TrainAid: A Smart Onboard Railroad Passenger Information and Entertainment System

Onboard railroad passenger information system (OPIS) is an electronic system that provides audio and/or visual information for passengers on a train. However, information received by passengers is not guaranteed since the information and service provided by the OPISs are diverse and without a common standard. Therefore, we propose a Smart Onboard Passenger Information and Entertainment, TrainAid, for railroad system to deliver real-time travel information and provide value-added information and entertainment services through a smartphone application. The TrainAid system interfaces with existing OPIS devices through a hardware device, TrainAid data processer, to access and extract onboard passenger information and deliver it to the TranAid smartphone application through TranAid server. The TrainAid server will have the option to provide entertainment services to passengers via the proposed smartphone application for media play. The TrainAid smartphone application will provide quality onboard passenger information to passengers through audio, visual, and vibrotactile alerts to ensure ADA compliance. The TrainAid smartphone application will also have the potential to include more attractive services, such as customized traveler information and alerts based on destination, a two-way communication platform between passengers and passengers/train conductors, a platform for promoting multimodal transportation services, and entertainment options for games, music, movies, etc.