Personal Mobility

A survey conducted on behalf of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC)
2006 Transit Connectivity Plan found that travelers use all available sources of transit
information including in-person assistance, printed materials and Web sites to support
pre-trip and en route transit trip planning. According to the plan, customers also showed a
strong interest in real-time departure information, wanting the information to be logically
located and easily readable. Kiosks were cited as one of the ways that the real-time
information could be disseminated. In order to provide these sources of information to the
public, three key Bay Area transportation agencies – Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART),
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SF MTA or Muni) and MTC –
partnered on the Transportation Information Kiosk Project, which began as a one-year
pilot in the Embarcadero BART/Muni station in San Francisco.

Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

Traveler information is exchanged between public sector agencies, private companies, and private citizens. The World Wide Web is one of the most widely used dissemination mechanisms, along with voice telephony. Wireless Web access is rapidly growing. Most Web-based information exchange, however, can be classified as semi-automated. The information is primarily formatted for, presented to, and used by a human. The information is formatted for presentation using HyperText Markup Language (HTML). It is difficult to cost-effectively automate the processing of large amounts of HTML coded material, because the HTML doesn’t provide information about the meaning of the data, just how to present it. For this reason, the Web has not been a particularly attractive mechanism for fully-automated exchange between computer systems.

This paper describes the TripInfo proof-of-concept prototype. TripInfo has successfully demonstrated the applicability of XML to traveler information integration. TripInfo uses XML to integrate traveler information from multiple sources, and provide trip-based, rather than inkbased reports. The rational for the project, the project itself, and the lessons-learned are described.

Mitretek Systems

Presented at the 11th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, June 4-7, 2001 Miami Beach, Florida

The United Kingdom has deployed innovative strategies as part of their ITS program. These
strategies include active traffic management, congestion pricing, multimodal traveler information
web sites, integrated demand management, etc. The purpose of this paper is to review the best
practices and lessons learned from their experiences for possible application in the United States.

AECOM USA, Inc.

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, May 3-5, 2010, Houston, Texas

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has relied on customer feedback
to assess the effectiveness of its travel information program, including 511Virginia program.
VDOT launched a statewide 511 service in February of 2005, and in 2007, the system was
upgraded with several new services added, largely based on the input of the systems’ regular, as
well as, casual users. VDOT has a long history of collecting and measuring user satisfaction,
going back to the deployment in 2002 of its regional traveler information service covering only
the I-81 corridor.

Virginia Department of Transportation

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

Safety (and security) is one of many factors influencing the mobility of individuals in urban
environments.  In this context, the concept of safety refers to many aspects such as safety
from physical attacks, safety of people with special needs, or even a psychological sense of
safety.  Mobility refers to all modes including walking.  A real or perceived lack of safety
may impact the urban mobility of individuals and result in behavioral modifications such as
location avoidance, travel mode change, etc.  Current and future information technologies,
many related to developments in ITS, have the potential to positively impact the real and
perceived safety of individuals.  Examples include smartphones, GPS, the Internet, and smart
cards, which enable communication, access to information, localization, monitoring,
authorization, etc.  With the increased use of information technology comes accessible
information for people to use, but about them as well, hence the need to critically assess
technology and address the potential privacy issues of using it to enhance safety and mobility.

Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York