GUIDANCE FOR DEVELOPING AND DEPLOYING REAL-TIME TRAVELER INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR TRANSIT

The advent of automatic vehicle location systems not only has provided the transit industry with tools to monitor and control operations, but with the opportunity to provide customers with real-time information. This real-time information enables existing and potential riders to make better pre-trip and en-route decisions. Providing real-time information has additional benefits to the transit agency: improving customer service; increasing customer satisfaction and convenience; maintaining or increasing ridership; and improving visibility of transit in the community. This document offers guidance for transit agencies that are considering the deployment of real-time transit information systems. An understanding of the current state of the practice in these systems is presented, along with information on the components of successful systems, issues and challenges that must be addressed in deployment, recommended practices for successful deployment, and a description of the future of these systems. Tables, figures, appendices.\n