Researchers confirm overcrowding alerts can help maintain social distancing on UK public transport

A service that predicts passenger intent to travel can be used across the UK rail network to reduce overcrowding and help people maintain social distancing. Researchers from the University of Birmingham's Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) worked in collaboration with British technology start-up Zipabout to validate the data powering the service, which was designed by Zipabout. Their results prove to industry it is ready to be used by all public transport operators. The personalised information service, powered by patent pending technology which can identify how busy the transport network will be, will inform all UK rail passengers how disruptions and crowding may affect their journey. It will be particularly valuable in providing information to passengers through the covid-19 pandemic and increasing confidence in rail travel. The UK Government announced in May 2020 the service would be made available to all UK rail passengers and have since expanded it to include all users of National Rail Enquiries via the 'Alert Me by Messenger' service. The rail industry had asked for cast-iron guarantees that Zipabout's crowding data is truly accurate before deploying the service at scale.