United States Department of Transportation
i
Transmit Evaluation: Transit Application Baseline Data Report
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2002-03-01
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[PDF-2.28 MB]
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Abstract:As part of the FY99 earmarked ITS Integration Program, the TRANSMIT program received funds to expand the use of the E-ZPass toll tag readers to other transportation applications in New Jersey. Operated by Transcom for agencies in NY, NJ, and CT, TRANSMIT monitors the flow of vehicles equipped with toll-tags, thereby providing information for transportation management purposes. This report presents the results of baseline data collection for an evaluation of the use of TRANSMIT for managing the bus operations of NJ Transit at the Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT) in Manhattan. The TRANSMIT application consists of NJ Transit staff using handheld computers equipped with wireless communications to locate specific buses as they pass the E-ZPass readers. Five central objectives for the evaluation of the transit application were identified: to increase the number of on-time bus departures; to enable faster access to bus-status information; to improve communication among NJ Transit staff; to make record storage and retrieval easier; and to provide more accurate and efficient decision-making on reassigning buses. Progress toward these objectives will be assessed by measuring conditions prior to the use of TRANSMIT and comparing the same measurements taken after the system begins operation. This report identifies the specific measures, methods of data collection, and presents the results of the baseline or before conditions. Daily log data on buses kept by chutemen and starters were collected and tabulated to measure the schedule adherence of buses on eleven bus lines chosen for the evaluation that departed the PABT in the PM rush hours of May and October of 2000. Overall, the log data indicate that bus lateness increases as the rush hours wear on and is more pronounced on Fridays and in May. Surveys and an interview with NJ Transit staff were used to investigate current work patterns and identify potential deficiencies that TRANSMIT might address. Among the 17 starters and chutemen who were surveyed, the results show that staff members would like to have more information on the whereabouts of buses than is currently available, and they could also benefit from improvements that would enable them to communicate with greater ease. The interview with a scheduler in the bus planning group indicated that the automated storage of the bus log data made should facilitate the retrieval and use of information for the NJ Transit planning staff.
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