30 research outputs found
Tram and Bus Tracker: A Dynamic Web Application for Public Transit Reliability
Currently transit quality information such as timetable adherence, bus arrival times and route performance has usually been disseminated through static environments on web-pages, paper documents or other different media. This paper describes a dynamic Geographic Information Systembased
Web application which displays the same information through a dynamic web application. Using data collected from an Automatic Vehicle Location System (AVL), a map-based interface has been created to allow travellers and operators to see routes, stops and buses in motion. The collected information is archived for off-line analysis. The system allows users to query and display day-to-day management of operations as well as to generate static performance reports to provide a complete view of the transit system
reliability
Haptic Transit: Tactile feedback to notify public transport users
To attract people to use public transport,
efficient transit information systems
providing accurate, real-time, easy-tounderstand
information must be provided to
users. In this paper we introduce
HapticTransit, a tactile feedback based
alert/notification model of a system, which
provides spatial information to the public
transport user. The model uses real-time bus
location with other spatial information to
provide feedback about the user as their
journey is in progress. The system allows
users make better use of „in-bus‟ time. It
allows the user be involved with other
activities and not be anxious about the
arrival at their destination bus stop. Our
survey shows a majority of users have
missed a bus stop/station whilst undertaking
a transit journey in an unfamiliar location.
The information provided by our system can
be of great advantage to certain user groups.
The vibration alarm is used to provide tactile
feedback. Visual feedback, in the form of
colour coded buttons and textual description,
is also provided. This model forms the basis
for further research for developing
information systems for public transport
users with special needs – deaf, visually
impaired and those with poor spatial
abilities
Modeling Passenger-Flow in Real-Time Bus Tracking System
Transit networks in the real world are similar to
data transfer across a computer network. In this paper, we
present the similarity and differences between computer
networks and transit networks. We have developed a
passenger-flow simulation model and we tested the effects of
transit services provided on passengers in term of delay and
passenger quality of service. We present the passenger’s
behavior at bus stops, factors that affect passenger’s
interactions with buses, and the performance of buses. The
objective of this research is to provide operators with improved
metrics and better tools to manage the public transit network.
In this paper, the overall transit network performance has been
evaluated and summarized
Integrating Real-time Bus-Tracking with Pedestrian Navigation in a Journey Planning System
Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) systems provide real-time location information for emergency
response, delivery services and freight transport. The advent of AVL systems has meant both public
and private bus operators can implement systems to provide real-time passenger information, analyse
their service performance and also to evaluate the quality of their operations. Traffic congestion,
intersection delays, weather and operational conditions are some of the factors that make it difficult to
predict the accurate bus arrival time in a real-time environment. In a joint project between NUI
Maynooth and Blackpool Transport, a dynamic web application was developed to display and update
vehicle locations (bustracking.co.uk) (Winstanley et al. 2009) and to provide predictive bus arrival
times at stops.
A journey by bus is usually part of a longer door-to-door itinerary, usually involving walking before,
after or between bus segments. The passenger is really interested in door-to-door journey times when
making decisions about time of departure and which bus to catch. Therefore journey planners that
combine the pedestrian and bus journeys are required and indeed several such systems exist, such as
Transport Direct (2009), Traveline Midlands (2009), Google transit (2009). However these systems
are mainly designed to plan journeys in advance and so base their decisions on the fixed bus
timetable. For last-minute planning, and also for updating journey plans as-you-go, real-time bus
locations and short-term predictions of bus arrival times at stops can be used to give more reliable
journey times taking into account delays due to congestion, diversions and other factors. This paper
describes an experimental system that combines bus tracking and pedestrian navigation
Handling positional uncertainty in a real-time bus tracking system
Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) systems are increasingly being used by transit agencies for the real time monitoring of their vehicles. AVL systems can be used to improve the service given to passengers by using informat8ion on the current position of buses to maintain headways or increase reliability by improved operational control and provide an estimate of as to the arrival time of the next bus at the stop. In real-time bus tracking systems, some positional uncertainty is usually associated with eh location of buses in service that are tracked using a locational device such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. Rather than raw coordinates, the location is usually better understood in terms of the landmarks along the route, particularly the named stop. Three prediction models have been implemented to estimate the location of vehicles on bus routes. Analysis indicates that one based on mining historical data for patterns gives more accurate results than regression and Kalman filter models when travel is disrupted by one-off events
Visualizing Public Transport Quality of Service
The recent advances of geo-positioning hardware, computer software and mobile communications have combined to offer new opportunities for improved public transport services. Today many transportation companies are using the Global Positioning System (GPS) and wireless communication systems (e.g. radio data systems or GSM/GPRS) for communicating their vehicle location information and other details to a central server (Predic et al 2007) (Kane, Verma and Jain 2008). By tracking their bus fleet in real-time, operators can monitor schedule adherence and service efficiency, give better operational support and provide users with real-time service information. There are several bespoke systems commercially available to do this
Handling positional uncertainty in a real-time bus tracking system
Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) systems are increasingly being used by transit agencies for the real time monitoring of their vehicles. AVL systems can be used to improve the service given to passengers by using informat8ion on the current position of buses to maintain headways or increase reliability by improved operational control and provide an estimate of as to the arrival time of the next bus at the stop. In real-time bus tracking systems, some positional uncertainty is usually associated with eh location of buses in service that are tracked using a locational device such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. Rather than raw coordinates, the location is usually better understood in terms of the landmarks along the route, particularly the named stop. Three prediction models have been implemented to estimate the location of vehicles on bus routes. Analysis indicates that one based on mining historical data for patterns gives more accurate results than regression and Kalman filter models when travel is disrupted by one-off events
Using haptics as an alternative to visual map interfaces for public transport information systems
The use of public transport for daily commutes or for journeys within a new city is
something most people rely on. To ensure users actively use public transport
services the availability and usability of information relevant to the traveler at any
given time is very important. In this paper we describe an interaction model for
users of public transport. The interaction model is divided into two main
components – the web interaction model and the mobile interaction model. The
web interface provides real-time bus information using a website. The mobile
interaction model provides similar information to the user through visual user
interfaces, gesture based querying, and haptic feedback. Improved access to transit
services is very dependent on the effectiveness of communicating information to
existing and potential passengers. We discuss the importance and benefits of our
multi-modal interaction in public transport systems. The importance of the
relatively new mode of haptic feedback is also discussed
Software for the Control and Analysis of Public Transport Systems
Public transport systems play an important role in providing mobility, combating traffic
congestion, reducing carbon emissions, and improving economics. However, until recently,
public transport systems have not exploited the full potential of information technology to
improve their services and keep passengers informed of current service information. In order
to convince people to leave their car at home and use public transport systems, a number of
ways has been suggested, including reducing fares, introducing quality bus corridors and
improving the public transport services reliability. However, the most effective strategy to
achieve this is by improvements through the dissemination of up-to-date pertinent information
and the reduction of perceived unreliability.
The research described in this thesis presents a methodology for developing a cost-effective
public transport software system which can improve transit services and provide potential
passengers with real-time transit information in an easy to understand and accessible way. The
system also provides the transit operator with tools for monitoring, analysing and measuring
their service. In order to reduce the cost of the communications and tracking infrastructure, the
system uses a vehicle location system based on GPS/GPRS positioning technology that
significantly reduces the cost of implementing real-time public transport tracking.
A number of features, including tools in the area of transit data visualisation, bus arrival time
estimation, Quality of Service index calculation, delivering transit data on mobile devices and
real-time navigation using the transport system are implemented. A test system was evaluated
on a working bus route in a large town. The system demonstrates that sophisticated analysis
and monitoring tools can be implemented cost-effectively. It is intended that by providing
real-time passenger information, vehicle and route monitoring for transit operators and offline
analysis and measurement of transport system performance the public transport system
will have a resurge of use. It would also reduce route congestion, fuel consumption and carbon
emissions
Tram and Bus Tracker: A Dynamic Web Application for Public Transit Reliability
Currently transit quality information such as timetable adherence, bus arrival times and route performance has usually been disseminated through static environments on web-pages, paper documents or other different media. This paper describes a dynamic Geographic Information Systembased
Web application which displays the same information through a dynamic web application. Using data collected from an Automatic Vehicle Location System (AVL), a map-based interface has been created to allow travellers and operators to see routes, stops and buses in motion. The collected information is archived for off-line analysis. The system allows users to query and display day-to-day management of operations as well as to generate static performance reports to provide a complete view of the transit system
reliability