U.S. Public Transit Systems Traveling Web 2.0 Style
June 3, 2008
David Sullivan, Sr. V. P. of Planning and Technology
Hampton Roads TransitJessica Wei
Strategic Partner DevelopmentGoogle
U.S. Public Transit Systems Traveling Web 2.0 Style
• About Hampton Roads Transit• Transit on Web 2.0
– Google Transit Trip Planner– TimeTable Publisher Open Source Initiative– Online Community use of Transit Data
• Hampton Roads Transit – Leveraging Google Web Opportunities– Google Calendar– YouTube Video– Picasa Photo Repository– Google Analytics
What is Hampton Roads Transit?• Regional provider of public transportation in Hampton Roads
– Chesapeake– Hampton– Newport News– Norfolk– Portsmouth– Suffolk– Virginia Beach
• 47 regular fixed routes• Shuttle services—Norfolk Electric Transit, Portsmouth Loop,
and VB Wave (Virginia Beach)• Paddlewheel Ferry across Elizabeth River• Handi-Ride services for those ADA eligible• TRAFFIX promotes ridesharing, telecommuting and other
commuter-targeted programs
Facts about HRT
• Public agency in existence since 1999 • Headquartered in Hampton; has a major
operations facility in Norfolk that serves the south side of Hampton Roads; owns transfer centers and utilizes park-and-ride lots across the region
• Over 15 million rides taken on HRT services in 2007
• Over 70% of every trip taken on HRT services is to get to/from work
HRT Governance
• Governed by a Board of Commissioners- Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads (TDCHR)
• Consists of 2 council members from every city in HRT’s service area as well a member of the General Assembly and Commonwealth Transportation Board
Agency Budget
HRT contracts with each city in our service area separately, and each city determines how much service is provided in their area.
Federal 31%Local 30%
State 16%Passenger Revenue 23%
Passenger Revenue – 23%Federal Funding – 31%State Funding – 16%Local Funding – 30%
Virginia First: Google Transit
• HRT became the first transit agency in Virginia to utilize Google Transit
• Free web-based trip planning tool that provides a detailed itinerary using public transportation
• HRT’s partnership with Google saved the agency approximately $200,000
Google Transit
• Built on Google Maps• Free Transit Trip Planner• Get step-by-step transit
directions• Find transit stops in your
area• View station information
and schedules• Compare transit trip cost
to driving• Includes 37 U.S. Transit
Systems
Benefits of Using Google Transit
• Transit Riders– Easy to use
– Simplifies complex timetables and schedules
– Multimodal
– Powerful map engine
– Tied to all of Google’s search results
– Plan trips across multiple systems
– No URL’s to remember
• Transit Agencies– Free
– Extract data from existing service planning systems
– The “Google” effect
– More current maps
– No place name database to maintain
– Attract new riders
– Improve coordination
TimeTable Publisher Tool
TimeTable Publisher • is an open source application• enables a transit agency to examine, modify, and
transform raw scheduling data into easy-to-read timetables
• simplifies and accelerates the production of printed on-street and web schedules
• results in more accurate, current, and consistent schedule information for the customer
• produces timetables in a variety of formats• is designed to use data directly in the Google Transit Feed
Specification (GTFS) format• can be very easy to implement
Effective Date
Schedule & Time Points
Map with Time point& Transfer Location
Transfer Location& Connecting Route
Services
Route Information
Information Flow Using theTimeTable Publisher
GTFS Configuration Configuration
Input Parameters
OutputOutputTimetablesTimetables
TimeTable Publisher
Benefits of TimeTable Publisher Tool
• Open Source application• Helps Marketing to prepare public schedules and
timetables in various formats• Easy to use• Information is dynamically generated• Minimal effort to implement• Acceptance of Google Transit Feed data makes the
generation of raw data very simple and standardized• Timetable output can be produced in a variety of formats
Online Community Use• Promote innovation and public transit by
providing resources to an emerging creative class • “GTFS is a lightweight, open format that provides
a common, easy way to exchange transit data. You don't have to be Google™ to use it.” - Tim Moore, BART
• “Can we leverage existing software development by exposing data to the public?” – TriMet
Special thanks to Tim McHugh CTO TriMet Portland for the following examples.
Developers are
scraping schedule data off websites anyway.
GTFS offers a more stable solution with Terms of Use.
Developers are
scraping schedule data off websites anyway.
GTFS offers a more stable solution with Terms of Use.
IAmCaltrain.com
Source: “Caltrain station and route data was scraped from the Caltrain Website… The results of their work can be downloaded in
the form of a MySQL Dump.”
IAmCaltrain.com
Source: “Caltrain station and route data was scraped from the Caltrain Website… The results of their work can be downloaded in
the form of a MySQL Dump.”
TransitTrips.com
Sits on Google Transit Makes it easy to
save links to common trips
TransitTrips.com
Sits on Google Transit Makes it easy to
save links to common trips
PublicRoutes.com“…believes in allowing
public information to be shared openly by municipalities across the country in hopes of maximizing
travel efficiency and better
serving the greater public.”
PublicRoutes.com“…believes in allowing
public information to be shared openly by municipalities across the country in hopes of maximizing
travel efficiency and better
serving the greater public.”
Stop & Service Finder mtsotp.com
Built on the GTFS – other agencies coming Finds all stops, buses & trains in an area
Stop & Service Finder mtsotp.com
Built on the GTFS – other agencies coming Finds all stops, buses & trains in an area
TransitMaps.orgDraws route lines using GTFS
TransitMaps.orgDraws route lines using GTFS
Garmin StreetPilot“…TriMet responded and pointed me to the GTFS developer site… by far
the easiest experience I’ve had getting information from a public
agency.”
Brett Warden, TriMet Rider & Software Developer
Garmin StreetPilot“…TriMet responded and pointed me to the GTFS developer site… by far
the easiest experience I’ve had getting information from a public
agency.”
Brett Warden, TriMet Rider & Software Developer
Direct access to
Real-Time Datavia web services
Direct access to
Real-Time Datavia web services
TriMet On My iPhone
Free Application for iPhoneTransit next arrival times
“At first I was just going to scrape the Trimet site to get the information. But
then I came to find out that Trimet actually has a really nice API to all their
tracking information!”
Matt King, TriMet Rider & Software Developer
TriMet On My iPhone
Free Application for iPhoneTransit next arrival times
“At first I was just going to scrape the Trimet site to get the information. But
then I came to find out that Trimet actually has a really nice API to all their
tracking information!”
Matt King, TriMet Rider & Software Developer
TrainCheck.com
Free SMS Services for Cell Phones
Access to transit next arrival times
TrainCheck.com
Free SMS Services for Cell Phones
Access to transit next arrival times
TransitCastPresents arrival times and locations
of buses that are approaching a selected stop
TransitCastPresents arrival times and locations
of buses that are approaching a selected stop
Web Service for TriMet Trip Planner
Access to Planned Trip Itineraries
Offers alternative to screen scraping for applications like Dadnab
Web Service for TriMet Trip Planner
Access to Planned Trip Itineraries
Offers alternative to screen scraping for applications like Dadnab
Mobile Trip PlanningUsing my cell phone, I can
get public transit directions to the nearest pizza place from
my current location.
Current GPS Location, Current Time,Requested Event/Place
En Route Planned ItineraryTo Event/Place
Location-BasedService(LBS) Formatted
Return
FormattedRequest
WebService
API
TripPlanner
Trip Planner Web Service Example
TriMet builds the API and the applications are unlimited
Trip Planner Web Service Example
TriMet builds the API and the applications are unlimited
Public Feeds PageBy making the GTFS data publicly
accessible, you can avoid addressing multiple and varied data requests on
an individual basis.
Public Feeds PageBy making the GTFS data publicly
accessible, you can avoid addressing multiple and varied data requests on
an individual basis.
Hampton Roads Transit – Leveraging Google
• Google Calendar
• YouTube Video
• Picasa Photo Repository
• Google Analytics
Google CalendarThe HRT Community Calendar uses the Google Calendar and
is embedded on the goHRT.com website.
Google CalendarThe HRT Community Calendar uses the Google Calendar and
is embedded on the goHRT.com website.
YouTubeFollowing a citizen recommendation,
HRT uses YouTube to share video clips of a modeling simulation of a new light rail line currently under construction.
YouTubeFollowing a citizen recommendation,
HRT uses YouTube to share video clips of a modeling simulation of a new light rail line currently under construction.
Picasa Web AlbumsHRT’s intranet site uses the
Picasa’s web albums to provide employees with access to the
company's photo gallery.
Picasa Web AlbumsHRT’s intranet site uses the
Picasa’s web albums to provide employees with access to the
company's photo gallery.
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