TCRP G-01 [Completed]
Information Technologies--State-of-the-Art Applications for Transit Properties
| Project Data |
| Funds: |
$100,000 |
| Research Agency: |
Castle Rock Consultants |
| Principal Investigator: |
Christopher Hill |
| Effective Date: |
12/1/1993 |
| Completion Date: |
12/31/1995 |
|
Information Technology consists of the entire range of tools and applications that enable users to access data to support their needs. Many new real-time information systems technologies exist or are in development. There are few tools for evaluating the viability or applicability of these technologies to public transit. This project will develop evaluation criteria and procedures. Selected technologies will be identified and evaluated against the criteria to indicate the degree of utility for the transit industry. This research will include a review of international developments in information systems.
The objectives of this research were to (1) review and critique state-of-the-art technologies and evolving real-time transit information systems, which can benefit transit properties or patrons; (2) establish criteria and develop evaluation procedures for use by transit agencies to indicate the value of each information system under consideration; and (3) demonstrate the usefulness of these procedures by evaluating several examples of applications drawn from categories such as the following:
· Data acquisition/handling,
· Communications,
· Display mechanisms,
· Storage/retrieval,
· Analysis/action generating, and
· Systems integration.
The evaluation procedures used support implementation decision analysis by transit agencies of varying size from small rural bus lines to metropolitan intermodal agencies. Issues examined included the dynamics of the applications; i.e., how well does an information system integrate into an organization; does a particular information system interact well with its environment; is the information system accurate and reliable; and can the information system adapt easily to new applications.
Many of these information systems are in a state of continuous change. During the performance of this contract, the contractor continually monitored technologies and reconsidered their utility for transit applications.
Status: The final report is complete. It is available on a loan basis.
