into three groups representing the same number. In the following we will refer to the different age cohorts with the denominations as follows: youngsters (15-26 years), middle-aged (26-52 years) and elderly (52 years or older).

Distribution of the sample by age (percent)

youngsters (15-26 years) 32 middle-aged (26-52 years) 34 elderly (52 years or older) 33

Half of the sample (50 %) has graduated , but the proportion of the respondents having a higher degree is also high : every fifth respondent (20%) has a diploma as well. The proportion of those who graduated in a vocational school, as well as the proportion of those who have only an elementary qualification is 15-15%.

Distribution of the sample by qualification (percent)

Not more than 8 classes in elementary 15 school Vocational school 15 Graduation 50 College or university degree 20

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

According to the indicators of age and qualification, more than one tierce of the sample (36%) is employed, a quarter (25%) is retired and 32% of the respondents is a pupil.

Distribution of the sample by status of employment (percent)

Employed 36 Retired 25 Unemployed 4 Housewife 1 Pupil 32 Other inactive 2

The data collection has been made in six stops of the one tramline of Debrecen, in nearly the same proportion.

Place of questioning (percent)

Train station 23 Municipality 9 Kossuth Square 17 Thermal Bath 16 Clinics 16 University of Debrecen 18

Around half of the questioning (46%) has been carried out between 8 am and 10 am. One tierce of the citizens (33%) answered between 12 am and 2 pm, while a fifth of them (21%) has been interviewed between 4 pm and 6 pm.

Time of questioning (percent)

Between 8 am and 10 am 46 Between 12 am and 2 pm 33 Between 4 pm and 6 pm 21

In certain cases – in purpose of an easier interpretation – we have transformed the values of the variables into a 100-grade scale. The value of the transformed variable would be 100 if all respondent gave the maximum value, and it would be 0 if all of them gave the minimal value of the original variable. The values under 50 points rather interpret condemnation, a kind of negative attitude, while the points above 50 points rather refer to positive opinions.

C1.1 Impacts and Indicators Table of Indicators

No. Impact Indicator Used Etc.. Transport:clear vision Variables measuring attitudes and 1 Yes concerning tram -usage customs

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

customs and attitudes of the population towards sustainable city traffic development Yes Variables regarding satisfaction Transport:quicker tram 2 and trolley transportation No The necessary time for a round trip. data

Acceptance: Growing Yes Variables measuring satisfaction satisfaction concerning the 3 availability of information Not Evolution of the number of network about tram-traffic used users.

.

Indicator 1 - Variables measuring attitudes and customs. This indicator served the purpose of gathering basic information about the tram-user population, reflecting their transportation customs, the purpose of their journey and the frequency of using tram. It will allow to measure the further variation observed in PT usage.

Indicator 2 – The necessary time for a round trip: the AVL system is suitable for collecting data on the operational speed of the tram with the priority system, and data collection is continuous for that any changes can be traced.

Indicator 3 - Variables measuring satisfaction. The survey included question regarding citizens’ satisfaction on the new systems’ efficiency.

C1.2 Establishing a baseline The baseline is the situation observed before MOBILIS.

C1.3 Building the business-as-usual scenario The business as usual scenario is a steady situation. The share of tram and trolleys among public transport should have stayed the same. Without the implementation of the measure, the initiatives towards promotion of green public transportation would need other methods and tools. As in Debrecen the tramline is the most traditional and popular way of green public transportation, it is reasonable to develop this tool of PT. As we can see in the report about Bicycle development (see Measure 11.6D) the number of cyclists is also dynamically increasing in Debrecen, therefore it is probable that without the implementation of this measure the number of cyclists would show a more intensive increase. In the case of citizens for whom cycling is not (or cannot be) a real alternative of PT, it is probable that they would choose buses – nevertheless, as presented earlier, the tramline represent a special North-South line which cannot be replaced by any other bus or trolley line, only with some changes what would considerably increase the necessary time to get from one point to another on the line of the tram.

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

C2 Measure results

C2.1 Economy

The costs of the priority system includes the purchasing of equipment, putting it into operation, and operation cost – the latter is extremely low since it works with electricity and doesn’t need any other maintenance. For avoiding oppositional operation of the transport system, the priority system works at two junctions of the city at the moment: at the starting point of tramway (junction at the Railway station) /A2 section, Figure 1., junction no.1./ and at Bem square /A2 section, Figure 1., junction no.5/ at the middle of the line. According to the speed measuring from October 2008 until February 2009, on average no considerable changes can be shown, which fact is understandable taking into account the following characteristics of the system: At the first junction (tramway starting point) the trams are conducted to leave in every two or four minutes, regulated by timetable. The dispatcher considers the current traffic situation when issues the order, therefore the operation of the priority system has an influence of around half a minute in the operational speed. At Bem square the situation is the same as at the other junctions, namely the tram has a stop in both direction right before the junction. Therefore the number of passengers getting on and off the trams mainly influences the operational time (speed of crossing the junction) . Obviously, this time moves on quite a large scale: in the summer, in case of events like concerts of football matches and even in the rush hours the number of passengers is higher, therefore the speed of the tram is lower, despite of the tram priority, and on average the time needed for a round remained the same. Of course, in case of lower number of passengers at the stops located before the junction /equipped with the priority system/ the system is able to speed up the operational time but higher number of passengers at other stops may compensate it. This general situation makes the changing in operational speed hardly measurable.

In general, it can be considered that quicker operational speed might lead to both higher revenues and lower operational costs. On the other hand, for the present, the analysis of the existing priority system does not justify the launching of higher fares. Taking into consideration the fact that the operation of the priority system at only 2 junctions does not result in a considerable speeding up of the transport, the possible lower operational costs could be compared with the costs of the priority system just after the extension of the system to more junctions or the reorganisation of the current transport system /e.g. moving the stops located just before the junctions to farther locations to avoid the negative effect of the high number of passengers/.

C2.4 Transport

Due to the automatic vehicle location and fleet management, tram and trolley transportation can become more popular; therefore on the long term it may decrease individual downtown transportation and increase the number of passengers. Very little time has passed since the time of installation of the priority system, therefore at the moment no relevant changes can be reported in individual transportation attitudes

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

More than half of the questioned passengers (59%) uses the tram on a daily rate – what is more, their overwhelming majority (41% in total) travels by tram more than once a day. 21% of the respondents resorts the tram at least 1-2 times a week, but not on a daily rate, while the proportion of those who uses the tram on a monthly rate is only 7%.

How often do you use the tram in Debrecen? (Percent)

Several times a day 41 1-2 times a day 18 Several times a week 9 1-2 times a week 13 1-2 times a month 11 Less 7

The frequency of using the tram significantly differs in the groups created by age, qualification and employment status . The youngsters, the more qualified ones (graduated and having a diploma), as well as the employed and the pupils represent a more frequent usage of the tram.

The most often mentioned travel purpose is personal administration (43%), followed by shopping (35 %), but the frequency of going to work (33%) and to school (30%) are also relatively high. Comprehensibly the respondents referred the less to escorting children to school or kindergarten, doing sports and going out (4-11%).

For what travel purpose do you use the tram? Please, appoint the two most frequent purposes! (Proportion of mentioning, percent)

Personal administration or back home 43 Doing the shopping or back home 35 Going to work or back home 33 Going to school or back home 30 Other 14 Going out (visit) or back home 11 Administration related to your job 9 Doing sports (hobby) or back home 6 Escorting children to school or 4 kindergarten or back home

On the basis of the results of a multi-variable analysis (quick cluster) the sample can be grouped into three. In the group representing one tierce of the sample (33%) named Working Group , regarding travel purposes every respondent mentioned going to work, 30% of them also mentioned personal administration and 25% of them mentioned doing the shopping as well. The largest group (45% of the sample) named Administration-Shopping Group is characterized the most by personal administration (74%) and doing the shopping (44%), while almost all members of the third group (22% of the sample, named School-Entertainment Group) mentioned going to school (95%), but mentioning of going out is also quite frequent (37%).

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

C2.5 Society The next results show the passengers’ view on the information system. The questions used for evaluation were the following: How often do you regard the information displays placed at tram- stops? (1 – every time, when I can, 2 – often, 3 – rarely, 4 – never) Compared to other types of information source, you think the digital display system is: 1 – a much better, 2 – a better, 3 – worth, 4 – much worth source of information.

One tierce of tram-users (32%) looks on the new displays every time, while one quarter (26%) often watches the digital passenger information system. The proportion of those who rarely look at the display system is not more than a fifth of the sample (23%), and the proportion of those who never watches at them is only 17%.

Frequency of regarding the information system Every time 32% Often 26% Rarely 23% Never 17%

The overwhelming majority of the respondents not only regards but also consider the digital information system as a better source of information compared to other information opportunities. Youngsters appraise it as a much better way of gathering information (79 points) than the middle-aged (73 points) or the elderly (71 points) (points representing a 100-grade scale where 0=much worth, 100=much better source of information). Considering the relatively favourable judgement of the digital display system it is not surprising that the majority of the respondents (means are more than 50 points) think that the information display system helps informing the citizens either in providing up-to-date information, either informing them about any changes on the tram-way.

C3 Achievement of quantifiable targets (modified to be related to the contract annex 1-B) No. Target Rating 1 • AVL system on 18 tram vehicles and 31 trolley buses

2 real time tram passenger information at 23 tram stops

3 tram priority in 1 selected traffic junction

4 Users satisfaction rating

0=Not achieved,
=Substantially achieved

= Achieved in full


= Exceeded

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

C4 Up-scaling of results

If public transportation has priority over individual traffic modes and lines of different vehicles are interconnected and attached to bicycle – lines, green transportation may increase significantly, according to the will of the city’s decision-making bodies.

The experts of the State Road Maintenance Company and the DKV simulated the foreseeable impact on the traffic of the city by using several softwares with the Traffic Management System and decided not to implement the priority system at more than 2 junctions for the present. The vehicles are capable to adopt the system at all the junctions but the decision of the further extension depends on several circumstances. The city is committed to reorganise the traffic system in the downtown area, mainly based on the development of the existing ring roads. In case this strategy is successful, the further implementation of the priority system could be carried out. The passenger information system is based on the vehicle location system, which is introduced for the trolley bus network as well. The extension of the passenger information system by setting up variable message displays at the trolley bus stops and on board the vehicle needs further valuable investment for which the city needs external sources.

C5 Appraisal of evaluation approach

For needs assessment and for measuring the population’s satisfaction related to a given Measure, quota sampling and a relatively small number of questioned citizens are most commonly used. The appointment of the tram-stops, the design of the quota and the representation of all time periods of the day ensured that the results represent the distribution of the population itself.

The number of network users was also mentioned. Since according to the negotiations with the representatives of DKV such a counting would need a month- wide, day-to-day counting for that we have enough data representing all possible periods, the evaluation team decided to skip this.

C6 Summary of evaluation results

The frequency of using the tram significantly differs in the groups created by age, qualification and employment status. The youngsters, the more qualified passengers, those, who are active on the labour market and the students, represent a more frequent usage of the tram.

The most common travel purpose is personal administration, followed by shopping, but the frequency of going to work and to school is also relatively high. Comprehensibly the respondents referred the less to escorting children to school or kindergarten, doing sports and going out.

The overwhelming majority of the respondents not only regards but also consider the digital information system as a better source of information compared to other information opportunities. Youngsters appraise it as a much better way of gathering information than the middle-aged or the elderly.

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D1 Barriers and drivers

D1.1 Barriers • Barrier 1 – The further extension of the priority system meets serious barriers, since the junctions, where tram-priority could be set up are already overwhelmed. In case the tram gets priority in these junctions, it is probable that traffic jams will became steady, which would result in increasing individual transportation congestion. Such a development could have affected negatively the behaviour of the drivers. The municipality is working on a long-term development, which would make possible both the enlargement of the tram priority system and the ease of individual transportation as well. The long-term development strategy also has to consist of the restructuring of the existing roads and the establishment of new ones, which obviously need national, EU and local financial resources. • Barrier 2 – the need of special software to implementi tram priority resulted in a considerable delay.

D1.2 Drivers • Driver 1 – The Urban mobility workgroup (established in the framework of Measure 11.5D), represents all relevant stakeholders that can support the long-term city-traffic developments; therefore public acceptability of all related groups can be ensured. • Driver 2 - MKKHT (State Public Roads Maintenance Company, operator of the traffic control centre of the city) and DKV (Municipal Transport Company, operator of tram and trolley bus fleet and network) have cooperated in designing a new program and have updated the phase-plan of the city’s signals as well.

D2 Participation of stakeholders During the process the involvement of all the relevant stakeholders was ensured. 1. Politicians: In the beginning of the project the content of the MOBILIS proposal - including the measure descriptions - has been submitted to the City Council in order to get the political support in the highest level. The Generaly Assembly accepted the proposal with one consent. 2. Transport operator leaders /DKV tram and troley bus network operator, MKKHT state public road maintenance company and operator of the traffic control centre of the city/: The measure description and the development was based on the suggestions of the directorate of the relevant transport operators.

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

3. Experts and technicians: The whole technical development has been carried out by them and according to their expertise. 4. Public: Through the targeted dissemination activities the citizens were informed about the development from the beginning in order to get public support for the development. Although, no considerable suggestion or objection aroused from the citizens, the involvement was strongly ensured.

D3 Recommendations • Recommendation 1 – It requires finding a financial and technical agreement between the political and public transport authorities to manage the implementation of bus priority and information systems. • Recommendation 2 – The communication of the goals of the developments towards the target population is also a good support.

D4 Future activities relating to the measure The city is committed to reorganise the traffic system in the downtown area, mainly based on the development of the existing ring- roads. In case this strategy is successful, the further implementation of the tram priority system can be carried out. The passenger information system is based on the vehicle location system, which is introduced for the trolley bus network as well. The extension of the passenger information system by installing variable message displays at the trolley bus stops and on board the vehicle needs further valuable investment for which the city needs external sources.

• Furthermore, as the tram connects the city with the main railway station – an intermodal junction that is planned to be extended with the coach station as well – this measure might have some regional impacts. If travellers can access the intermodal junction with a better tramline, than they might choose these alternative transport modes instead of individual traffic.

D5 Transferability analysis Factors and Attributes Comment on relevance/necessity/issue Weight Components concerning transferability / property level in (support the original context +2 to -2

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

constraint) A. Components Comments Attribute’s level 1. Key objective(s) • Improve public transport services In case the measure would be High +2 • Improve operational efficiency implemented as part of a wider High +2 • Improve the effectiveness of the development framework, the first High +2 operation of the centre of traffic three objectives are seen as control necessary. Additional objectives • Prevent the downtown from heavy can be modified or replaced. High +1 traffic • Decrease pollution of the High 0 downtown • Contribution to a long-term city medium +1 traffic development initiative (see measure 11.5 D) 2. Strategies and • Setting up a brand new The decision between the Low -1 policies infrastructure for the management development of an existing of public transportation infrastructure and the • Prioritising existing infrastructure, implementation of a new system High +1 enlarging existing system/tools and depends on the mobility and giving new functions to it financial - political context of a site. • Automation of fleet management In Debrecen the first method has High +2 by necessary technical tools and been used since the development software of an automatic vehicle location • Implementations of tools that and fleet-management has already High +2 increase the quality of been started before the measure transportation services realisation. 3. Services • automatic vehicle location for all In line with the implementation of High +2 offered tram and trolley vehicles new or enlarged services for public • fleet management for providing transport users it is also important High +2 safe and reliable public to promote all initiatives and transportation related activities, since

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

transportation acceptability is based on obtaining High +1 • Giving priority to “green” necessary information about any transportation modes (tramway) such changes in a city’s life. High +2 • Implementation of a real-time passenger information system – increasing passengers’ information about issues related to tramline medium +2 • dissemination of activities related to the measure 4. Target • General population Since Debrecen has a central High +2 population • Population of the surrounding social and institutional role in the Low +1 settlements geographic area, population of the • Car-drivers surrounding settlements is also High +2 • Public transportation operators seen as an indirect target group. High +2 • Foreign students The town has thousands of foreign Low 0/+1 students, partly from the western countries, which may prefer “green” way of transportation modes. 5. Geographical • Whole city The specific location of the High +2 area covered • Downtown tramline, which creates connection High +2 • Surrounding settlements between the railway station, the Low +1 huge traffic junctions, medical and educational institutions makes this measure especially relevant in a broader geographical area. 6. Finances • Capital costs of planning and High +2 designing (working documents) • Capital costs of implementation High +2 (enlargement of existing infrastructure and procurement of new tools)

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

• Running costs of fleet High +2 management and passenger- information system-management, mostly human resources costs) • Occasional cost of dissemination Low +1 • Administrative costs Medium +2 7. Human • Technical staff (planning and High +2 resources design, implementation, running, dissemination) • Decision-makers Medium +2 • Administrative staff High +2 • Training for public transport Medium +2 operators • Strong cooperation between Low +2 departments of the municipality and partners 8. Stakeholders • Public transport users Medium +2 involvement • Individual drivers Medium +2 • Participating technical staff High +2 • Decision-makers Medium +2 • Local media Low +2 9. Legal or • Contractual agreement between As for administrative staff, in most High +2 contractual municipality and local public of the cases administrative staff requirements transportation company has worked in Civitas additionally • Local regulation of public to its everyday tasks. Low +1 transportation system and priorities • Contracting technical tool suppliers High +2 • Contracting technical High +2 implementation staff • Contracting administrative staff low 0/+1 10. Organisational • Inflexible administrative structure High -1 or institutional

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D or institutional regarding state-financed aspects institutions • Slow administrative procedures High -2 (especially in case of public procurement) • Difficulties in cooperation between Low -2 partners 11. Technical • Procurement of technical High +2 requirements equipment and tools (hardware and software) 12. • Coordination of partnership In case a measure is built up from Medium +2 Implementation • Designing a timetable, setting up different activities, the measure Medium +2 and management deadlines and steps for activities leader has a crucial role in aspects • Setting up a technical plan to managing budget and time, as well High +2 ensure that equipment and tools as ensuring the cooperation meet initial objectives between partners. • Monitoring implementation High +2 processes • Budget-management High +2 • Monitoring the cooperation of High +2 partners 13. Awareness • Ensuring that population get Medium +2 and informed about the city’s medium- Communication and long-term traffic-development plan (see measure 11.5 D) and this measure’s role and status within this framework • Carrying out measure-related High +2 promotion campaign using available local media (newspapers, radio, television and alternative media)

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

14. Gender issues • Promotion of initiatives that Since tramway is a major tool of Medium +1 support the population in public transport in case of women detriment, in this case women with children (attending educational and medical institutions) and female students, the real-time information system can increase their comfort feeling. 15. Wider issues • Promotion of green transportation Since this measure is just part of a High +2 may lead to a considerable change broader city traffic development in urban city traffic plan, which promotes “green” way • a reliable and relatively dynamic of transportation, the measure’s Medium +1 urban traffic may increase the long-term effects are predicted to citizens’ and guests’ feeling of be much considerable than they well-being are at present. • in the long term, the decrease of Low +2 car-drivers in downtown area may decrease the No of accidents, air- pollution and increase the No of passengers therefore makes city centre more attractive

Conclusion: this measure, successfully implemented in Debrecen, is easily transferable to other cities which aim to increase sustainable mobility by improving existing Pt services at city or part of the city level. It requires finding a financial and technical agreement between the political and public transport authorities to manage the implementation of bus priority and information systems. The communication towards the target population is also a good support.

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ANNEX 1. Survey for evaluation of the Measure Code of questioner No

REAL-TIME DIGITAL INFORMATION SYSTEM

1. Place of questioning 1 – Railway station 2 – House of Mayor 3 – Kossuth Square 4 – Thermal Bath 5 – Clinics 6 – University of Debrecen 2. Time of questioning 1 – 6.30-11.30 2 – 11.30-16.30 3 – 16.30-21.30 3. How often do you use the tram in Debrecen? 6 – several times a day 5 – 1-2 times a day 4 – several times a week 3 – 1-2 times a week 2 – 1-2 times a month 1 – more rarely 0 – doesn’t know X – N.A. 4. For what purpose do you use the tram? Please, appoint the two most commonly used purposes! Yes No 0 X Go to work or back home 1 2 0 X Go to school or back home 1 2 0 X Escorting children to school or kindergarten or back home 1 2 0 X Work-related administration 1 2 0 X Personal administration or back home 1 2 0 X Doing the shopping or back home 1 2 0 X Sporting or hobby or back home 1 2 0 X Going out or back home 1 2 0 X Something else 1 2 0 X 5. How often do you look at the digital information displays? 4 – all cases if possible 3- often 2 – rarely but sometimes I do 1 - never 0 – doesn’t know X – N.A.

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12.4 D Tramway priority scheme and real-time passenger information system in Debrecen City: Debrecen Project: Civitas Mobilis Measure number: 12.4 D

6. Compared to other sources of information-gathering (handouts, posters) , the digital information system is: 1– much better 3- better 2 – worth 1 – much worth 0 – doesn’t know X – N.A. 7. Regarding the following aspects, to what extent do you think the digital information system helps to provide citizens with suitable information? 1: not at all, 5: to a great extent. 1 2 3 4 5 0 X In providing citizens with up-to-date 1 2 3 4 5 0 X information In providing citizens with information 1 2 3 4 5 0 X about changes in the line (repair, block, etc.) A1. GENDER: 1 – man 2 – woman A2. When were you born? 19 …….. year (IF HE/SHE DOESN’T WANT TO GIVE THE YEAR OF BIRTH , ESTIMATE IT!) 00 – DOESN’T WANT TO SAY AND I CANNOT ESTIMATE IT A3. What is your education? 1 – less, than eight classes 2 – eight classes (primary school) 3 – graduated in vocational school 4 – Gradua ted in a secondary school 5 – have a college or university degree X- N.A A4. Are you working at the moment? 1 - Yes 2 – being on maternity leave 3 – retired 4 - unemployed 5 – housewife 6 – other inactive status 7 – student X – N.A

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