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The transit industry is experiencing an unprecedented combination of factors that seriously affect transit service provision.  Rising fuel costs have driven many commuters to use public transit as their primary method of transportation to and from work.   To make matters worse, motor fuel tax revenues are down as Americans traveled 3.3% fewer miles during the second quarter of 2008.  The bottom line is that transit agencies are attempting to do much more with much less. That’s where ITS solutions from NextBus come in.

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What We’ve Learned Recently from Our Research about Your Top Challenges

In August 2008, NextBus conducted research among transit executives to determine their most important challenges. 

The five following issues were rated extremely important by more than 75% of respondents.  That is, they ranked these issues 8, 9 or 10 on a scale of 10 in terms of importance to them. 

The NextBus suite of products can go a long way toward tackling these issues and delivering affordable solutions.

Five Major Transit Management Issues Made Manageable with NextBus Solutions 

1. How to run an efficient, on-time system.  A myriad of problems confront transit executives as they work to achieve on-time results both consistently and cost effectively.  AVL & APC technologies from NextBus empower executives by showing them what is working well and what is working poorly for every vehicle and every route.  In addition, easy to generate reports point the way to facilitating changes that can dramatically improve on-time performance for every single route.
2. How to provide a highly predictable route system.  It is impossible to run an efficient transit system without a high degree of predictability.  Moreover, it is extremely difficult to provide that predictability without AVL & APC systems that provide continuous updates–and takes into consideration random factors such as vehicle breakdowns, traffic jams, and unexpected Emergencies.  NextBus was designed from the ground up to provide accurate arrival times across a variety of routes.  Of course, this high degree of predictability benefits both transit executives and their riders.
3. How to gather highly accurate ridership and other operations performance data.  Optimal transit efficiency depends not only on getting buses and trains to each stop in time, but also on the balancing of passenger loads to prevent both overcrowding and empty vehicles.  You can leverage our passenger counting capabilities so that you can even out bus loading at the appropriate time of day on the appropriate route.
4. How to cope with significantly increased cost of fuel.  Real-time passenger information enables you to minimize the use of expensive fuel without compromising perceived service levels.  You can make a broad range of operational changes from major to minor, all of which improve efficiencies. Thus, you can serve more passengers and more routes without needing to add more buses. Because your riders receive real-time arrival information, they can make their travel plans efficiently even when buses run slightly less often.
5. How to increase ridership.  Many more passengers would take advantage of public transit if they believed it to be both efficient and reliable.  Real-time passenger information available anytime and anywhere delivers on both counts.  Because they know exactly when the NextBus will arrive-and can even receive reminder alerts in advance of that arrival–they can make riding public transit more attractive than driving private automobiles.

The bottom-line: By deploying NextBus systems, you can both simplify and improve your transit operations.  Complex decisions become much easier.

New Service to Improve Transportation Experience for Students, Faculty & Staff

The University of Baltimore shuttle service, operated by Capital Executive Transportation, is already well organized.  The university objective is to take it to the next level by making it as easy as possible for its commuter population to get where they need to go on campus on time.

They provide convenient, free shuttle service that runs in a continuous loop around campus, stopping at each of the designated shuttle stops that are shown on the campus parking map.

Although there isn’t a fixed schedule, the estimated average wait time between shuttle buses is 10 minutes which varies with traffic and road conditions. The shuttle service is also equipped to provide transportation for disabled community members.  At all times, one van in service is designed to accommodate those disabled riders.  In addition, the university runs a shuttle to and from Coppin State University. 

Once the NextBus system is installed, students and staff will be able to plan precisely on the arrival of the next bus–and to get the information on campus LED signs, on their computer, and on their cell phone, PDA or iPhone.  They can even set alarms to remind them to check for the exact arrival time of the shuttle van they want to board.

Based on more than 50 installations, the University can expect both ridership and rider satisfaction to increase soon after the NextBus system is up and running.

 

Web connection and graphical interface provides perfect source for bus arrival information.

Millions of iPhone users can take advantage of the built in web browser and the good to great connection speeds to find out when the bus they’re looking for will arrive. 

Here’s how to put your iPhone to work finding you the next bus:

1. To access NextBus information using your iPhone, specify the URL: www.nextbus.com on the phone. You can choose to use mobile version or the full-featured website.
2. Select your location, your transit agency, your route, and then your stop.The most current prediction for the arrival time of the next vehicle will then be displayed.
3. We highly recommend that you “bookmark” the pages you are most likely to use. First, select the stop or stops you most frequently use such that the current prediction is displayed. Then bookmark the stop by hitting the ‘+’ at the bottom of browser window.
4. You also can add your stop info to your home screen so it will be instantly available.
5. If a prediction is already displayed on your phone, simply push the ‘refresh’ link at the bottom of the page to get the most up to date information.

NextBus!  Now you have one more reason to buy an iPhone–or to get much more value from the one you own.

$9.9 Million Contract for Implementation of Real-time Passenger Information System

The Board of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) approved the recommendation for award of contracts for the Next Vehicle Arrival System to Grey Island for its NextBus System. Total value of the contracts is $9,920,000.
The TTC operates the third most heavily used transit system in the USA and Canada serving over 450 million customers annually in the Greater Toronto Area. The TTC provides this service to the City of Toronto with an extensive network of subways, streetcar lines, bus routes, and a specialized service, Wheel-Trans, for people with disabilities.

The purpose of the NextBus project is to develop and implement a system to provide TTC riders with vehicle location, vehicle arrival time, and other transit related information.

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