Due to corona, the importance of passenger distribution in public transport has increased in a short time. HTM is the public transport company of and for the Hague region. HTM has long been firmly anchored in society in The Hague and with its trams, light rail vehicles and buses, it is a recognizable and familiar face in the region. With over 2.000 employees, they provide an important part of the collective passenger transport over the rails and by road in The Hague and in the region. HTM therefore started this week - October 6 - with a busy indicator. With this, an estimate is made on www.htm.nl and in the HTM travel app whether it is quiet or busy on the tram or bus during a journey.  

Even before the corona era, multiple studies showed that people would like to know what the quiet moments are when traveling by public transport. This increases the comfort of the trip for them. This is now also possible with the busy indicator. Based on passenger numbers from previous weeks, a prediction is made of bus and tram crowds. This allows travelers to see what crowds we expect at any given time. The congestion forecast is displayed in trip planners and on the website, so travelers can opt for a quieter ride if they prefer. This is therefore an indication and not real time information. Sometimes there are special circumstances or circumstances that cause the actual activity to deviate from expectations.

The predicted crowds are shown in the trip planner with a symbol of one or more figures. With one doll it is quiet and there are many seats available, with two dolls the occupancy is average, and with three dolls there are very likely only standing places available. The busy indicator is in collaboration with MRDH via the Innovation route established. This is also in line with the national initiative of public transport companies to provide crowding information as part of the corona measures.

Also read: Critical SWOV report on the BSO bus, the new Stint