Smart travel in Eindhoven: insights from the chatbot pilot

Traveling to the Parktheater or the Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven was a lot easier and more sustainable last year. This was due to a pilot with two smart digital assistants: Charlie and Emma. These chatbots helped visitors plan their trip via WhatsApp. Brainport Bereikbaar sees opportunities for the chatbots in the future.

Just don't drive to the city centre for once. But how? During a pilot, Charlie and Emma supported travellers in planning their visit. Why? Mobility broker Jan Waalen explains: 'Traffic in the city centre of Eindhoven can be busy. Reducing that pressure is essential for a cleaner, more sustainable city. We wanted to see if Charlie and Emma would help visitors sufficiently to plan their journey smartly and efficiently and if this would lead to more sustainable transport choices.'

Pilot as a basis

The pilot ran from 5 September to 31 October 2024 together with BUKO, the Muziekgebouw and the Parktheater. Jan: 'BUKO arranged the technical side, the cultural institutions contributed their visitor knowledge. Visitors could easily get travel advice via WhatsApp, 24/7, in multiple languages and with attention for the return journey.' During the pilot, a lot of effort was also put into communication. Senna Heijnen, project officer Target Group Approach: 'There were screens at the ticket sales, service emails, banners in the buildings and updates in the FAQ sections of the websites.'

Lessons from the pilot

The pilot has now been completed and we are looking at how we can best process the lessons learned from the pilot. Jan: 'Despite the fact that research showed there was a need for travel information, the chatbots were used relatively little. We think that the travel information can be better integrated into a chatbot that also offers general information. The idea now is to use the chatbots for broader, general hospitality services. In addition, we discovered that the travel information in the chatbot is especially valuable for large events or road works. We will also take these insights into account when improving the travel information for visitors to the region.'