First Transit announces a shared autonomous vehicle (SAV) pilot with METRO Houston and Texas Southern University (TSU). This is the eighth SAV initiative for First Transit and the first-of-its-kind in the region. METRO Houston is introducing the University District Circulator on the campus of TSU. An EasyMile SAV shuttle will travel on the Tiger Walk, […]
Increasingly, agencies are augmenting paratransit rides with non-dedicated providers — balancing demand and services, containing costs, and increasing access for riders, according to Jeff Zarr, senior consultant of demand response at Trapeze Group. The benefits are multifold: utilizing services like taxi companies and transportation network companies (TNCs) can often be less expensive than extending dedicated […]
Autonomous vehicle now deployed on Denver streets at RTD’s 61st and Peña commuter rail station Late January marked the first on-road deployment of an autonomous vehicle (AV) shuttle in both Denver and the state of Colorado. The EasyMile fully electric, autonomous shuttle made its debut on the morning of January 29 and will continue operating […]
Winners in Sacramento and Phoenix to be selected; cities worldwide soon to follow By Skylar Griego Mobility solutions company LM Industries Group, Inc., the parent company of vehicle manufacturer Local Motors, launched a global autonomous fleet competition called the Olli Fleet Challenge in September 2018. According to a press release from Local Motors, the Olli […]
By Joseph Saporita Investment in technology is no longer a luxury – for transit agencies to remain viable they absolutely must find ways to invest in technology solutions that make them competitive. Today’s transit riders have alternative options that are often perceived to be more convenient. Rideshare options like Lyft and Uber all offer desirable, […]
Avail Technologies, State College, PA, is an enterprise-level solutions provider for public transit, specializing in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) solutions. In an interview with BUSRide, Rick Spangler, chief technology officer at Avail Technologies, answers a few critical questions about integrating ITS, ERP, and EAM systems. What […]
If you attended the APTA EXPO this past year, you noticed that everyone who had an electric vehicle showed it. You also noticed that there are some new players in the market building electric vehicles. Finally, you noticed that nearly every supplier selling mechanical accessories now has an electrically-driven alternative. The future of transit was […]
The Atlanta agency and Westmatic teamed to retrofit wash systems into two existing facilities, and install a system into a newly-built garage By Richard Tackett For the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) in 2015, replacing bus wash systems in its multiple maintenance locations was a matter of necessity. The systems at MARTA’s Perry and […]
By Richard Tackett When Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority (BJCTA) was searching for a new Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) suite, improved passenger information delivery was the agency’s primary goal. With the recent selection of Birmingham, AL, as host city of the World Games in 2021, the city is anticipating an influx of new transit users, […]
Partnered with Alliance Bus Group, MARTA is conducting an innovative program with the Vicinity bus by Grande West Transportation By Richard Tackett The MARTA team’s biggest takeaway from the analysis was that fleet and service diversification would be necessary to push Atlanta’s transit system into the future. “We needed to move away from being a […]