ADVANCED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AT CALIFORNIA TRANSIT AGENCIES

There has been much interest over the past five to ten years in the application of new information technologies in public transit. Several recent surveys have examined applications at the national level, focusing on successful applications of technology but not giving a sense of the context of the transit industry as a whole. To provide a better assessment of the current state of the practice, this research identifies and investigates the current technical and institutional framework for information technologies at public transit agencies in California. This evaluation is intended to provide a view of what has and has not been done in California and what mechanisms have influenced the adoption and long-term use of advanced public transportation systems (APTS) technologies. To investigate these topics, a broad survey of transit agencies in California was conducted, followed by detailed site visits and interviews with several representative agencies. The survey suggests considerable interest and application of automatic vehicle location (AVL) systems and electronic stored-value fare media among transit agencies across the state.