Using Transit AVL/APC System Data to Monitor and Improve Schedule Adherence

The implementation of automatic transit data collection via Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and Automatic Passenger Counting (APC) systems provides an opportunity to create large, detailed datasets of transit operations. These datasets are valuable because they provide an opportunity to evaluate and optimize transit operations using methods that were previously infeasible and without the need for expensive manual data collection. This thesis develops a methodology to utilize data collected by typical AVL/APC system installations in order to (a) develop advanced performance measures to quantify schedule adherence and (b) automatically determine the causes of poor schedule adherence. The methodology addresses the difficulty that many small to medium sized transit agencies have in utilizing the data being collected by proposing a methodology that can be automated, thereby reducing resource and expertise requirements and allowing the data to be more effectively utilized. The ultimate output of the proposed methodology includes the following: 1. A ranked list of routes by direction (for a given time period) that identifies routes with the poorest schedule adherence performance. 2. Performance measures within any given route, direction, and time period that identify which timepoints are contributing most to poor schedule adherence. 3. Statistics indicating identified causes of poor schedule adherence at individual timepoints. 4. A visualization aid to be used in conjunction with the cause statistics generated in Step 3 in order to develop an effective strategy for improving schedule adherence issues. With this information, transit agencies will be able to act proactively to improve their transit system, rather than wait until they discover problems on their own or hear complaints from passengers and drivers. The methodology is tested and demonstrated through application to AVL/APC system data from Grand River Transit, a public transit agency serving Waterloo Region in Ontario, Canada

Postnatal expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by rat peripheral neurons

Synaptogenesis is a complex process involving several steps that ultimately results in the matching of neurotransmitters released from the presynaptic nerve terminals with the appropriate receptors expressed by the postsynaptic neuron. In this thesis, I examined one step in the process of synaptogenesis, the expression of postsynaptic receptors. Cultured neonatal rat nodose neurons are a good model for these studies; in vivo, nodose neurons do not form synaptic contacts, but interestingly, when they develop alone in dissociated tissue culture most neurons express nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and form de novo cholinergic synapses. First, I investigated the factors that influence nAChR expression by nodose neurons. I determined that in vivo, only 40% of nodose neurons have functional nAChRs, however, when grown alone in culture more than 80% express nAChRs and the majority have ACh current densities comparable to those on neurons that normally received cholinergic innervation. I found that ganglionic satellite cells control nAChR expression by nodose neurons, whereas trophic factors, such as nerve growth factor (NGF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), can up-regulate ACh current density in the absence of the satellite cell influence. Second, as several different genes encode nAChRs, I was interested in determining the nAChR transcripts expressed by nodose neurons; mRNA for $alpha3, alpha5, alpha7, beta2, beta3$ and $beta4$ were detected by RNase protection assay. In addition, these changes in differentiated properties suggested that nodose neurons were developing a phenotype resembling that of autonomic neurons. Consequently, for comparison, I examined nAChR expression by rat sympathetic neurons, both at the functional and molecular level. Superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons express five nAChR transcripts: $alpha3, alpha5, alpha7, beta2$ and $beta4.$ To address which subunits are incorporated into the functional receptor, I used both electrophysiolo

Identifying Causes of Performance Issues in Bus Schedule Adherence with Automatic Vehicle Location and Passenger Count Data

Automatic vehicle location (AVL) and automatic passenger counting (APC) systems can provide rich archived databases for analysis. Previous work has focused on using AVL-APC data to evaluate system performance using various quantitative performance measures and data visualization methods. Given the large volume of data, there is a benefit to automating the creation of performance measures and data visualizations and pushing interesting information to users, rather than requiring users to create the performance measures and figures and sift through them on their own. This paper presents a methodology for identifying bus stops that are not meeting performance standards for schedule adherence and the factors that cause inadequate performance. The methodology is designed to be automated and therefore can be applied efficiently to AVL-APC data for an entire transit network. Use of this proposed method will enable transit agencies to identify service quality issues and their root causes more efficiently

Transit “Pass-Through” Lanes at Freeway Interchanges: A Life-Cycle Evaluation Methodology

Transit “pass-through” lanes provide transit vehicle priority at freeway interchanges. “Pass-through” lanes allow a transit vehicle to exit the freeway at an interchange, cross straight through the intersecting arterial road, and re-enter the freeway. This treatment allows transit vehicles to bypass congestion on the mainline between the beginning of the off-ramp and the end of the on-ramp. This paper outlines a methodology to evaluate if transit “pass-through” lanes are economically justified at a given interchange and provides a method for prioritizing candidate locations. The methodology provides an objective and consistent decision making method, reduces the effort required for practitioners to assess the need for “pass-through” treatment at a given interchange, and helps ensure that limited resources are directed towards interchanges that are expected to experience the greatest benefit per dollar spent. The proposed methodology is based on an analytical approach that compares the value of travel time savings (for passengers and transit vehicles) with the construction and maintenance costs of the transit “pass-through” lane treatment