Lab Project – UNITRANSMODEL WEB PORTAL

The primary goal of the UniTransModel system as a whole is to provide the public with information. Because of this, the Journey Planner application’s user interface has been designed to be as user-friendly as possible. This means that the data presented to the user is organized in such a way to convey all the required information to the user without overwhelming them with its volume.

The user interface for the main Journey Planner route planning functionality has been designed as a single page (Figure 1). Other pages include additional information about the web site, the transport operators, lines, timetables etc.

The whole web site is available in three languages: English, Serbian and Hungarian.

This feature allows the user to start a new journey plan through specifying the parameters for the search. It has two main modes of operation: simple search, which uses only the parameters which are mandatory for the search to be conducted; and an advanced search mode, which will allow the user to provide more details about their journey through additional search parameters.

The simple search mode (Figure 2) is used for specifying the start and destination of the journey and the time of the journey. Both the start and the destination can be set by entering the name of a stop (station) or an address. For both, the autocomplete options will assist the user. There is also an option to set the start or destination by pinning them on the map. The time of the journey can be set as time of departure or time of arrival.

The advanced search mode (Figure 3) introduces several more search parameters. The return journey section can be used for planning a return journey. Here the user can specify date and time of the return journey (again, as a time of departure or time of arrival to the destination). In the advanced options section the user can select which modes of transport they wish to use and exclude the ones they do not wish to use. There is also the box for choosing the criterion which will be used to select the results which are best for the user: you can prefer the fastest journeys, journeys with the least distance of walking sections or journeys with the minimum number of transitions between different transport vehicles.

Once the user is satisfied with the search criteria they have specified, they initiate the search for a journey plan. The results of the search are first shown to the user as a list of all the different possibilities that the search engine has found (Figure 4). The list shows the most important information about the whole journey plan (start and destination, date and time of the journey) and summary information (overall distance, duration price, modes of transport used etc.). This serves as a starting point from which the user can choose to view a detailed description of a particular journey plan.

When a journey plan is selected from the list, a detailed view of that journey plan is presented (Figure 5). This includes a list of all sections (steps on the journey) with all relevant information for each section: where and it starts and ends (the name of the station), arrival and departure time, which mode of transport is used on that section, information about that mode of transport, if available (for example, the number of the bus, the name of the transport operator), what distance is travelled on that section and how long will it take approximately.

The whole journey is also displayed on the map (Figure 6), with sections presented in different colors (depending on the mode of transport). The user can jump from station to station by selecting a journey section from the list and see all relevant information about the stations along the route.

The detailed view of a journey plan can also be displayed in a printer-friendly version.

The Timetables section of the site (Figure 7) presents information about transport lines, timetables etc. The user starts by selecting a station (by entering its name or by pinning it on the map). A date and time can also be selected. The search will present a list of all lines which pass through the selected station at the selected time or later. The web site presents basic information about each line (number, name). When the line is selected from this list, its timetable is displayed, with a list of stations it passes through, as well as the times of departure and arrival to/from each station. The line’s route is displayed on the map.

The UniTransModel web application is one part of the UniTransModel project and in order for it to work, it relies on components developed by other project participants. External components include:

• Routeplanner Service – This is the module of the UniTransModel system which provides access to the core search functionality (journey planning).

• Data Services – This is the module of the UniTransModel system which provides access to transport data.

• Map Services – These are multiple external web service modules (Google, Bing, MapQuest) which provide map display and different map services (geocoding, routing etc.).

The Web Services module serves as a mediator between the core UniTransModel service components (Search Calculator service and Transport Data service) which provide data, and the web application and mobile applications which consume this data.

Figure 8 shows the architecture diagram of the web application.