Skip to main content

Washington DC gets multimodal transportation information displays

US-headquartered digital signage specialist Transit Screen has partnered with local Business Development Agencies (BID) Business Improvement Districts in what is said to be Washington, DC’s, first real-time multimodal display of transportation information. The Transit Screen displays provide a live, real-time snapshot of all Metro, Capital BikeShare, Metrobus, Circulator, and ART bus transit arrivals at a given location.
May 31, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
US-headquartered digital signage specialist 7358 Transit Screen has partnered with local Business Development Agencies (BID) Business Improvement Districts in what is said to be Washington, DC’s, first real-time multimodal display of transportation information.  The Transit Screen displays provide a live, real-time snapshot of all Metro, Capital BikeShare, Metrobus, Circulator, and ART bus transit arrivals at a given location.

Every 20-30 seconds, each screen receives the current arrival times for each transit agency at all stops within walking distance of its location. This real-time, reliable information is available through open data sharing from the Washington, DC transit agencies.

By bringing Transit Screen displays into the communities and business districts, the BIDs hope to bring customers, businesses and residents to the area by promoting the ease of local transportation.

Urban planners in cities and municipalities, such as Falls Church, Virginia, are adding Transit Screen to future transportation demand management plans. The idea is that builders and developers will play a major role in promoting transportation alternatives to decrease the need for single occupancy vehicles.

Every Transit Screen will have its own customised display that displays options in a logical, memorable, and predictable order. Customisations can also be made to include weather, airport delays, 2171 Twitter integration, custom maps, and messaging among others.

“A city such as Washington, DC has a complex mix of subway, walking, bicycling, bike sharing, buses, car sharing, and taxi services. The challenge to us was how to make multimodal transit easier to use. Our Transit Screen displays provide real-time, location-specific transit information for all local transportation options. The traveller can instantly view the easiest, fastest or most convenient transportation option from that display’s location,” stated Matt Caywood, president of Transit Screen.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Digital Light Processing transforms travel information
    July 19, 2012
    David Crawford investigates the potential of new projection technology. Fifty years on from its invention of the microchip, US company Texas Instruments (TI) has compressed the technology into a surface area of just 4.3mm. As such, it forms the heart of a new Pico Digital Light Processing (DLP) system that is set to transform travel information delivery for millions of users on the move - by making it projectable.
  • Connected citizens boosts Boston’s traffic management
    March 30, 2017
    Data-derived traffic management is starting to show benefits as David Crawford discovers. The city of Boston has been facing growing congestion problems in its Seaport regeneration district, with the rate of commercial and residential growth threatening to overtake the capacity of the road network to respond.
  • Greenowl brings bespoke traveller information one step closer
    June 4, 2015
    Greenowl’s voice-only congestion warning smartphone app alerts drivers to problems ahead and could be the way ahead for traffic information. If there is one point Matt Man, CEO of Canadian company Greenowl, wants to make clear from the start, it is that his company’s app is not a navigation system. He says: “Our system does not direct drivers to their destination because we mainly focus on commuters who know how to get to where they are going and only need information about any delays and incidents ahead of
  • Carbon finance delivers critical support to mass transit schemes
    February 2, 2012
    David Crawford investigates carbon finance in transport. World Bank carbon finance grants are delivering critical support to major mass transit deployments in emerging and developing economies. Only recently operative in the transport sector, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM, see panel) is designed to generate additional income streams and improve internal rates of return on projects funded from public- and private-sector sources.