National Institute for Transportation and Communities

THE NEW PROJECT

As transit agencies modernize their fare payment systems, opportunities to pay with cash diminish. This speeds boarding and lowers the cost of operations, while also creating new sources of ridership data. Arguably, service is improved for riders as well, where payment systems work across modes, and in some cases different transit providers, creating a more seamless and simplified experience. Still, about 15% of adults in the United States are without a bank account or credit card, and many rely on restrictive cell-phone data plans or don’t have access to a smartphone. These shares are even higher for public transit users. As transit fare technologies move further from cash, these digitally-excluded riders will find it more difficult to conveniently pay their transit fares.

In the latest project to be funded under the National...

Regular assessment of public transit performance is essential. With limited funding and growing public needs, performance evaluation helps identify areas for improvement. But what, exactly, is the desired improvement that transit agencies seek?

If the answer is operational efficiency, then agencies have a clear goal: to achieve the highest ridership possible with the lowest operational costs.

If the answer is access equity, then again a clear goal emerges: to extend transit to neighborhoods with high concentrations of low-income residents and minorities, and to evaluate proposed route changes through the lens of supplying much-needed services.

The real answer, of course, is both. Historically, research has examined...

PRESENTATION SLIDES

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WEBINAR VIDEO

This webinar will explain how app-based technologies can improve upon traditional pen-and-paper-based daily transportation diaries in terms of quantity and quality of data collected, particularly for environmental justice populations. The researchers will describe their own efforts, working on an inter-disciplinary team, to develop a custom-designed app, MyAmble, that measures the impact of transportation disadvantage more broadly across access to basic resources, opportunity to participate in wider society, and quality of life. MyAmble includes several innovations – daily digital trip planning, a text-messaging-based qualitative interview tool, and a challenge logger enabling participants to document real-time transportation barriers through videos and photos. Viewers will learn pragmatic strategies for implementing similar app-based ecological momentary assessment transportation data collection tools. In addition, researchers will share lessons learned from working on a technology-based interdisciplinary team.

SPEAKERS

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