Meeting_Body
OPERATIONS, SAFETY, AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE
MAY 16, 2019
Subject
SUBJECT: COUNTDOWN CLOCKS - ARRIVAL PREDICTION INFORMATION
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE the status report on efforts underway to improve the reliability and accuracy of arrival prediction information and enhance the customer experience on Metro's Bus and Rail fleet.
Issue
ISSUE
Providing accurate arrival information is a challenge to all transit agencies. When service is running as scheduled, predicted arrival information is very good. However, service disruptions are each uniquely different and schedule recovery must be addressed on a case-by-case basis, making accurate arrival predictions much more difficult. Metro staff have developed and begun implementing a program for improving predictive arrival accuracy to provide a better customer experience.
Background
BACKGROUND
The public has come to rely on and expect a high level of technology-driven assistance for mobility services such as transportation networking companies, or TNCs (e.g. Uber and Lyft), where they can track their rides on their smart devices. The same expectations are being imposed on transit providers with equal vigor. Metro's challenge is to integrate solutions that can both immediately improve the customer experience and continue to evolve as technology advances in artificial intelligence, 5G bandwidth speed improvements, and autonomous vehicle development.
Transit agencies have taken different approaches to presenting arrival information to the customer. The following are the general options available. Metro has opted for option 1.
1. Arrival predictions - This approach adjusts arrival information to address real-time conditions. This option requires frequent data updates so that delays or changes caused by service disruptions are accounted for in the predictions.
2. Scheduled time arrivals - This option provides arrival info...
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