8 Things Chatbots Can do to Improve Your Commuting Experience

Underdeveloped infrastructure, unreliable highway systems, and overcrowded and heavily polluted commercial areas make up the nightmare that commuters are forced to live through everyday in some – if not most – parts of the world. Even though advancements are made on the daily, transportation systems simply cannot be fixed overnight. However, that doesn’t mean public transportation experience cannot be improved.

 

Chatbots can reduce the stress and hassle that comes along with commuting by synchronizing existing transportation systems with a commuter’s travel preferences and ideals. There are 8 ways chatbots can do that; but first, what are chatbots? Chatbots are chat-based programs that can be installed in messaging apps and platforms to imitate human conversations and automate operations for businesses from the most simple tasks such as answering inquiries down to more complicated processes like handling purchases. Chatbots have many uses for different industries; and as for the transportation sector, chatbots can offer the following features and functionalities:

 

• Reduce building time and cost – Transportation companies can invest on chatbots with half the cost and time it takes to reconstruct infrastructure. With chatbots that automate communication and provide instant solutions to simple problems, small inconveniences can be avoided while companies work around the bigger problems.

 

• Social media integration – Chatbots can be deployed across multiple channels so users can access transportation assistance on their preferred social media or messaging platform without having to install or navigate their way through any app for everything will be in guided conversation format.

 

• Provide easy access to information – You may find shortcuts to some places but there just isn’t any shortcut to commuting. However, with chatbots, you can easily and quickly access information so you can have a more comfortable commuting experience. A chatbot can plug you in with bus and train schedules, cross-reference your current time and location with traffic time and destination to calculate ETAs, as well as show total route pricing so you can make accurate predictions of your journey.

 

• Multimedia utilization –  Chatbots can display maps, photos, GIFs, live videos, and other interactive media aside from text to enhance user experience and maximize utilization.

 

• 24/7 instant transportation assistance – A chatbot can assist commuters by answering inquiries and taking charge of in-app transactions anytime, anywhere, at once, in a few clicks or under 140 characters. With natural language processing capabilities of chatbots, they can identify user intent through keywords and respond with the right results. If you’re looking for directions, a chatbot can send you a detailed map of your starting point to end point. If you’re lost, a chatbot can inform you of nearby bus stops. If you’re running late, a chatbot can fill you in on the next train arrival time or even make advance payments for you which you can redeem via QR code scan. And all of it can be done by simply having a conversation with a chatbot.

 

• Real-time updates – Chatbots can send alerts and updates so commuters can be notified of ETAs and whenever there would be a delay in the arrival of buses or trains due to site rehabilitations, platform repairs, and area blockages. This way, commuters don’t have to rely on fixed schedules to make sure that they get to where they’re going on time.

 

• Record and learn from user preferences – Through machine learning technology, a chatbot can record and learn from information input by a user.. If you once indicated that you commute via bike or are travelling with a child, the chatbot will remember and adjust its future responses according to your preferences.

 

• Provide suggestions – By recording and learning from a commuter’s preferences, the chatbot can then provide travel recommendations such as lower-priced rides and alternate routes to help them commute better.

 

Change in the public transportation scene can begin with a chatbot. Start saving the transportation sector one chatbot at a time! Book a bot demo now and innovate a transportation assistant chatbot with Alfafusion; a pioneer digital marketing and IT firm that builds serviceable chatbots.