A service that predicts real-time arrival times by utilizing location information technology that takes into account factors such as road congestion

Highway Bus Arrival Time Prediction Service

Michinori Holdings, Inc. (hereinafter: Michinori HD) is a company that contributes to regional development through its transportation businesses, including buses, railways, and monorails. The company, together with its group company Aizu Bus Co., Ltd. (hereinafter: Aizu Bus), has begun offering a "Arrival Time Prediction Service" for highway bus passengers on Aizu Bus's highway bus routes, utilizing location information technology provided by HERE Technologies (hereinafter: HERE *1). Monstarlab, commissioned to develop this service, participated in the project from the technical investigation stage. They were responsible for the requirements definition, UX/UI design, product development, and operation/maintenance phases.

Challenges:

Public transportation services are often subject to arrival delays due to route congestion and weather conditions. Highway buses are particularly susceptible to these factors. The uncertainty surrounding precise arrival times posed a risk of diminishing user satisfaction among highway bus passengers. Consequently, there was a growing demand for a service that could provide accurate real-time arrival information.

Solutions:

Initially, Monstarlab conducted a validation of the hypotheses held by Michinori HD. Specifically, UX designers actually rode Aizu Bus's highway buses to investigate the elements of an excellent user experience. Based on the data obtained, they repeatedly verified and explored the ideal experience to be realized.

On the development side, engineers from the Hanoi office were assigned to the project. They combined HERE's location information technology with unique logic tailored to the specific circumstances of each route, aiming to improve tracking accuracy.

Furthermore, in terms of UI design, A/B testing was conducted with overseas members unfamiliar with Japanese to pursue an intuitively operable design. On the user interface, they avoided using specialized terminology from the bus industry, focusing on a design that is easy for even users unfamiliar with bus travel to understand and use.

Results:

Following its release, the service garnered attention and was featured in various media outlets. Furthermore, actual users provided positive feedback, stating that "it's helpful for choosing which bus to take because you can see the tendency for delays." This success led to its horizontal deployment to the airport bus routes of Kanto Jidosha, a group company of Michinori HD. Monstarlab continues to provide maintenance, operation, and ongoing support for the service.