1. GIS-Based Support System for On-Demand Flexroute Transit Service Brian Smith Priya Durvasula Stephen Brich Center for Transportation Studies University of Virginia

2. Center for Transportation Studies Presentation Outline u Operations vs. Planning u Flexroute Transit u Flexroute Scheduling & Routing u Prototype GIS-Based System u Performance u Conclusions

3. Center for Transportation Studies State-of-the-Practice u Public transportation planning applications Ridership forecasting Route planning u Asset management

4. Center for Transportation Studies Necessary Investments u Hardware and software u Training u Data, Data, Data 50% - 80% of total cost u Can these investments be used directly to support transit operations?

5. Center for Transportation Studies Flexroute Transit u Small number of fixed stops with predetermined schedule u Provide on-demand service between fixed stops when feasible u Required subsystems AVL Communications Schedule/Dispatch Support System

6. Center for Transportation Studies Service Characteristics

7. Center for Transportation Studies Flexroute Scheduling & Dispatching u Direction of Travel Inbound/Outbound u Spatial Location of Requests Relation to Fixed Stops u Temporal Requirements Feasibility of Service Provision u Manage Committed Rides

8. Center for Transportation Studies GIS-Based Prototype u ESRI’s ArcView Avenue (55 scripts) Dialogue Designer Network Analyst u Transportation Network TIGER u Data Management Shapefiles

9. Center for Transportation Studies Pentran -- Agency Partner u Peninsula Transportation District Commission Hampton, Newport News Virginia u Routes 10 & 11 Low density Suburban, semi-urban Low ridership Transfer

10. Center for Transportation Studies Modified Routes

11. Center for Transportation Studies Software Development u Functional requirements u Formal design document u Application development u User acceptance testing

12. Center for Transportation Studies System Components

13. Center for Transportation Studies GIS Functionality u Address Geocoding Use of map interface to fine-tune if necessary (reverse geocoding) Allows for trip direction to be determined u Analysis of Spatial Relations Buffers created to determine initial ride eligibility Overlay operation

14. Center for Transportation Studies GIS Functionality (ctd) u Network Analysis Shortest path problem with time window constraints Shortest path between fixed stops servicing each committed on-demand stop If adding a new trip violates time constraints, trip is not allowed Use of map interface to search for feasible alternatives

15. Center for Transportation Studies System Demonstration

16. Center for Transportation Studies Performance u 4 minutes, on average, required to schedule a trip Includes “customer interaction” time Pentium-class PC u Desktop GIS functionality adequately supports requirements.

17. Center for Transportation Studies Conclusion u GIS can and should be used as a tool in transit operations. u Significant advantages reuse of data training avoid closed, proprietary solutions u Pentran is pursuing a trial implementation of flexroute service

18. Center for Transportation Studies

19. Buffer/Overlay

20. Center for Transportation Studies Input Dialog Box

21. Center for Transportation Studies Output Dialog Box

22. Center for Transportation Studies Direction of Travel