01026054

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1971-13

http://scholar.google.com...Marx&publication_year=2006

Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission’s OmniLink is an intelligent transportation system (ITS) assisted, hybrid public transportation service that permits flexible routing combined with the time points of conventional fixed-route services. OmniLink promotes mainstreaming of a significant portion of the disabled population eligible for paratransit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) while reducing the cost of accommodating these passengers. State-of-the-art ITS technology is used to accommodate passenger requests for off-route trips (route deviations). It gives an accept or reject decision to call-takers while the caller is on the phone; schedules all pickups and drop-offs; provides dispatcher oversight; conveys on-time performance and communicates all other relevant information between drivers and the control center; and incorporates passenger counting, navigation assistance to the operator, vehicle inspection documentation, and other utilities. The ITS package includes full post-processing capability to support service analysis and optimization. Initial service began in 1995, but full ITS functionality was achieved only in 2003 after the second procurement attempt. The identified monetary benefits exceed monetary costs by a wide margin. This success can be attributed to more mature technologies, a turnkey project contract model, and refined, firm specifications based on both practical and academic experience. ITS configurations similar to OmniLink’s have the potential to solve several common bus transportation problems in lower-demand areas. Examples of benefits include forgoing or reducing ADA paratransit costs, substituting for large buses at night, serving pedestrian-unfriendly streets, and probing for demand in previously unserved areas.

01037990

English

pp 91-98

2006

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

0309099803

Print

Figures (7) ; References (7) ; Tables (1)

Case studies; Cost effectiveness; Implementation; Intelligent transportation systems; Paratransit services; Persons with disabilities

Americans with Disabilities Act

Flex-route service; Flexible routes; Flexible transit services; Hybrid systems

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Research; Society

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Mar 3 2006 10:49AM

• Benefits of Campus Transit Pass: Study of Students’ Willingness to Pay for Proposed Mandatory Transit Pass Program
• Bi-Level Mathematical Programming Model for Locating Bus Stops and Optimizing Frequencies
• Bus Rapid Transit in New York City: Corridor Evaluation and Screening
• Effects of Bus Stop Consolidation on Passenger Activity and Transit Operations
• Empirical Analysis of Transit Network Evolution: Case Study of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Bus Network
• Implementation of Nationwide Public Transport Smart Card in the Netherlands: Cost–Benefit Analysis
• Method for Balancing Observed Boarding and Alighting Counts on a Transit Line
• Minimizing Transfer Times in Public Transit Network with Genetic Algorithm
• Modeling Consumer Preference for Global Positioning System–Based Taxi Dispatching Service: Case Study of Taichung City, Taiwan
• Near-Side, Far-Side, Uphill, Downhill: Impact of Bus Stop Location on Bus Delay
• Optimal Routing Design for Shuttle Bus Service
• Organizational Structures for Brokerage of Paratransit Services
• Potential Uses of Transit Smart Card Registration and Transaction Data to Improve Transit Planning
• Simulation Model for Estimating Bus Dwell Time by Simultaneously Considering Numbers of Disembarking and Boarding Passengers
• Teenage Mobility in the United States: Issues and Opportunities for Promoting Public Transit
• Utility of Paratransit Modes in Cities of Assam, India