transit its implementation guidance public disclosure

Transit ITS Implementation Guidance

Part 1: Introduction to Transit ITS

Prepared for The World Bank Office, Beijing

February, 2009

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Introduction to Transit ITS Page 1

Introduction to Transit ITS

1. Introduction

There has been increased interest throughout the world in improving transit services through the introduction of intelligent transportation systems (ITS). ITS can be defined as a set of technologies intended to improve the quality or efficiency of transit services primarily by providing the appropriate information at the appropriate time in an appropriate form to transit staff and transit customers. The World Bank has participated in the financing of several ITS systems in China. Given the complexity of these projects and their potential for dramatic transformation of transit operating agencies, it is worthwhile to provide some guidance to senior staff from transit systems contemplating ITS projects as well as decision-makers external to the transit operating organizations The World Bank commissioned a series of three papers to assist in this effort. This first paper is a description of the key ITS applications for transit operations and where they are most beneficial. This second paper reviews a number of previous installations and reports on lessons learned, both positive and negative, in the hope of maximizing the effectiveness of technology in improving transit services. The third is a set of Terms of Reference (TOR’s) for professional services associated with ITS project management to assist in project implementation These papers focus more on the organizational and planning issues associated with ITS. There are also a number of technical issues associated with ITS technology, however, including system architecture and communications technology. Site-specific technical guidance from technology experts in these areas should be sought as systems are planned. This guidance is primarily directed to bus transit operators, including those with bus rapid transit (BRT) services. However, the sections on fare collection and traffic signal priority may have some application to streetcar or light rail transit. Vehicle location on such systems is usually accomplished by a signal system used to control switching between tracks. This note serves as an introduction to the topic of ITS for transit. In it, we introduce the various ITS technologies, identify their benefits, and the range of applications where their use is most appropriate. The interaction among technologies in providing information useful to transit system management is also discussed. Of equal importance, we have found that successful implementation of ITS depends not only on the technology but also on the institutional environment in which they are implemented. Since the introduction of technology fundamentally changes the nature of traditional managerial and staff processes, organizations which are able to embrace change and alter their methods of doing business will be more likely to fully benefit from these installations. Accordingly, this paper discusses some of the institutional and organizational factors associated with ITS implementation. From the outset, this note does not advocate for the implementation of specific ITS technologies. Such projects should be undertaken only after a review of the anticipated benefits weighed against the required resource to attain them. This should


also be accompanied by an honest assessment of the technical and organizational capacity of the implementing agency to undertake them. Proper planning for ITS is essential for successful implementation of these projects. Through discussion with several transit managers and staff at various levels of their respective organizations, we have assembled some practical guidance during all phases of implementation including project planning, procurement, vendor selection, installation and post-implementation operation that we feel would be helpful to other transit systems embarking on such projects. It also provides some guidance to implementing organizations in assessing their technical capacity to implement such a project and where this capacity can be strengthened.

2. Background

Transit ITS systems in varying forms have been around for about 30 years. Forward thinking transit systems had introduced some form of automatic vehicle location system well in advance of the currently-used GPS satellite system. There has been more interest in these systems lately for a number of reasons. First, the technology is transitioning from one of custom design and development for each transit system to a stable mature product offering which requires some installation customization of software and hardware. Secondly, the costs of the components of ITS systems such as radios, routers and other devices have significantly reduced. Third, there have been sufficient number of success stories documenting the improvements in operations caused by the introduction of ITS. As a point of departure for this note, four key technologies are described. These include (1) automatic vehicle location (AVL) systems; (2) traffic signal priority (TSP) systems; (3) automatic passenger counting (APC) systems, and (4) fare revenue management systems. Other computer technologies which complement these include vehicle and crew scheduling systems, transit security cameras and intrusion detection and maintenance management information systems. A discussion of these other systems is not included in this report.

3. Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) Systems

The most transformational of the ITS systems are automatic vehicle location (AVL) systems. AVL is a core technology which is needed to drive some other ITS systems such as automatic passenger counters and traffic signal priority systems. Essentially, AVL systems report graphically the current location of all vehicles owned by a transit system. With the introduction of some software routines, buses which are behind schedule can be displayed in a different color than on-time buses. The benefit of AVL systems are primarily their ability to report to dispatchers the on time performance of buses under their supervision and the assist managers in taking corrective actions such as introducing another bus to a route or to hold a bus at a location to increase the gap spacing from the preceding bus. In transit systems which use commercial contractors to perform some or all of the transit operations, AVL is a good way of assuring that the serviced commitment of contractors is fulfilled. AVL systems also provide a large quantity of travel time data


which can be used to improve the on-time performance of transit systems by introducing schedule time which accurately reflect field conditions. The most-common current method of AVL technology is through a satellite GPS (global positioning system). The time schedule and alignment of each bus in the fleet is stored at a central dispatch location. Every few minutes, a radio receiver onboard each bus in service receives its current, latitude and longitude from radio equipped satellites. Once a signal is received, an electronic odometer on the bus is reset to zero and the latitude and longitude are forwarded to the radio control center. The central transit system computer periodically polls each bus and obtains the most recent latitude and longitude and the number of meters traveled from the last GPS reading. From these two data points, the current location can be determined. The polling rate depends on the number of vehicles in the system. It is generally between 30 seconds and 60 seconds. This method of determining location enables reasonably accurate readings where the GPS signal is inaccessible, such as under roadway overpasses and on streets with tall buildings. The figure below shows a schematic diagram of the system. System designers should be mindful of a number of technical factors when such systems are designed. They include an ability to interface with other systems to be installed in the future, bus polling rates and methods of communication between buses and the system control center. Bus polling rates influence the accuracy of the position supplied by the GPS system. It appears that transit systems are using GPRS (global positioning radio systems) offered by mobile telephone providers. These systems, in addition to being relatively simple to deploy obviate the need for the transit operator to maintain a communications infrastructure consisting of radio transmitters and signal towers


The three primary uses of AVL information are (1) providing information to transit system controllers; (2) providing information to customers, and (3) analysis of archival data to assist in transit management.

Controller information – All AVL systems transmit real-time data to a transit control center, where service supervision is performed. A typical control center has a workstation for monitoring the overall transit network performance. More often than not, this image is projected onto a large screen or blank wall. If buses which are behind schedule are shown in a distinctive color, then an overall status of the system can be portrayed.

AVL systems also permit the controller to view activity on a single route or multiple routes within a corridor, which we refer to as the “route observation” mode. From this vantage point, it is easier to identify specific late buses, but more importantly on heavy volume routes (routes with service headway of about 10 minutes or less), the time spacing or “gap” between successive buses. In such circumstances, the controller can communicate via radio-telephone or text message an action to better regularize the headway such as holding a bus at a stop to allow a larger gap between buses. This activity requires some judgment on the part of radio controllers and there are no commercial products which automatically identify short time gaps in headways and recommend corrective actions.

When in the route observation mode, The AVL systems also communicates the scheduled terminal departure time for each bus on a route, so that the controller can monitor their punctuality. The system display also shows scheduled vs. actual departure time from terminals for trips already completed or in progress as well as those about to be dispatched. The controller can override the schedule by delaying bus departures to maintain a schedule gap or to elongate the headway if it is expected that buses will not arrive at the terminal in time to start their next scheduled trip.

This information on scheduled and override departures can also be sent to the drivers’ break or preparation room or the bus yard to alert drivers of their scheduled departure. See the picture below.


These systems also have the ability to communicate text messages to a single bus, all buses along a specific route or all buses in the transit network. In some countries, voice communication by drivers is prohibited while the bus is in motion. Receiving text messaging, in these cases, is permissible. While it is theoretically possible to send this information to field staff at route terminals, transit systems which have implemented AVL systems have moved this function from the field to a control center where several routes are supervised. The second major communication function of AVL systems is to customers. These include customers on-board buses for next stop announcement and customers waiting at stops for the expected arrival times of buses. Next stop announcement via voice as well as through LED scrolling messages, is rather easily accomplished since the computer (either on-board the bus or at a central operations center) has the list of stops along the route and the current location of each bus. Some AVL systems have an external speaker near the entrance door to announce the route and destination of buses. This is most helpful where several bus routes serve a particular stop. A more important use of AVL data is communicating schedule information to customers waiting at bus stops. The ideal information to be communicated would be the expected arrival time at stops of the next few buses. In very congested environments, it is difficult to predict the arrival time with any precision. Some transit systems merely report the stop or stop number associated with the next arriving bus, much like the way elevators display the floor they are on. There are some instances where updated scheduling information can be communicated to customers through telephone or SMS (short message service) messages. One technology is to use an interactive voice response (IVR) system which looks up in a database the expected arrival time of the following two buses and reports them via voice to the customer. The uses of SMS (short message service) by customers to query current schedules is an emerging technology and is a compelling reason for AVL systems use a data architecture which enables the introduction of additional functions in the future. Archived data – A discussion of the use of archived AVL data to assist in transit management is contained later in the note.

3.1 Expected Benefits of AVL Systems

The expected benefits of transit AVL systems include the following:

Reduction in supervisory staffing

Reduction in vehicle fleet requirements

Reduced customer waiting time

Increase in customer service


Supervisory staffing – It is common practice in the developing world to have route controllers at each bus route terminal. Their function is to record actual arrival and departure times, and assist in maintaining between bus gaps on heavy routes by cell phone communication with each other. Given the span of service throughout the day, about 6 full-time equivalent route controllers are assigned to each route. (This assumes 7 day per week, two 8 hour work shifts and two controllers per route – one at each terminal). If that function is moved to a control center, the span of control of each controller can increase dramatically. A skilled route controller can supervise about five routes. This reduces the controller staffing requirement by about 90%. Further, since the arrival and departure data are automatically collected by the system, processing costs are nearly eliminated.1

Vehicle fleet requirements – Since the AVL system tracks the actual time between route terminals, a review of archived data can reveal if there is an appropriate level of schedule recovery and driver break time between trips. By using some statistical procedures discussed in Appendix D, appropriate running times can be established. These times take into consideration the requirement for driver breaks and schedule recovery to allow for variation in actual running time between trips. This analysis may either reduce or increase the number of buses required to meet a service requirement. In any event, this data analysis can be used to improve on-time performance of the system.

Customer waiting time – The behavior of customers arriving at bus stops is too complex to synthesize in this brief note. It is known that when headways are approximately 12 minutes or less, most customers will arrive at the bus stop randomly instead of consulting a published timetable. It is also known that the average wait time on a very frequent route is a function of the published service frequency and the variability of gaps between successive buses2. Imagine a pair of buses operating in a platoon operating every ten minutes. The average waiting time would be five minutes. However, if the two buses were evenly spaced, this mean wait time would reduce to 2.5 minutes. Transportation models reveal that customer value waiting time at a much higher level than in-vehicle time. An estimate of the reduced customer wait time and its corresponding monetary value can be made prior to implementation of an AVL system.

On routes which operate less frequently, on-time performance is a good proxy for customer wailing time. Analysis of AVL data can help identify periods or route segments where on-time performance is particularly poor and remedies can be introduced such as allowing more driver time or introducing traffic signal priority, queue jumps, exclusive bus lanes etc.

Increased customer service – The introduction of AVL systems improves the overall quality if the transit product, particularly for new or infrequent users. Without AVL, customers may be reluctant to choose a transit option due to fear of boarding the wrong bus, exiting at the wrong stop or waiting for a bus after its last departure in the evening.

1 It is highly unlikely that the manually collected data from the existing route controllers is electronically processed except in rate instances of reviewing the on-time performance of the system. 2 The expected wait time E(W) = E(h)/2 + s2(h)/2E(h), where E(h) is the expected (scheduled) headway and s2(h) is the headway variance.


No controlled experiment has been done on estimating the value of such information to customers.

The benefits of AVL, however, must be weighed against the costs. In addition to acquisition and implementation costs, there are a number of staffing requirements with AVL introduction. Since AVL becomes a mission-critical function, there must be a human and physical infrastructure in place to assure reliable operation. Staffing issues with the introduction of technology are discussed later in this paper.

These are the direct benefits associated with transit system investment in automatic vehicle location technology. Transit AVL implementation will increase the competitive positioning of transit service in the urban transportation marketplace and thereby yield a host of external benefits in the area of congestion relief and air quality improvements.

Some practical guidance on implementing AVL systems is offered below:

Arrival and departure time – AVL systems can provide a wealth of management information. Specifically, they can be used to plot trajectories of trips and ascertain the sources of delay including time at bus stops, time at traffic lights, etc. To take the best advantage of this, the AVL system should be designed in such a manner that both the arrival time and departure times at stops are recorded. Some record only the departure times.

Canyon effect – There are frequently areas of limited radio reception in cities. These occur primarily below overhead roadway structures and along streets with tall buildings. Prior to embarking on such a project, someone should perform a study to determine the quality of communications in these areas. Effective operation in these vicinities may require additional transmitters.

Record, playback animation – a desirable le feature of AVL systems is the ability to record and play back the actual path of a bus both in real time and accelerated time.

On-board announcement – depending on stop spacing, it may not be necessary to announce every stop along the route. One might announce location only at major streets and transfer locations.

Data preparation – Regardless of which vendor’s system is selected, it will be necessary to develop baseline data on the location of bus stops (latitude, longitude), the sequence of bus stops which form routes etc. This data capture should be done prior to contract award to prevent it from becoming a critical path activity.

4. Traffic Signal Priority

A common application of ITS in transit is traffic signal priority3 (TSP). TPS is a system in which an approaching bus on a street signals a traffic signal controller device that it is a specified distance from the intersection. If by the time the bus is scheduled to arrive at the intersection, the traffic light appearance will be green, no action is taken. If it is

3 We refer to this system as one of priority, not pre-emption. Pre-emption implies that buses are given unconditional priority regardless of the effect on other traffic, a practice which is rarely done.


expected to be red, an action might be taken. This would include either extending the green time or accelerating the change from red to green.

A number of rules would determine of priority would be granted. These might include (1) grant priority only to late buses or (2) grant priority only if the previous cycle or two cycles have not been interrupted. This second rule is intended to assure that the intersecting traffic is not adversely affected by the shift in phase. It should be kept in mind that an arterial street typically has buses traveling in both directions, so the number of priority requests per hour will be roughly twice the service frequency. When priority is given, a detector advises when the bus has cleared the intersection and resuming normal signal phasing is appropriate. Naturally, this type of system requires considerable co-operation from the traffic engineers who manage the signal system. Usually, TSP operates on several intersections along a corridor. There are occasions where TSP is appropriate for a single intersection. A TSP plan works best if the bus stops are far side. If there is a near side bus stop on the approaching leg of the intersection, the request for priority must be revoked. This is usually done by sending a cancellation message automatically when the front door of the bus is opened. The TSP system has limited reporting features including the number of cycles which were interrupted over a specific time period.

Application and Benefits

The application conditions for traffic signal priority are not obvious. If the traffic light cycles are long (over two minutes), an additional five seconds of green time will not appreciably increase the probability of that an arriving bus will encounter a green signal. Further, if the bus headway is very short – five minutes or less, it is likely that a request


for a phase change will be made at most cycles. This is not likely to be acceptable to the traffic management operator. Further, given the arterial street spacing in most cities, it is likely that at key intersections, bus routes operate on both of the intersecting streets, so that priority given to one of the routes might deteriorate service on the intersecting route. If traffic volumes are very heavy, and it is likely that an approaching bus will have to wait for more than one signal cycle to reach the intersection, the effectiveness of TSP is diminished. A queue jump (described later) can improve this situation. In addition to reduction in overall travel time, TSP reduces the variability of travel time between trips. This is helpful in reducing customer waiting time, particularly on short headway routes. A traffic simulation model should be used to determine the impact of signal priority on travel time means and variability. Prior to introducing a TSP system, other traffic engineering concepts should be applied to a corridor. These include:

Green time allocation – Standard highway engineering practice is to allocate green time in a cycle in such a manner that total vehicle delay is minimized, This usually occurs when the green time is allocated in proportion to intersection approach volumes. A preferable means of allocating green would be to weigh the delay by the number of people processed through the intersection. This would provide more green time to the direction of bus flow.

Improve signal phasing on intersections between stops. If a bus route alignment includes more than one signalized intersection between stops, which frequently occurs on bus rapid transit routes, then a “green wave” should be introduced, so that once the first intersection is cleared, the likelihood of encountering a red signal prior to the next stop is minimized.

Reform pedestrian signals – Pedestrian only signals might be put on actuators activated by crossing pedestrians. In any event, their phasing should be included in any “green wave” of traffic signals between bus stops.

Queue Jumps – A specific case of traffic signal priority is a queue jump, illustrated below. With a queue jump, a bus enters a lane reserved for buses prior to an intersection. There may be a bus stop at the near side of the intersection. The traffic signal system provides a short (5 second) green phase to the bus lane prior to providing the green phase to the other lanes. This enables the bus to more easily re-enter the traffics stream. An AVL system is not necessary for a queue jump, since a loop detector in the bus lane can determine if a vehicle, presumably a bus, is in the lane and the green time advance can be granted.


5. Fare Collection Systems

Of late, there has been considerable interest in using smart cards for bus transit fare collection. This discussion in this section focuses on this type of media for fare payment. While several cities have adopted this technology, the utilization rate (proportion of customers using smart cards) ranges between 30% and 50%. In reality, therefore, smart card fare collection systems are also designed to accommodate cash fare payment. One of the features which differentiates this technology from the other ITS technologies, is that there are not great differences in system requirements among transit systems. The primary feature which differentiates them is whether the fundamental fare system is a flat or zone fare. In the case of zone fares, some method of determining the discharge location of individual customers is required in addition to the boarding location.

So-called smart cards are plastic cards with an embedded RFID (radio frequency identification) chip with a small amount of memory which enables reading from and writing to the device. (see figure below). The memory contains no power but can be energized and communicated with when placed into proximity of a card reader. Each RFID tag has a unique identification number. They have the capability of storing value either as a number of rides or a specific cash value amount. A proximity reader (shown in the photograph below) can also decrement the value stored on the card. Additionally, a smart card can be embedded with a valid date range and used as a period pass. In such cases, the proximity card reader merely reads the date range on the card and determines if the current date in within that range. No writing to the card is necessary for that function. Another very useful feature of smart cards is the ability to add value to the card. This can be done at a free-standing machine or at a staffed fare vendor site. As such, the cards, which cost a few dollars to produce, are intended to be reused by customers.


Fare card systems can be partitioned in to four broad types depending on the type of fare structure and method of fare collection:

On-board fare collection – flat fares On-board fare collection – distance based fares At station – flat fares At station – distance based fares

Flat fare systems are easier to administer since they require a single transaction upon boarding either at the bus farebox or at the bus station. Distance based fares, which depend on both the origin and destination of the trip are more complicated. For flat fare systems, the customer using a smart card places it in proximity to a card reader either at the bus entrance or on the station platform. The card reader can decrement the stored value of the card by either a single trip or a specific cash equivalent value. Alternatively, in the case of period passes, typically for a month, the reader can ascertain that the trip is being taken on a date in the validity range on the card. Each transaction creates a data record of the pass ID number, the date and time and location. The location is fixed for the reader at the station, while an on-board reader can be GPS enabled to record the location of the transaction. From a data management point of view, it should be noted that for center platform off-board fare collection, it is highly likely that there will be a


single point of entry at each station. This prevents the possibility of identifying the direction of travel for such transactions. For distance based fares on a route with stations and off-board fare collection, the customer with a smart card merely places the card in proximity to a reader on both entry and exit. This method is similar to the metro (rail) systems in Beijing, Guangzhou and other cities in which case all paying customer must purchase tokens with RFID tags at vending machines which are valid for a specific set of destination stations. Distance based fares with on-board fare payment can be handled by the user placing his or her card in proximity to a reader on entry at which time the value of a trip to the route terminal is decremented. Upon exit, the customer also applies his or her card on a reader. If the customer leaves the bus prior to the last stop, a credit is applied to the card.

Benefits

These fare systems are designed for revenue security and auditability. However, they can provide a considerable amount of data for operations analysis. The benefits of advanced fare collection systems are purported to be several. These include:

Improved revenue security – Traditional cash farebox systems are vulnerable to theft since there is no way of reconciling the cash received in a farebox against a count of customer boardings. The farebox manufacturers design their systems to reduce cash handling. However, they are still vulnerable to covert theft. Smart card systems, on the other hand, reduce cash handling and enable reconciliation between passes sold and revenue received from vendors. It is difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain the level of theft in an agency prior to implementation of a smart card system..

Faster transaction time – For on-board fare collection, reducing transaction time is very important in reducing stop dwell time. It is alleged that smart cards can reduce transaction time. If a transit system has a very simple fare (flat) fare structure with a payment of a single note or coin, the transaction time difference is not obvious. Transit systems with distance based fares are more likely to benefit from a smart card revenue system.

Reduced revenue processing cost – The cost of revenue processing depends highly on the volume of notes or coins in the system. If most cash fares are paid by notes, processing costs are high since notes must be aligned, properly faced and counted. Prior to making a decision on introducing smart cards, a review of cash handling practices should be performed to determine the staffing requirement for revenue processing.

Improved customer data – A smart card system can provide a wealth of data for ridership analysis, particularly if transactions are geocoded. Even in flat fare systems, knowing the boarding location of customers can be


used in management analysis. There is currently some on-going research in using boarding data to synthesize alighting locations by assuming that a customer’s boarding location was the destination location of the customers’ previous trip that day.

A social issue which should be considered in fare system design is that smart cards have a relatively high initial cost. Thus, they are typically used as multiple ride fare media. Lower income people may not have the cash to prepay transit fares for a weekly or monthly period and therefore use one-ride tickets or cash fares. The practice of discounting multiple fare purchases to encourage smart card use unfortunately exacerbates this problem. Fortunately, these systems are among the easiest to implement because they involve minimal installation on buses and the fundamental processes of fare collection are common to transit systems. Very little customization is involved in their implementation.

6. Automatic Passenger Counters

Automatic Passenger Counters, as the name implies, enables transit operator to record the number of boardings and alightings at each stop on a route. It is generally the practice for transit operators to deploy these in a portion of their fleets (about 15%) and move APC-equipped buses around the system so that each route is regularly covered. APC’s are a fairly straightforward technology. As a customer boards a bus, he or she activates an electronic or mechanical device and a record containing the bus number, bus location (from the bus GPS) and the number of customers boarded or discharged is created. The precise method of counting must allow for the fact that customers both board and alight through the front door. Therefore, a way of discriminating a boarding from a discharge is necessary. Historically, transit systems have used treadle mats on the bus steps in which there is a contact which can identify a sequence of steps as either a boarding or an alighting. Another technology involves two infrared beams mounted on each door aligned with a reflective reader. The sequence of breaking the beam by a customer can discriminate between a boarding and a discharge. The most popular current methods of identifying passengers is through an infrared detector mounted above each door. The detector emits an invisible wave which reflects off a customer. If a customer is walking toward the beam (entering) successive pulses will reflect more rapidly indicating motion toward the beam. The converse is true on discharge. The description of the system is shown in the figure below.


(1) above-door curtain(2) side door single beam

On-bus CPU data sent via radio ormanually via disk to garage computer

passengersboarding or alighting

two locations to determineFront door infra-red beams in

Garage Computer

GPS Satellite sends signal for bus CPUto determine location

Rear door infra-red beams shown as two types:

On-bus CPU collectsGPS location, time,

and passengers on/off

Note that the APCs do not match boardings and alightings so that is not possible to identify origin-destination pairs from this data. The data are captured by a simple on-board computer. There is no driver intervention in the system Data is transferred at the end of the day either through removal of media such as a floppy disk or a thumb drive or through a WiFi connection at the bus garage. There are a number of procedures used in post processing. First, the bus number on the data is matched against a list of trips and stops for the trips assigned to that bus for the day. Each boarding or discharge is then assigned to the closest bus stop. A number of filters and error checking routines are applied to the data. These include items such as:

Assigning discharges at the first stop on a trip to the last stop on a previous trip.

Assigning boardings at the last stop on a trip to the first stop on the subsequent trip.

Balancing the “ons” and “offs” for each trip through some procedure Experience has shown that these systems provide accurate data – within about 2%. If the last stop on inbound trips is also the first stop on outbound trips such as at a customer


terminal, there is occasional confounding of data such as high boarding levels of inbound buses. these can be corrected through appropriate data assessment. There is no technical reason why the APC data cannot be transmitted in real time to the control center. Few transit systems do this. The most useful real time information would be the load on board the bus (difference between cumulative boardings and cumulative discharges). This would enable dispatchers to deploy more buses to a route if it appears that heavy loads are anticipated along the route. The installation of APC equipment requires wiring both the front and back doors to mount the sensors and connecting the devices to an on-board data recorder or computer. Accordingly, it is best if the wiring to accommodate this system is performed during bus manufacture. The rule of thumb of equipping about 15% of buses depends on deployment practices. In several cities, buses are permanently assigned to specific routes. They are painted with the route name and number on them. It would be desirable for all buses on a specific to be treated as an APC bus during a specific day. Accordingly, the APC buses should be signed with variable message headsigns to allow their deployment of a variety of routes.

APC System Benefits

The major benefit of APC’s is their ability to clearly illustrate boarding and alighting patterns of customers either in tables or maps. The common uses of APC data include reports on: Passenger activity by stop – This is a report showing customer boardings and alightings by stop. It can be disaggregated by time of day (AM peak, Midday, PM Peak, etc.). Additionally, this data can be portrayed on a map with circles at stops whose size is proportional to the number of boardings or alightings. This report is very useful in determining the ridership at each segment and identifying the productivity of the stops at the end of the route. It may not be necessary for all buses on a route to serve the outer terminal. Load Factor Analysis – The APC data are able to illustrate the load (number of customers on board) on each link between successive stops. This is useful in establishing appropriate service frequencies on a route. Ridership by trip – This report tabulates the ridership for each trip in the network. It is particularly useful in assessing the service frequency. With good analysis of operating performance data, it is very possible to reduce the amount of service by up to 5% or 7% while having minimal effect on customers. This type of equipment is a relatively easy add-on to an automatic vehicle location project.


7. Reviewing the Organizational Climate for ITS

The previous sections of this note focused on the technologies of intelligent transportation systems applied to transit. Of at least equal importance are a number of management and administrative matters which must be considered prior to the implementation of ITS projects. The institutional climate is an important factor for successful ITS implementation. ITS projects can be transformational within an implementing agency. Transit organizations historically have operated in a data-poor environment where an individual’s experience within the agency is valued very highly. Long tenured employees are felt to have the judgment and intuition necessary to manage the agency. With the availability of more information, decisions can be made on the basis of fact and analysis. This has considerable implications for transit management at all levels of the transit organization. There is a considerable challenge in transitioning from a empirical agency to an information driven agency. Even before the planning for an ITS project, an assessment of the organizational and technical capacity for the project should be undertaken. The ideal management climate for undertaking a sizable ITS project includes the following:

A willingness by management to make changes in the service offered by the transit system in light of better data;

A system with clearly articulated objectives which are well-understood throughout the agency;

A transit system which has some type of performance monitoring system in place to assess the impacts of management changes at the network or route level;

A transit system with clear performance targets for line and staff units; A staff which is skilled in modern management and analysis methods

including project management; A highly developed information technology function within the agency

who can support the inevitable difficulties of implementation and who can support the new system

This is an ideal set of attributes for a transit system which is admittedly difficult to attain, particularly for those agencies embarking on their first major ITS project. However, the more of these conditions which do exist within the agency, the more likely that the benefits of ITS implementation will be fully realized. As a first step in an ITS project, the goals of such a project should be clearly articulated and some assessment of the benefits of ITS technology should be undertaken. It is important to keep in mind throughout the project from its inception to its completion that the objective of ITS projects is not to add technology to the transit system but rather to improve the performance of the transit system as viewed by either customers or external stakeholders such as government financing agencies. In some cases, an assessment may


suggest that a particular ITS technology may not be an appropriate solution to improve organizational performance. For example, traffic signal priority may yield very little benefit in a highly congested traffic environment. Historically, transit systems were organized on a functional basis with organizational units having clear responsibility for functions such as bus operations, vehicle and facility maintenance, finance and administration and marketing and planning. With the introduction of ITS into an agency, the information technology function, which crosses traditional organizational boundaries must be more clearly defined. Further, the internal business processes of the organizational units within the transit agency should be reviewed early in the project development period. Particular attention should be paid to data flows including data collection, summarization, reporting and analysis activities. In several instances, such as on-time performance monitoring, the IT system can automate nearly all the data gathering, processing, summarization and reporting.

7.1 Defining the IT Function

There are naturally some variations in how the IT function is organized within agencies. It will be necessary for a transit system with limited existing technology applications to develop such an information technology function. In larger transit systems, this is best done through a department with a senior manager directly reporting to the chief executive officer. In smaller systems, this might consist of a single person. The activities in this functional area may be performed through a combination of internal staff and outside contractors. The responsibilities of this information technology function include:

In cooperation with executive management, establish priorities and resource allocation for IT projects.

In cooperation with executive management, establish governance policies and clearly define the role of the IT function and its relationship with operating and staff function and transit service contractors.

Establish enterprise standards and regulations including operating systems, desktop tool standardization, procedures on personal use of computers, password changes, offs-site access etc.

Maintain technology infrastructure including: System hardware

o Replacement and renewal o System upgrades o Routine maintenance o Power supply management o Asset identification and management

System software (operating system and common enterprise software) o Install upgrades o Maintain licenses o Maintain passwords


Communications system

o Troubleshooting o Maintenance contracts o Operation during non-business hours

Application software o Upgrade installation o Warranty management o User support from vendor

Perform information technology operations Backup and off-site storage and retrieval Security User support, help desk – work order system

Provide staff training and development New staff orientation Software upgrade orientation Staff development Assure redundancy in staff capability

Perform project development and management Project feasibility studies Project planning Project specification and procurement Project management Project implementation Acceptance testing Post installation operation

Provide IT technical support Database queries Vendor liaison Queries using data from different functional areas

This list is not all-inclusive but represents the types of activities necessary to assure proper use of new technology in transit operating environments. In addition to an information technology function, operating units will have some responsibility for technology management. Among these are:

Establish quality standards for data entry Data error checking System operation Liaison with information technology function Data archiving Work process reengineering Data file creation for new projects


Develop acceptance testing criteria for new systems and upgrades with IT staff

Establish internal (within department) priorities for application development and upgrades

Define reporting requirements Identify staff development opportunities Manage application specific work flows4 Participation in developing application software functional requirements,

vendor selection, etc. The transition to an information-driven agency presents an opportunity to review current business practices and data flows within and between organizational units. A possible scope for consultants (or internal staff) to perform this work is show in appendix A.

7.2 Increased Emphasis on Performance Monitoring

The value of having a performance monitoring system in place prior to or during an ITS project cannot be overstated. Two American authors (Osborne and Gable) have articulated this with the following statement:

“If you don’t measure results, you can’t tell success from failure.” “If you can’t see success, you can’t reward it.” “If you can’t see failure, you can’t correct it.”

We are not advocating any elaborate system for monitoring performance prior to ITS implementation. However, if the objective of the ITS system is to improve either the quality or efficiency of the transit system, then a performance measuring system will enable the project sponsor to measure the efficacy of a variety of management actions intended to improve service. Having a clearly articulated set of indicators also helps determine which ITS systems should be implemented and what priority should be assigned to them. As a point of departure, the following are the types of direct measures of operating performance should be considered:

Total system and route riders (effectiveness) Total customer boardings per bus hour (efficiency) Measures of service quality

On time performance on low volume routes Gap interval at midpoint or maximum load point on high volume

routes. Percent of scheduled trips completed Average speed of buses

4 For example, when new timetables are developed, they must be communicated internally and externally through a variety of means (paper schedules, on-street information, call center, website, dispatching, driver assignment, etc.) This process crosses several functional areas each of which may have tasks lying on the critical path to implementation. Cross function co-ordination of tasks such as this is critical.


Customer quality is not as easily determined by direct measurement. We propose periodic measurement of the bus loads at the maximum load segment – the space between successive stops where the loads are heaviest. A simple measure of customer loading might be the proportion of customers at the maximum load segment traveling in conditions which might be considered uncomfortable. A standard of 60 passengers on 12 meter buses and 90 customers on 18 meter buses would be sufficient. As a point of departure, standing passengers having <.20 m2/passenger should be considered traveling in overloaded conditions. This is approximately the tolerance level for customers. Other useful customer measures are safety (customer accidents per 100,000 boardings) and service reliability (incomplete trips per 1,000) schedules trips. The service reliability measure is highly influenced by crew scheduling and maintenance quality. Prior to the introduction of any improvement measures, a baseline measurement of the how the system performs relative to these measures should be undertaken. This will enable measurement of the effectiveness of measures in the future. A baseline performance report should be prepared.


Appendix A Annotated Bibliography on ITS in Transit with Internet Links Leveraging ITS Data for Transit Market Research: A Practitioner's Guidebook (2008)

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 126: Leveraging ITS Data for Transit Market Research: A Practitioner’s Guidebook examines intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and Transit ITS technologies currently in use, explores their potential to provide market research data, and presents methods for collecting and analyzing these data. The guidebook also highlights three case studies that illustrate how ITS data have been used to improve market research practices.

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_126.pdf Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner's Guide (2007)

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 118: Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner's Guide explores the costs, impacts, and effectiveness of implementing selected bus rapid transit (BRT) components. The report examines planning and decision making related to implementing different components of BRT systems, updates some of the information presented in TCRP Report 90: Bus Rapid Transit, and highlights the costs and impacts of implementing various BRT components and their effectiveness.

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_118.pdf Using Archived AVL-APC Data to Improve Transit Performance and Management (2006)

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 113: Using Archived AVL-APC Data to Improve Transit Performance and Management explores the effective collection and use of archived automatic vehicle location (AVL) and automatic passenger counter (APC) data to improve the performance and management of transit systems. Spreadsheet files are available on the web that provide prototype analyses of long and short passenger waiting time using AVL data and passenger crowding using APC data. Case studies on the use of AVL and APC data have previously been published as appendixes to TCRP Web-Only Document 23: Uses of Archived AVL-APC Data to Improve Transit Performance and Management: Review and Potential.

Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual, 2nd Edition (2004)

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 100: Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual, 2nd Edition contains background, statistics, and graphics on the various types of public transportation, and provides a framework for measuring transit availability and quality of service from the passenger point of view. The report contains quantitative techniques for calculating the capacity of bus, rail, and ferry transit services, and transit stops, stations, and terminals. This document is being translated into Chinese. Completion is due shortly


http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp100/part%200.pdf

Note: This link is for the first chapter only (0 – Front Matter). Other links are as listed below:

Report Parts 0 - Front Matter (PDF Document: 713 KB) 1 - Introduction and Concepts (PDF Document: 391 KB) 2 - Transit in North America (PDF Document: 5.4 MB) 3 - Quality of Service (PDF Document: 2.8 MB) 4 - Bus Transit Capacity (PDF Document: 5.0 MB) 5 - Rail Transit Capacity (PDF Document: 6.5 MB) 6 - Ferry Capacity (PDF Document: 1.7 MB) 7 - Stop, Station, and Terminal Capacity (PDF Document: 3.6 MB) 8 - Glossary (PDF Document: 1.6 MB) 9 - Index (PDF Document: 472 KB) Spreadsheets Bus Lane Capacity ( MS Excel: 40 KB ) Bus Stop Capacity ( MS Excel: 29 KB ) Grade Separated Rail Capacity ( MS Excel: 149 KB ) Light Rail Single Track Capacity ( MS Excel: 26 KB )

Bus Rapid Transit, Volume 2: Implementation Guidelines (2004) TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 90: Bus Rapid Transit, Volume 2: Implementation Guidelines discusses the main components of bus rapid transit (BRT) and describes BRT concepts, planning considerations, key issues, the system development process, desirable conditions for BRT, and general planning principles. It also provides an overview of system types. Bus Rapid Transit, Volume 1: Case Studies in Bus Rapid Transit was released in July 2003.

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_90v2.pdf

Transit Signal Priority (TSP): A Planning and Implementation Handbook (2005) http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/TSPHandbook10-20-05.pdf

transit its implementation guidance public disclosure

Documents