EDAPTS SMART TRANSIT SYSTEM

CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY AND CALTRANS RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

Jeff Gerfen, Project Director [email protected] 805-756-2990

BACKGROUND Caltrans New Technology has funded the development of the open-source EDAPTS Smart Transit System. The primary objective of this research is to determine if an open-source publicdomain transit management system is feasible and to determine if this system can have a positive impact on transit operations. EDAPTS has been in development and testing since the summer of 1998 and is currently operational in San Luis Obispo Transit (SLO Transit). Cal Poly is now in the final year of this research project and is readying to: Test the operational effectiveness of the installed system. Release the hardware and software designs under an open-source license. Identify commercial partners for wide-scale deployment. MDTS and ON-BOARD HARDWARE Smart Transit System Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) are installed in the SLO Transit fixedroute fleet. These MDTs include a drivers keypad and display, an integrated GPS receiver, a magnetic swipe card reader, an emergency button, and a data interface to a voice radio system. The MDTs: Calculate schedule adherence status for arrival and departure from scheduled stops. This schedule adherence status is displayed to the driver, transmitted to dispatch, and used to notify the driver of when they should be departing a stop with a layover. Receive emergency button inputs from the drivers hidden silent alarm switch and transmit these Mayday messages to dispatch for processing. Receive ID information from a magnetic stripe card reader when Cal Poly students and staff swipe their ID card upon boarding. The IDs are checked against a master list of good and bad ID numbers for validation - this feature being turned on Spring 2003. Communicate with the central software via radio-modems over the existing 450 MHz LTR trunking radio system. Maintain a current copy of the system timetable so that any bus can operate on any route. Accept rider classification information upon boarding via driver keypad entry this feature functional, but not deployed on the SLO Transit fleet. Reliably detect the arrival and departure of buses at all stops. San Luis Obispo has no urban canyons or tunnels so GPS-only position determination is sufficient. Control both on-board annunciators and digital message signs to present arrival and nextstop information to passengers. this feature functional, but not deployed on the SLO Transit fleet. Detect the end of route based on vehicle position. The Mobile Data Terminals are comprised primarily of off-the-shelf components and are serviceable by technicians with PC repair and configuration skills. Figures 1 and 2 below show

an installed MDT as well as a view of the drivers display when at a stop. The MDT screen displays a large digit clock when the bus is in motion.

Figure 1. EDAPTS Mobile Data Terminal in SLO Transit bus.

Figure 2. Minutes until departure information counts down and is displayed to the driver on the MDT while at a stop.

CENTRAL DISPATCH SOFTWARE The Smart Transit System central software is written in Java and utilizes Internet capable TCP/IP for communications and a Sybase database. The central software: Displays schedule adherence information for all buses for all stops on all routes for all hours of each day as shown in Figure 3 below. Receives emergency messages generated on buses and alerts the dispatcher with audio and visual alarms, requiring the dispatcher to take emergency action. Tracks and displays the location all buses on route. Transmits bus locations and schedule adherence status to Smart Transit Signs via wireless link. Receives valid ID number lists from Cal Poly administration and transmit these ID lists to the MDTs via the wireless link. ID lists may be transmitted as an entire list or updates to the full list - this feature to be turned on Spring 2003. Receives Cal Poly ride information from the MDTs via wireless link, and presents it on the GUI, and generates ride usage reports - this feature to be turned on Spring 2003. Allows the MDTs directory structure to be browsed remotely via wireless link and files to be uploaded and downloaded from the dispatch console.

Figure 3. Schedule adherence data shown on central software. Note that data is available on a per route/stop/hour/day basis. Columns in white indicated scheduled departure time and columns in blue indicate deviation in minutes.

Figure 4. Map based graphical user interface with four vehicles displayed. Note that route map overlays are disabled.

Figure 5. Vehicle tracking screen showing vehicle location on route, schedule adherence, and next stop.

Figure 6. Emergency screen showing test emergencies. Note that emergency indicator dialog box is not shown.

Figure 7. Rides screen that will show rides for Cal Poly students, staff, and faculty. This feature to be turned on Spring 2003.

Figure 8. Electronic fare collection list maintenance screen that provides facilities to update the ID card list on each bus to a specific version.

Figure 9. System administrator screen that allows directory browsing and file transfer to and from on-board hardware on a per-bus basis. This feature utilizes the LTR trunking radio link for data communications. SMART TRANSIT SIGNS Eight Smart Transit Signs are installed in San Luis Obispo and on the Cal Poly Campus. The Smart Transit Signs are: Solar powered and capable of operating for up to 20 days of inclement weather. Enclosed in a heavy-duty enclosure that is vandal and weather resistant. Pager controlled allowing all signs in San Luis Obispo to be controlled with a single paging account. Capable of displaying periodically repeating text banners. The Smart Transit Signs display estimated minutes until arrival for multiple routes.

Figure 10. Smart Transit Sign operating in downtown San Luis Obispo.

WEB-MAP FOR PUBLIC USE The Smart Transit System allows transit passengers to view vehicle location on a map-based display via the Internet. Passengers can turn individual routes on and off as well as enter their local address and have their location displayed on the map. Figure 11 shows the Smart Transit System Web Map.

Figure 11. Web-map showing transit vehicles and routes in San Luis Obispo. OPEN-SOURCE AND STANDARDS The Smart Transit System is consistent/compliant with both the National ITS Architecture and TCIP Standards to the maximum extent possible. The system was written following these standards from the ground up. Software functionality is decomposed according to National ITS Architecture process specifications (PSPECS) and all data objects are encoded as TCIP objects. The Smart Transit System is non-proprietary and will likely be licensed under the L-GPL software license, which will allow the core to remain open source with new features added as either open-source or proprietary extensions. The EDAPTS Smart Transit System was designed to be open source so that the transit community as a whole can reap the benefits of advanced transit management features developed within the transit community.