ITS Comes to the States and Canada

The communication possibilities and data generated by ITS can be used for operational control, public information, and service planning.  North American agencies are lagging behind their European and Asian counterparts for several reasons:  the lack of a modern database infrastructure that allows efficient access and distribution of data, a lack of trained staff, and competing priorities for limited investment funds.  But the effort to overcome these obstacles can pay off in cost savings for agencies, time savings and increased ridership, as the following examples suggest.

  Montreal

Over the last twenty years in Montreal, bus lanes of all types, including counterflow, center and curb lanes have been added on the 15 bridges crossing onto the island and along major arterial roads.  What sets the region apart from most of the rest of North America is that some lanes have dedicated signals for buses and taxis.  While such solutions are effective, they can be costly and take years to implement, especially when computerized signaling systems have to be installed or modified at numerous intersections.  Furthermore, despite Montreal’s reputation as a transit-friendly city, bus lanes are still politically difficult to implement if they replace on-street parking. 

ITS offers a potential lower-cost compromise:  bus detection coupled with right-side queue bypass lanes just before and just after an intersection.  When an approaching bus is detected, the right-turning traffic gets a green signal a few seconds early so that the bus can come forward to the intersection.  At the next cycle, the bus is given a signal early so it can cross and then remerge left, putting it in front of all other traffic.

  Suburban Washington, DC

The Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC) began providing its “OmniRide” local transit service in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, in 1995.  OmniRide combines general service with paratransit service using a combination of fixed stops and flexible routing within 3/4-mile corridors on either side of established routes.  Transit schedules have margins for deviations, and the control center alerts drivers to changes.  This integrated system appealed to the agency because it enables them to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act more efficiently than the common alternative – parallel paratransit and fixed route service –  while providing improved coverage to the general public in a low-density suburban area.  The smaller paratransit-style vehicles are also more appropriate for neighborhood streets.

OmniRide’s five routes attract between 6 to 15 passengers per hour.  Call-in requests account for about 13 percent of trips. With the recent increase of daily operating hours, ridership has jumped 58 percent to 1,900 passengers per day.  Further ITS improvements will be added, including a more automated means of communicating with drivers (mobile data terminals) and more accurate location reporting to aid vehicle tracking and dispatching (using GPS automatic vehicle location). This last feature also will allow for the automated statistical analysis needed to refine routes, stops, and schedules.

  Los Angeles

Los Angeles MTA has two new “Metro Rapid” bus routes to complement MetroRail.  They feature low-floor buses with a distinct image, longer bus-stop spacings, and ITS that can  detect approaching buses and give them up to 10 seconds longer to get through an intersection.  Travel times on both routes are now more reliable and have been cut by an average of 25 percent. The increased speed means more service for the same operating budget, for two reasons:  the fleet can make roundtrips at a higher rate, and better service attracts more passengers and revenue.  The Ventura Boulevard line connects with the Red Line subway such that travel time to downtown LA is now competitive with autos.  The investment of about $10 million was modest considering how long these routes are, and can readily be justified by the results -- since their opening, ridership has grown by more 25 percent.

For more information, look to http://www.stcum.qc.ca  for Montreal, http://www.omniride.com  for Virginia’s Omniride, or http://www.mta.net  for Los Angeles.  To find out more about the OmniRide program, please contact Eric Marx at emark@omniride.com .  Eric Bruun can be reached at BruunB@aol.com.