Productivity Benefits and Cost Efficiencies from ITS Applications to Public Transit: The Evaluation of AVL

Problem

Automatic Vehicle Location technology is a component of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) that enables transit agencies to monitor fleet vehicle performance and location. AVL has the potential to improve the on-time rate of public transit and timed transfers, accessibility and accuracy of passenger information, availability of data for transit management and planning, and efficiency and productivity of transit services.

AVL has the potential to increase efficient fleet utilization and reduce expenditure for fuel, labor, and capital. AVL can also facilitate and integrate on-board electronic fare collection among different transit systems within a region. With an AVL system in place, passengers could use a single fare medium for multiple transit systems, resulting in more efficient fare collection and more efficient transfer among transit agencies that share routes or transfer credit.

This research uses information from operations and financial information from the Federal Transit Commission's database and information on AVL applications to explore whether and how AVL applications lead to changes in productivity and resource use.

Findings

The overall assessment of AVL is that it provides sizable benefits for both consumers and transit agencies. The research focused on the cost efficiency improvements from AVL, but some demand side benefits were explored as well.

Higher numbers of passenger trips were reported when AVL was implemented by the transit agency. The most significant improvements were in productivity and cost efficiency. Whether output was measured as passenger oriented or service oriented, productivity was greater with the use of AVL. The sources of the productivity gains came from better use of capital, decreased need for buses, more efficient use of fuel and energy, and reduction in vehicle maintenance and vehicle operations