Via Analytics, Inc. — Department of Transportation SBIR Phase I: 151FT1

Description

Bus bunching, the tendency of buses to cluster together, delays passengers, wastes transit agency resources, and makes drivers’ jobs more difficult. To solve this problem, we propose a control system consisting of networked tablets designed to automatically provide drivers with simple guidance based on the positions of other vehicles in the system. This proposal provides a plan to expand the existing system’s capabilities to make it robust to real-world operating conditions and develop open-source tools to analyze system performance. The system will be implemented under a variety of scenarios, including: overlapping lines; frequency-based scheduling; switch-backs, where buses turn back before the end of the route; and leap-frogging, allowing buses to pass one another.