Skip to main content

Real-time bus arrivals delivered via scan code

Quick Response codes, or QR codes, are being introduced on a trial basis at some local bus stops in Shanghai to allow passengers to check the whereabouts of buses and the expected arrival time of the next bus. Passengers can obtain real-time information on buses by scanning the QR code using their smartphones, allowing them to adjust commuting plans. The service was first launched in Shanghai during late 2012. Almost 90 bus routes serving Pudong New Area can be checked using a smartphone application. People
March 6, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Quick Response codes, or QR codes, are being introduced on a trial basis at some local bus stops in Shanghai to allow passengers to check the whereabouts of buses and the expected arrival time of the next bus.

Passengers can obtain real-time information on buses by scanning the QR code using their smartphones, allowing them to adjust commuting plans.

The service was first launched in Shanghai during late 2012. Almost 90 bus routes serving Pudong New Area can be checked using a smartphone application. People in Shanghai can expect to see it being offered citywide in June 2013 following the completion of the test.

Major bus operator Shanghai Bashi Group said information may not be right during the test. In some cases, passengers can't access their routes. But the operator said in June, after the test is over, locals can expect to see the service citywide.

Despite some problems, several bus passengers welcomed the idea.  "Passengers can be prepared while they wait once they check the real-time status," said one. "If it takes too long, maybe we can choose other means of transportation."

Related Content

  • Time for a rethink on road user charging
    February 1, 2012
    There is no value in further US VMT charging trials, except to delay the inevitable. These trials should end after completion of the University of Iowa's National Evaluation of a Mileage-based Road User Charge. There is far greater promise in unleashing private operators to commence profitable, non-tolling services, then using these for toll assessment and collection as fuel distributors are currently used to collect fuel taxation. Bern Grush writes
  • Don’t understand network infrastructure? Don’t worry
    November 1, 2021
    Rapid changes in technology mean ITS managers now need to understand network infrastructure as well as electrical engineering, says EtherWan’s Jim Toepper. But don’t worry, help is at hand…
  • Spin: work with cities to optimise micromobility
    September 15, 2020
    E-scooter providers must form close partnerships with local governments to create a successful operating environment which the public will accept and embrace, says Spin
  • ITS World Congress debates perceptions of enforcement
    December 4, 2012
    The technical programme of this year’s ITS World Congress in Vienna includes a special session on the image of enforcement. ITS International examines the scale of the problem and what can be done about it. Debate on the merits and difficulties of enforcing speed limits appears centred on a conflict of principles. Put very simply, local communities, people living close to busy or hazardous roads, want to see traffic speeds calmed. Drivers on those roads, on the whole, want their principle of freedom to be m