ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 2, 1996 TAG: 9604020042
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
The wind is howling, the rain is pouring, and you're standing at the curbside stop shivering, wondering when your bus will arrive.
According to the schedule, the bus should have arrived minutes ago. Then again, it could have arrived exactly one minute before you got to the bus stop.
It's a familiar scenario for anyone who takes a bus. For Blacksburg Transit riders, however, the wait could become easier.
Within the next few months, Virginia Tech researchers will install special equipment on 25 Blacksburg Transit buses and five vans that ultimately will tell riders how long they will have to wait at the bus stop. The new technology is part of a $525,000 project conducted by Tech's Center for Transportation Research.
The goal of the research project is to make the transit system more efficient with technology that can monitor the exact location of buses at all times.
The information, which will be gathered at a central dispatch point, would then be used to calculate arrival times at bus stops. Researchers will try several methods of communicating the arrival time to riders, including a display monitor at the bus stop, over the Internet and the phone.
The technology is part of the Global Positioning System - known as GPS. The locations, and subsequent arrival times, are determined through signals from roaming satellites. Large cities such as Houston and Tokyo already have implemented some of this technology.
"You can force people to ride transit or you can make it a friendly system," said Robert James, the center's assistant director of business development.
Half of the project's $525,000 cost will be funded by the Federal Highway Administration and half by state government, Tech and two private companies. Blacksburg Transit will contribute $43,188 to the project, mostly with equipment and staff time.
The transit system purchased radio equipment and applied for a radio channel through the Federal Communications Commission that would be used specifically for data transmission, Manager Michael Connelly said. He also anticipates a staff member will devote eight to 10 hours a week to working with Tech researchers.
"To me, the most important benefit is to enhance the amount and quality of information that's available to riders and potential riders of this bus service," Connelly said.
After the equipment is installed, it will take about six months to determine how the information can be calculated accurately. Riders will be privy to this information within a year, James said.
The project will test five methods of communicating the bus arrival times to riders:
* Telephone access. Riders can call Blacksburg Transit, enter a bus stop number and be told how many minutes they will have to wait.
* Internet. A map will be available through Blacksburg Transit's home page that will show where buses are in relation to their routes.
* Bus stop displays. A wireless, solar-powered panel, provided by a Roanoke-based communications company called Valcom, will tell riders how many minutes are left before the next bus arrives.
* Kiosks. The map and time estimates will be available at two kiosks - one near Squires Student Center, the other at a location to be named later.
* Cable access television station.
Researchers will closely monitor which method riders prefer during the project, which is expected to last 18 months. After that, the equipment will remain on the buses, though Blacksburg Transit would pick up the cost of maintaining the system.
Michael Connelly said the Blacksburg Transit will determine what elements of the locating system are useful to customers after the research project is over.
"We'll have to figure out what we can afford and how widespread we want to make this," he said.
The transportation research center hopes to conduct other research projects with Blacksburg Transit, including a concept called "dynamic busing," said James. Under this concept, a certain number of buses that are not tied to specific routes would be available to pick up people by request.
"Once the system is in place for locating vehicles, there's a lot of other research we can do," James said.
LENGTH: Medium: 82 linesby CNB