Abstract
The worldwide economic and financial crisis is trigger g a number of difficulties to several sectors, including public transport industry. Public Transport Operators (PTOs) have fewer resources to invest, nevertheless they need to achieve good results and improve their service offerings. Therefore, this paper aims to present an innovative ticketing solution based on customers' mobile devices, which intends to minimize the investment cost from the PTOs and customers' perspective, maximizing consumer's acceptance. The proposed solution doesn't require any interaction with PTOs infrastructures to purchase or validate a ticket, being solely based on customers' mobile devices with an internet connection. The approach presented in this paper is the result of a project involving the major PTO in Porto city and customers who contributed to the design, requirements elicitation and evaluation of the system. A prototype of the system has already been tested by a group of potential users. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Abstract

Abstract
Providing quality public transportation can be extremely expensive when demand is low, variable and unpredictable. Demand Responsive Transportation (DRT) systems try to address these issues with routes and frequencies that may vary according to observed demand. The design and operation of DRTs involve multiple criteria and have a combinatorial nature that prevents the use of traditional optimization methods. We have developed an innovative Decision Support System (DSS) integrating simulation and optimization, to help design and operate DRT services, minimizing operating costs and maximizing the service quality. Experiments inspired in real problems have shown the potential of this DSS. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.

Abstract
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of value co-creation in complex value networks with many actors. Electronic health records (EHRs) are innovations that warrant deep study to properly introduce such a complex system. Design/methodology/approach - The paper describes a qualitative study based on Grounded Theory to understand value co-creation from multiple actors' perspectives in a National EHR Service Project: the Portuguese Health Data Platform. Findings - Study results enabled further development of the value co-creation concept in complex environments with multiple actors. More specifically they allowed: operationalizing the value co-creation concept by identifying its factors and outcomes, understanding how value co-creation factors and outcomes are interconnected, and understanding of how value co-creation for each actor depends on his/her own actions and the actions of other actors, in a complex set of interactions and interdependencies. Practical implications - The findings have implications for service managers seeking to understand how actors participating in the network integrate resources and interact to co-create value. The study highlights the need for designing and managing services to co-create value, not only by enabling dyadic interactions between the customer and the service provider, but also by supporting and enabling value co-creation interactions among different actors in the network. Originality/value - This study responds to the need for empirical research on value co-creation in many-to-many contexts and for operationalizing the value co-creation concept.

Abstract
Enhancing the travel experience has become a crucial consideration for transportation companies to promote differentiation and customer loyalty. Therefore, transport planners, providers and manufacturers in general are becoming aware of the significance of understanding the passenger experience better, in order to improve transit policies, management and vehicles. The holistic perspective of the travel experience is conceptualized as involving: (1) a thorough set of passenger internal responses (e.g. cognitive and emotional) that are driven by experience factors, some of which are (2) aspects that are not in complete control of the transportation provider, such as waiting areas or the social environment, during (3) all the moments before, throughout and after the trip. Although transportation research has studied the different aspects of transportation quality, empirical studies with such a broad approach to the travel experience and its impact on loyalty are still scarce. This article takes a scale development approach to conceptualize, develop and test a multiple-item scale for measuring the travel experience from the defined holistic perspective, analyzing its perceptual dimensions and outcomes based on a quantitative study with 1226 passengers of a mid-distance bus transportation service. The travel experience scale demonstrates good psychometric properties and consists of 28 items aggregated into seven dimensions or experience factors: individual space, information provision, staffs skills, social environment, vehicle maintenance, off-board facilities, and ticket line service. The study shows that all seven experience factors have a significant impact on customer cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses to the transportation service, highlighting the importance of a broad approach to the study and management of the travel experience. The classical dimensions of individual comfort and vehicle maintenance are the ones with the strongest impact on experience outcomes, showing that transportation providers should maintain a strong focus on providing a good core service. However, other factors such as the social environment have an influence on emotions, which in turn affect loyalty to the transportation provider. These results show the need for a careful study and management of the different aspects of the travel experience, and an integrated design and management of the transport system as a whole.

Abstract
The creative transition from understanding the customer experience to defining the service solution, from current situation to preferred future, is central to Service Design. However, the incorporation of customer experience factors can change along the different iterative cycles of service design. To address this challenge, this paper presents the results of a study of how the path of customer experience was followed, studied and incorporated along a mobile service development. Three iterative Service Design cycles enabled a holistic vision of the service and raised ‘customer experience’ awareness on the development team. Following a design research approach, experience factors were actively taken into account and incorporated along ideation and implementations cycles involving a total of 61 interviews. The research work contributes to Service Design by providing a global vision of the experiential changes, especially in mobile and technology based services. It describes the reframed situations working with experiences at each cycle of design, and making use of service design tools and methods at each moment.