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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