Could the myki card be coming to taxis? Victoria transportation officials have asked Allan Fels, who chairs a task force to investigate Victoria’s taxi industry, to look into the potential for using the myki card for short trips. “The inquiry should be free to consider market-based solutions or public transport ticketing solutions,” officials said. AccordingRead… Read more »
Responding to reports of widespread fare evasion on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NY), a state politician wants to raise the minimum fine from $100 to $500. Last week the New York Daily News reported that lax enforcement made fare beating a financially viable option for some New Yorkers. According to an internal MTA report, scofflawsRead… Read more »
Writing in The Globe and Mail blog, Richard Gilbert asks whether technology has finally caught up to the promise of personalized rapid transit. He cites examples of automated transit that emerged from the urban transportation revolution that started in the 1960s, from Morgantown’s (WV) PRT (which he calls group rapid transit, or GRT) to theRead… Read more »
Curbside intercity buses like Bolt and Megabus, which pick up and drop off passengers on public streets instead of using a terminal, are attracting riders from Amtrak trains and airplanes thanks to cheap fares, WiFi, and free bottled water. In a study of 1,025 intercity bus passengers in six cities, researchers at DePaul University (IL)Read… Read more »
A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office says that federal agencies have not fully addressed concerns about using social media in three areas: privacy, security, and records management. ”The use of these services can pose challenges in managing and identifying records, protecting personal information, and ensuring the security of federal information and systems,” theRead… Read more »
MTA Long Island Rail Road (NY) will spend $3.5 million to upgrade its passenger communications systems. The improvements will allow customers to receive real-time service alerts on their smartphones. Currently LIRR sends out email alerts if trains are running more than 10 minutes late, and MTA’s CooCoo application lets customers access information about schedules andRead… Read more »
A joint city-state audit says that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NY) mismanages its weekend subway diversions, which are required to complete track work, and does a poor job of keeping riders informed. The report from the New York State and New York City comptrollers looked at 29 weekend subway service disruptions between January 2009 andRead… Read more »
Do you have a few hundred Facebook friends? According to the Pew Research Center, you’re pretty typical. A new report looks at how social networking affects our lives in terms of trust, tolerance, social support, and community and political engagement. A few findings: Over half of all adult social networkers are over the age ofRead… Read more »
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NY) is on track to provide real-time information for all Staten Island buses by the end of the year. Yesterday the MTA board approved a contract with VeriFone, Inc., to install the necessary hardware to support the Bus Time application. “Today, our transit system is quickly catching up with our 21stRead… Read more »
Researchers at Carnegie-Mellon University have developed a free iPhone application that predicts arrival times for Port Authority of Allegheny County (PA) buses and light rail vehicles. Because the Port Authority does not track its vehicles in real time, the application relies on community input for its predictions. Called Tiramisu (Italian for “pick me up” —Read… Read more »