Cities around the world are taking a fresh look at monorails, hoping that the single-track elevated systems can provide urban mobility solutions at the right price. The Wall Street Journal writes that an 18-station line has been operating in Chongqing (China) for six years, and new systems are under construction in Mumbai (India), Riyadh (SaudiRead… Read more »
OneBusAway has been telling Seattle-area residents when their bus was arriving since 2006. Developed by University of Washington graduate student Brian Ferris, the application allowed customers use any kind of cell phone to dial, punch in the stop number, and receive an arrival prediction. Smartphone apps followed, and today OneBusAway logs 27,000 unique weekly visitorsRead… Read more »
West Virginia University is upgrading its personal rapid transit system to improve reliability and performance. The first step is to upgrade the communications system from analog to digital; 10 cars have already received new digital computers and the rest of the fleet will be outfitted over the next year. “The next project that we haveRead… Read more »
Portland-area thieves have found a new way to make a quick buck. According to columnist Joseph Rose, scofflaws are using stolen credit cards to purchase TriMet (OR) passes (typically the $88 all-zone pass) and then selling the tickets at a discount. “TriMet passes and tickets have become like cash on the streets,” said Portland policeRead… Read more »
The Port Authority of Allegheny County (PA) has finished installing new fareboxes on its buses and rail vehicles and is ready for 300 students and employees of the University of Pittsburgh to begin field-testing the system. University ID cards have chips that are compatible with the new fareboxes and, as part of the test, theRead… Read more »
Metro Vancouver Transit Police Service (BC) blamed a hacker for a series of mysterious tweets that appeared on its Twitter page last week. The strange comments, which have since been deleted, included “Omg r u in a hospital. U should be. Really life on transit is not like u portray,” and “U r truly aRead… Read more »
After about a month of testing, St. Albert Transit (AB) rolled out real-time bus arrival information. “No one likes to wait for the bus more than they have to, so people using St. Albert Transit will find NextBus will save them time,” said transit director Bob McDonald. “We are pleased to be among the firstRead… Read more »
Known in transportation circles for its personal rapid transit system, Masdar City is an experiment in sustainable urban design. The Guardian’s Jonathan Glancey visited the city and wrote about his experience: Arriving by road from Abu Dhabi – there will be a train in years to come – you swap your car for a rideRead… Read more »
An employee of Cubic Transportation Systems was arrested for creating and selling fake Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority passes. According to Massachusetts attorney general Martha Coakley, the man allegedly made 20,000 “ghost passes” since 2007 and sold them for a discount in person or on Craigslist. Because the passes were made on the same equipment asRead… Read more »
Following a soft launch in March, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (CA) Nextrip real-time bus arrival information is now live. To support the service, LA Metro is upgrading its bus stop signs to display stop ID numbers and QR Codes. Link to full story in The Source. Original post