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

  • Conscience versus convenience
    June 8, 2015
    David Crawford looks at new ways forward for public transport. By 2025, nearly 60% of the world’s population will be living in towns and cities, increasing their extent and density, and the journeys that people make within and between them. In response, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) wants to see public transport’s global modal share doubling (PTx2) by the same date. “Success in 2025,” a spokesperson told ITS International, “will save 170 million tonnes of oil equivalent and 550
  • ANPR - cost-efficient traffic management, enforcement and more
    January 23, 2012
    Geoff Collins of Vysionics Intelligent Traffic Solutions talks about the near-term prospects of ANPR. The continued absence of a champion for its cause is preventing digital enforcement technology from delivering the true levels of cost-effectiveness of which it is capable, according to Geoff Collins, sales and marketing director of ANPR specialist Vysionics Intelligent Traffic Solutions.
  • Mega trends will challenge transport technology
    June 5, 2015
    Jon Masters investigates some of the longer term trends that will shape transportation over the next 20 years. Business analysts and investors have already placed their bets on a future of technological smart mobility services. In December last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Uber, the on-demand taxi and lift share smartphone app and start-up business, had been valued at $41.2 billion which, as the Journal reported, is an incredible vote of confidence for a company only five years old.
  • Bus service data, better journey planning, better information
    January 30, 2012
    Chris Gibbard and Paul Drummond of Transport Direct on developments in Great Britain in the electronic transfer of bus service data. Great Britain has a dynamic bus market which permits a bus operator to initiate or alter commercial routes by giving a minimum of eight weeks' notice to a registrar (the Traffic Commissioner). A Local Transport Authority (LTA) neither specifies nor determines such services. In addition to commercial bus routes, an LTA will tender and contract for the operation of those additio