Credit: New York City MTA

New York aims to install interactive touch-screen tablets in subway stations

New York’s MTA is working to add ‘On the Go!’ interactive tablets to its stations that will provide users with directions, service status updates and neighborhood restaurant reviews. These ‘virtual agents’ would sit near the banks of turnstiles, where the station booth and public telephone used to be. The MTA envisions installing 47-inch interactive tablets throughout the entire 468-station subway system.

Going digital at the turnstiles and on the platforms will allow the transit agency to update information and advertising remotely, making them both a way to keep the public informed and a source of ad revenue for the MTA.  According to a spokesman for the transit system, “On the Go! goes far beyond what we can do with paper-based station information. It’s eye-catching, informative and immediate — a huge leap forward in station-based customer information.”

Do real-time updates increase transit ridership?

Continuing with the theme of digital changes aimed at improving the transit rider’s experience, in The Atlantic Cities, Eric Jaffe writes about research that considers how Google is changing the way people interact with public transit. Google Maps and Google Transit already publish schedules for more than 475 transit agencies around the world. Jaffe’s article notes how Google’s public transit activism is helping public-transit users better plan their trips and save time waiting for a bus or train. According to research due out in the June issue of Transportation Research Part C, the Chicago Transit Authority’s Bus Tracker has attracted a significant (if modest) amount of new riders to the city’s bus system. The lesson from Chicago may be that real-time transit information should be marketed to both transit riders and drivers to increase ridership.

Metro’s provides its own real time bus information for smartphones in the form of Nextrip. Other agencies are working on signage — here’s an example from Seattle on the SDOT Blog.

Debate over transportation funding in Atlanta

In Atlanta, disagreements over transit investments are threatening a planned transit tax. In a recent piece in The Transport Politic, Yonah Freemark considers the challenge of getting residents of the 10-county Atlanta area to agree on which projects to fund with revenue from a proposed sales tax increase. While the tax would generate a lot of money — an estimated $6.1 billion over 10 years, that still isn’t enough for every desired project. When MARTA was formed back in 1971 to run Atlanta’s new rail system, the agency served a region with 1.5 million people. Today, 2.6 million more people live in the Atlanta metro area and traffic is among the nation’s worst.

The DeKalb County NAACP has announced its opposition to the tax referendum because the list of projects agreed upon substitutes bus rapid transit for rail in South DeKalb County. The NAACP contends that South DeKalb is being under-served, since the most expensive improvements (more rail) are in parts of the county already served by MARTA. Some transit advocates fear that the NAACP’s opposition puts the transit tax in jeopardy.

Seattle subway tunnel boring almost done

Tunneling on a stretch of Seattle’s underground light rail extension is nearly done. Work on the two mile tunnel between Husky Stadium and Broadway has taken about 10 months or an average of 35 feet per day. A few residents have been perturbed by the vibrations caused by the tunneling but the Seattle transit agency says vibration will not be a problem when the light rail line connecting downtown to Montlake opens in 2016.

A second tunnel boring machine is working on a seven-tenths of a mile stretch that passes below the homes of thousands of people and the I-5 freeway. To follow the University Link project more closely visit Sound Transit.

New double-decker buses in London

Just in time for the Summer Olympics, London is rolling out new double-decker buses. The swanky new red buses are costly at an estimated $36,000 per seat.
First introduced in the 1950s, London’s double-decker buses have long been more than just a way of getting around, especially for tourists. The new buses feature the same distinctive curves as the 50s era buses as well as the hop-on, hop-off rear platform popular with Londoners.

The new buses were an election promise made by Mayor Boris Johnson, who argues that they will help restore civic pride in the city’s now much maligned public transit system. In addition to the buses’ arrival before the Olympics, they also come just 12 weeks before Johnson is up for re-election against an opponent who has made fare increases a campaign issue.

Wayfinding signage in San Francisco

Transportation Nation, a daily blog produced by WNYC, takes a look at the confusing transit signage that confounds San Francisco’s bus and rail commuters. The blog reports that the agency is in the process of revamping all of the Bay Area’s transit signs. By the end of 2012, residents and visitors to the city will be treated to new maps, signs and real-time transit information at rail stations.

As the graphic designer charged with redesigning the way the public navigates the Bay Area’s many transit systems puts it, “It is all about reducing stress, increasing clarity.  You don’t want people unhappy about missing their train because they couldn’t find where the train is leaving from.”

Brooklyn Bridge - City Hall NYC subway station.

If you read my previous post, you know I’m now living in New York City and no longer a regular contributor to The Source.

I will chime in from time to time with a guest post though, and my first such post is simply a collection of observations of New York City transit in comparison to Los Angeles from the perspective of a new resident. You can read Carter’s review of the NYC transit system from the perspective of a tourist here.

• Buses. For the most part, the buses I’ve ridden have incredible frequency during the weekday. I’m talking service every three minutes. Off peak or during the weekends I’ve definitely found myself waiting a while. Bus service is also not immune to special events. A few weeks ago the New York Marathon put bus service in disarray and there was no good information posted at bus stops. I ended up giving up on my planned bus outing since the bus I was waiting for never showed up.
• Nextrip? Not so much. NYC MTA is currently testing real time bus arrivals for three lines, two in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. Aside from the fact that so few lines offer real time information, the information that is provided is not so great. Bus stops do have QR codes, but they lead to a web pages that list every stop unlike Metro’s system which leads to a page specifically for the stop that was scanned. Also, the real time information provided is not given in terms of how many minutes away a bus is but instead how many stops away a bus is. I much prefer Metro’s method. Note: I’ve only tested the real time system on the Brooklyn B63 bus line.

• TAP or swipe? NYC’s fare media is a paper card with a magnetic strip that must be swiped at rail stations or dipped (almost like an ATM card) on buses. Getting a Metro Card from a subway station could not be easier and the ticket vending machines are far superior to Metro’s. The fact that they are touch screen makes them instantly more user friendly. However, the actual act of using the card makes me miss my TAP card. I don’t like having to pull my card from my wallet and orient it correctly every time I need to use it. With TAP I was able to keep my card in my wallet and just tap the wallet on the sensor. Also, more often than not my first swipe isn’t read by the fare gate and I’m forced to swipe multiple times in just the right way to be granted access.
• A portal to my heart. By far the best part of the NYC subway system (and there are lots of good parts) is the fact that stations have so many portals (entrances). One of my biggest issues with the Red and Purple Lines has always been the lack of portal options at most stations. A few of the downtown L.A. stations offer riders plenty of options, but most just give riders one way in and out. Not so in New York where stations often have so many portals it can be downright confusing. But there’s no denying the positive effect of having the stations so accessible from nearly every corner on a street.
• People drive! Yes, people who live in New York City drive, and just like in L.A. many do it because they find public transit inconvenient. A waitress at a local Brooklyn diner revealed to me that she drives from Queens because “public transit would take too long.” Sound familiar?
• There’s a ton of apps for that. There is no shortage of NYC transit apps. A few of my favorites so far: Exit Strategy (essential for deciding which of the many portals you should use), iTransNYC (off line subway navigation) and City Transit (a clean and readable subway map app).

Google maps get live transit updates (Google blog)

The race to get more real-time bus arrival information to more customers is now a little more interesting. Google has launched a service for four American cities — San Diego, San Francisco, Portland and Boston — that allows Google Transit users to view when their bus will actually arrive, as well as any service updates for that line. Of course, Metro recently launched its own real-time bus arrival system, Nextrip, that informs customers when the next bus should show up. The usefulness of having Google do this, as far as I can tell, is that it’s a standardized platform for those using transit in other cities and not wanting to hunt down that city’s real-time website. Google says they’ll expand the service to more cities in the U.S. and overseas. Here’s a video from Google:

A pair of key developments near Expo Line (Curbed LA)

There are renderings here for a couple of developments proposed near the Expo Line’s Culver City station — an area, quite frankly, that can use some filling in. One is a residential/commercial mix and the other, called “The Platform,” is supposed to be a a “hip urban shopping center,” whatever that means (I’m not hip). The Expo Line doesn’t stop in downtown Culver City proper — it’s a short walk between the station and downtown — and I’d love to see more infill development that makes the area between the two more interesting than it is presently.

JetBlue offers free Metrolink rides to Bob Hope Airport for its passengers (LAist)

If you have a boarding pass for a JetBlue flight out of Burbank, that pass is also good for a Metrolink ride to the airport on the day of your flight. That’s an exceptionally smart, nifty-pow promotion! For those new to Metrolink, here’s the schedule for service on the Ventura County Line to the airport, which is on weekdays. The train platform is a very short walk from the entrance to the main terminal. There’s also a free shuttle.

San Francisco Muni NextBus real-time information on an iPhone. Photo by Jamison Wieser via Flickr.

Next week a $1.65-million contract with NextBus, Inc. for a real-time bus arrival system goes in front of the Metro board for approval. If approved, Metro riders could be receiving real-time bus arrival information via text, cell phone, smartphone and web by early 2011.

NextBus currently provides its real-time services to over 60 transit agencies including San Francisco Muni and MBTA (Boston). Here’s a link to a run down of how the technology works.

In our Why You Ride survey series, we asked this open-ended question: “If you could make one change to improve your transit experience, what would it be?“

24% of respondents answered with real-time arrival information.

Metro’s fleet is already equipped with GPS, but if approved NextBus will provide the predictive technology that will take the GPS data and extrapolate it to provide real-time arrival info to Metro customers. In other words, it answers that age-old transit query, “when’s the next bus coming?” with real-time precision.

In addition to having real-time info accessible by phone and web, the plan is to research additional information display mechanisms (station signage, kiosks, etc) with the intent of providing the information where customers need it most: on the street, waiting for their next bus.

The Board will vote on this issue at next Thursday’s Board Meeting. Here’s the Metro staff report on the real-time contract.

Previously on The Source:

• Metro takes first steps towards real time bus arrival information system

Real time bus arrival displays at a bus stop in Vancouver. Photo by Tristen.Pelton via Flickr.

Good news for Metro bus riders: earlier this month Metro took the first step in bringing real time arrival information to bus riders when the agency invited vendors to submit proposals for a Real Time Bus Arrival Information System (BAIS).

Metro is looking for a vendor who can provide an internet-based BAIS that will provide Metro passengers with bus arrival information and Metro staff with fleet management tools. The system must be able to work with fixed bus routes but be versatile enough to accommodate for situations when buses deviate from their routes. To ensure the utmost accuracy, arrival predictions must be based on the actual location of vehicles and not schedule deviations. And bus arrival information must be easily accessible and be able to be delivered to any location – web sites, transit stops, mobile devices, etc.

A real time bus arrival system has the potential to revolutionize riding the bus in L.A. We all know how unpredictable L.A. traffic can be. Combine that with the many variables buses face along their routes and it’s clear to see why a bus might not be right on schedule. But with real time bus arrival information, riders will be able to better plan their travels and hopefully avoid long waits at the bus stop wondering “Where’s my bus?”.

Vendors have until April 29th to submit their proposals. Time to implement the system after a contract is awarded is one of the evaluation criteria, so there’s no way to know right now when bus riders will actually have real time info. But it’s coming.

$4.5M ROLL-OUT WILL MEAN COMMUTERS GET MORE AND CLEARER INFORMATION

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has replaced 1,430 bus stop sign poles with snazzier and more prominent ones that cost $1,000 each.

By March next year, all 4,500 bus stops islandwide will have the new sign poles, costing a total of $4.5 million.

The roll-out came soon after the authority finished canvassing for public feedback on the new design in end-August.

The new sign poles feature a schematic symbol of Singapore island, which can be spotted at all train stations too.

Besides displaying the bus services commuters can flag down, the sign poles will also have location names – usually that of a road, landmark or a nearby building.

Like existing bus stop sign poles, they will also each have a five-digit bus stop code which commuters can use to retrieve bus arrival information via SMS or the Internet.

The LTA added that the public can also use the code to provide feedback on a particular bus stop.

Where necessary, the new sign poles will include a notice board to give commuters additional bus service information, such as connection to an MRT station.

The decision to embark on the extensive replacement exercise was taken after the LTA conducted a review in February last year. The authority  found that 60 per cent of Singapore’s bus stop poles were showing signs of wear.

And another 39.5 per cent of the poles were already 10 years old. Only 21 bus stop poles, or 0.5 per cent of the total number of poles, were relatively new, the LTA said.

“As the majority of the bus stop poles needed to be replaced, this is a good time to improve the design of the poles,” said Mr Chan Kwok Cheong, LTA director of public transport promotion and services.

“The replaced poles will have more distinctive coloured sign plates and bigger bus service numbers. This will make it easier for commuters, especially senior citizens, to read them,” he added.

According to the LTA, the new poles are designed to last at least 20 years.

School teacher Tristan Yeo, 24, said the new sign poles are aesthetically pleasing. “It is an attempt to infuse something symbolic of Singapore in the design,” he said. “Quite nice.”

-  The Straits Times, page B7, Saturday November 29 2009

While I applaud the bus stop pole replacement exercise, there are a few flaws to the design:

- For those with additional information boards, there is no pole space left for bus companies to tie their cardboard press release notices to. This is unlike the old bus stop poles which is practically empty from middle down.

- The bus service numbers are colour-coded according to the bus company running the route; red for SBS Transit and grey for SMRT Buses, as well as a variety of other colour combinations for other special services and even Scheme B routes. While I have no problems with differentiating basic services from special ones, there should not be any differences between SBS Transit and SMRT basic bus services as the bigger notice board(s) planted within the bus stop shelter itself already has colour coding complete with detailed route information. Furthermore, with LTA’s overhaul of the bus network, bus routes may swop operator control every now and then. To repeatedly change the colour codes for all the bus stop poles along the affected routes is not exactly cost-effective.

- The prominent location names and bus stop codes are good additions/improvements and makes it easier for commuters using the various real-time bus arrival information services provided by SBS Transit and LTA. Standardisation of information displays also helps make it easier for commuters make more informed decisions.