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Transit agencies play one of the most important roles in not only our daily lives but the overall function of the modern urban era – optimizing public transport.
With this, you’re likely looking for the best ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your public transport, for operators and riders alike.
Let’s look at some of the ways Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) can be the key to optimizing public transport for your network…
Put the passenger experience first
One of the best ways to optimize your public transport is to focus on the main aspect – the public. How you approach the rider experience can be essential to boosting your transit agency, and there are many ways ITS can help:
Journey efficiency
You can use real-time vehicle monitoring to ensure riders have the most efficient journeys with your service.
Using on-board tracking devices, you’ll receive accurate positional information for all the vehicles in your fleet, which you can use to find suitable routes for travel at all times of the day.
ITS can offer suggestions for optimal routes that better navigate congestion, delays, and more, leading to a smoother and faster journey for riders.
Passenger information
ITS can also provide real-time passenger information to keep riders fully informed of the expected arrival times of vehicles at a stop.
As these times change due to delays, diversions, etc., the systems will update the information in real-time, without the need for manual intervention.
This helps riders know the most accurate data for the predicted length of their journeys, so they can plan more effectively around it.
Increase revenue and cut costs
Another way to optimize your public transport is to increase revenue and minimize costs where possible. ITS can help you achieve this in several ways:
Meet rider demand more effectively
ITS can help you identify transportation gaps and offer insights into how you can meet rider demand.
During peak times of the day, for example, you can adjust your schedules to ensure no revenue is missed from unmet demand.
You can also have the right number of vehicles active at one time to maximize rider capacity, thus bringing in more revenue.
Be more cost-efficient with operations
You can also use ITS to cut costs with efficient operations. By making sure each vehicle is traveling the best route to every stop, you can be more economically sustainable with your fuel consumption.
Also, ITS can help you choose the right schedules for your vehicles, so you only use what’s needed at one time, without spending on excess drivers or vehicles.
Maintain seamless and efficient operations
It’s also important to maintain a smooth and seamless way of traveling for your public transport operations, and ITS can provide the right insights to help with this:
Clear and prompt issue resolution
ITS can not only detect when issues arise but also predict their occurrence. For example, a faulty ticket machine or an issue with the vehicle.
This can give command centers accurate in-moment control over every situation, so they can immediately resolve the issue, whilst mitigating the impact on operations to keep things running smoothly.
The right flow of vehicles at a stop
You can also use ITS to provide a seamless flow of vehicles at each stop. If vehicles arrive too early or late after the previous vehicle at a stop, this can lead to missed revenue and a crowded transport experience for riders, for example.
ITS can be used to track the positions of vehicles and offer suggestions for when they should be arriving at the next stop.
This can help create an optimal spread of vehicle arrivals to meet demand seamlessly and manage capacity properly.
Do these key components of public transport resonate with your transit agency? Could you benefit from cost-effective operations, improved rider experiences, and efficient operations?
If so, it might be worth considering ITS for your transit agency, and all the benefits it can bring to operators.