Blog Archives
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Using Analytics to Transform Public Transportation Efficiency
By Brian Stein - Friday March 18, 2011Already operating at a deficit, many public transportation organizations are being tasked with achieving “more with less.” Now, as they strive to improve the quality and efficiency of the services they provide, they must also balance intense budgetary pressures with surging demand for public transport options. To put this in perspective, the American Public Transit Association (APTA) reports 10.2 billion trips were taken in 2008, up from 7.7 billion in 1995 . Against this backdrop, increasing numbers of transit authorities are turning to data analytics to provide them with critical strategic insights into passenger demand trends, scheduling, fare collection and underlying business efficiency. Held Back by Siloed Information Until... -
Obtaining LEED AP + Specialty Credentials
By Deeta Bernstein - Friday March 11, 2011When the LEED AP + Specialty credential was introduced, I was the first “legacy” LEED AP on my block to sign up. I did this in part to be the test case for my team so that I could gain insight and hopefully make their experiences easier. While my newly re-tooled credential sat waiting for further action, the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) formalized additional tools and strategies related to credential maintenance; this was one instance where delay was a good thing. When I circled back to start recording my credential maintenance efforts, I found there was a learning curve — getting through the login process, using the reporting/tracking portal and understanding the categories that GBCI uses for prescriptive... -
I'll Take Smarter Transportation for $1,000
By Gerry Mooney - Tuesday February 15, 2011There’s no shortage of data when it comes to transportation. Mountains of it are being generated by buses and trains, cars, roads, sensors, parking meters, signals – you name it. Add in the constraints of the system and the realities of your infrastructure and it can seem like a never-ending race to keep the trains and buses running on time or the traffic running smoothly. Advanced technologies are already making transportation smarter – from algorithms that can help predict when and where traffic will occur before it’s a problem to software that can help determine when to take a train care out of service for maintenance before an issue develops. But what does the future hold? A glimpse can be seen this week in what’s sure... -
Taking Mobile Digital Signage to a New Level
By Denise MacDonell - Thursday February 3, 2011Wouldn’t it be great to watch real news, sports and live programming while on your commute to and from work? Never having to miss an episode of your favorite show or footage of the latest sporting, world or local news event happening in your community right now? Well now it is possible. In the Spring of 2009, Harris Corporation, in partnership with WRAL in Raleigh, N.C., and LG Electronics, launched the first over-the-air broadcast of mobile DTV to the general public broadcasting to a fleet of 20 public transit buses in the city. Using Harris Corporation’s MPH system to simulcast WRAL’s live channel, and mobile DTV receivers and Harris Infocaster Digital Signage systems installed on the buses, the live mobile broadcast... -
Let's Stretch Our Mass Transit Security Funding
By Larry Mays - Thursday January 27, 2011It’s no surprise that since 9/11 the federal government has spent far more money defending airports against terrorist attacks than has been spent protecting subway and rail systems. According to a recent report by the marketing research firm, Frost & Sullivan, the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration have spent approximately $20 billion on aviation security, compared to roughly $960 million on mass transit security over the nine years since the attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. This is despite a major disparity in the number of passengers selecting their mode of transportation. Roughly 700 million passengers travel through U.S. airports annually. Compare that to the more... -
Molly the Trolley - Bus Conversion
By Ron Anderson - Thursday January 13, 2011The Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) runs a circulator route called “Molly the Trolley” through the downtown area seven days a week and to the Fort Worth Stockyards on Saturdays. For this service, we use year 2000 Chance trolleys. Since implementation of this service, it has become more and more popular with the locals as well as visitors to the city. This vehicle is no longer produced, so it became apparent that we needed to augment this fleet in order to maintain the service our customers have become accustomed to. We took two transit vehicles out of the bus fleet and converted them to a trolley “look-alike.” We decided on two 30’ buses that were soon to be removed from service because of age. Since the...
