Innovative transportation award for New York’s MTA BusTime

Transportation consultants Cambridge Systematics have been presented with the 2012 Innovative Transportation Solution of the Year for MTA Bus Time, New York City’s real-time bus customer information system. The award, presented by the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) Greater New York Chapter, recognises organisations for their efforts in enhancing the transportation industry in their community through innovation and creativity, and providing value. Cambridge Systematics and partner OpenPlans Transporta
February 6, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Transportation consultants 5673 Cambridge Systematics have been presented with the 2012 Innovative Transportation Solution of the Year for MTA Bus Time, New York City’s real-time bus customer information system.  The award, presented by the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) Greater New York Chapter, recognises organisations for their efforts in enhancing the transportation industry in their community through innovation and creativity, and providing value.

Cambridge Systematics and partner 5675 OpenPlans Transportation developed and currently manage the MTA Bus Time software that takes real-time data feeds from over 3,000 buses and manages and delivers bus location information to riders via smart phones, text messages, and web sites. The initial deployment in Staten Island was completed in only five months, and the system is rapidly expanding citywide.

“Delivering real-time bus information to MTA customers across New York City presented a tremendous opportunity,” said Jennifer Strasser, Cambridge Systematics’ New York office director and WTS member. “We’re excited to contribute to an improved experience for millions of bus riders, and honored to have our efforts recognised with this award.” Eric Ziering, director of software at Cambridge Systematics, said, “The success of this project results from an outstanding collaboration among MTA, Cambridge Systematics, and OpenPlans staff.”

MTA Bus Time is an open-source project, and the underlying software platform includes open interfaces that make real-time bus data available to third-party application developers. The data feeds from MTA Bus Time also enable the agency to improve operational efficiency, scheduling, service management, and emergency response.

Related Content

  • July 21, 2020
    Cohda Wireless: 'New York has the best urban canyons'
    Dr Paul Alexander, chief technical officer of Cohda Wireless, talks to Adam Hill about DSRC versus C-V2X, global connected vehicle take-up, the uses of WiFi – and, of course, seeing round the Big Apple's buildings...
    Read More
  • June 9, 2020
    The problem of mass transit ridership post-Covid 19
    Several pillars of Mobility as a Service – notably public transit, ride-share and micromobility – are under pressure as ridership plummets.
    Read More
  • March 11, 2015
    Data exploits parking potential
    David Crawford parallel parks with innovations in two continents. Surveys of US cities indicate that drivers searching for parking can account for up to 37% of all urban traffic congestion. A 2011 study by IBM of 20 cities around the world found that nearly six out of ten drivers had abandoned their search for a parking space at least once; while motorists generally spent on average 20 minutes looking for a sought-after spot.
    Read More
  • March 14, 2012
    Automatic signal control to prevent emergency vehicle collisions?
    Field trials under way in Arizona promise eradication of accidents between emergency vehicles at intersections – as part of a national focus on ‘intelligent signal’ infrastructure. Collisions between police cars, ambulances and fire crews as they reach intersections at the same time, with equal priority given by all signals set on red, are as serious as they sound absurd. For emergency teams and those in need of their help, the consequences are dire. The solution could come from application of connected veh
    Read More

Highlighted Content