Kansas City, Missouri, United States
ITS Technologies in Public Transit: Deployment and Benefits
Summary Information
For nearly a decade, transit properties have been installing and using automatic vehicle location (AVL) systems based on signpost, triangulation, LORAN, and GPS technologies. Transit agencies have also utilized computer aided dispatch (CAD) systems to improve efficiency and service. The most direct improvement enabled by transit management systems relates to schedule adherence. Fleet management systems with vehicle location capability are producing benefits in productivity, security, and travel time. In addition, several operators have reported incidents where AVL information assisted in resolving disputes with employees and patrons.
After an extended analysis of travel times, Kansas City, Missouri, was able to reduce up to 10 percent of the equipment required for some bus routes using and AVL/CAD system. The system allows fewer buses to serve those routes with no reduction in customer service. The result is a savings in both operating expense and capital expense by actually removing these buses from service and not replacing them. The productivity gain of eliminating seven buses out of a 200 bus system allowed Kansas City to recover their investment in AVL in two years. Other transit systems have reported reductions in fleet size of 4 percent to 9 percent due to efficiencies of bus utilization.