The Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (NY) introduced 14 digital bus stop signs with real-time arrival information. “As soon as a bus is scheduled to be there within 30 minutes, that sign will count down,” said incoming CEO Bill Carpenter. “When it gets within two minutes, it says the bus is due.” The signs costRead… Read more »
Blogging in The Guardian, Charles Arthur asks a simple question: “Which set of open data would you like to get from the UK government so as to have the maximum impact on the open data movement?” (He compares the query to the BBC show Desert Island Discs, which asks guests which records they would takeRead… Read more »
Now that New York City is introducing a bicycle-sharing program, other localities are looking to do the same. Interest in strong in Dallas (TX), bicycle planner Max Kalhammer told The Dallas Morning News. But first the city has to add bike lanes and find funding to complete a series of street improvements so that peopleRead… Read more »
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (DC) has asked 150,000 riders to test a new feature that lets them add money to their SmarTrip farecards online using credit and debit cards and plans to expand the program to all passholders later this month. WMATA initially recruited a smaller group of riders to test the cardsRead… Read more »
New York City has selected Alta Bicycle Share to develop and operate a privately funded bike-sharing program, which is expected to launch in Summer 2012. New York City Bike Share will include 10,000 bicycles at 600 stations, making it one of the largest programs in the world and the first U.S. system to run withoutRead… Read more »
The University of Minnesota is using RFID tags to encourage people to bike on campus. The university will start handing out radio frequency identification chips and begin to register bicycle riders next week. Each time they pedal past one of 20 cellular towers, cyclists will earn points that they can cash in for rewards likeRead… Read more »
The Michigan Municipal League along with Let’s Save Michigan hosted a conversation on Twitter this week to address the need for new transportation systems in the state. The Twitter talk invited experts to share their ideas and answer questions in an online forum with a goal of informing the governor’s new transportation and infrastructure plan,Read… Read more »
Speaking to the London Assembly Transport Committee, Transport for London’s (UK) head of future ticketing Will Judge offered assurances that an open fare system would be safe from “invisible pick-pocketing.” Recognizing that some consumers would be concerned that personal information on their credit cards could be compromised, Judge said that the risks were low. “TheRead… Read more »
Some San Francisco Bay Area transit districts may have to wait an extra year before joining the regional Clipper card program because the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (CA) does not have enough card readers. The agencies already integrated into the program carry 95% of the region’s transit ridership: Bay Area Rapid Transit, AC Transit, San FranciscoRead… Read more »
South West Trains (UK) plans to issue BlackBerry devices to more than 850 front-line customer service staff to improve real-time communication with passengers. Train guards, station managers, and platform staff will receive the smart phones. Staff will be able to access service information from the internal Live Departure Board, along with external travel websites. “ThisRead… Read more »