Abstract
Map World Forum 2009

Mobility Management Technology Applications for Community Transportation

Dr Uma Shama (CO-DIRECTOR)
GEOGRAPHICS LABORATORY
BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGE
USA
ushama@bridgew.edu

Lawrence J Harman
(CO-DIRECTOR)
Daniel Fitch
(RESEARCH ASSISTANT

GLEN KIDWELL
RESEARCH ANALYST

DANIELLE ZOINO
RESEARCH ANALYST
GEOGRAPHICS LABORATORY
BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGE
USA


Abstract

National transit legislation in the United States has embraced a concept of using technological applications to foster the coordination of public transportation and human services transportation for greater efficiency and effectiveness, particularly for low-income job seekers, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities. This paper will present emerging applications of emerging web mapping of real-time transit and paratransit vehicles by Microsoft Virtual Earth™ and Google Maps™, a world wide application of transit trip planning by Google Transit™, integration of real-time transit AVL and trip planning using a Google Mapplet™, and a real-time transit vehicle location web service for the blind and individuals with visual impairments using reverse geocoding and web readers with voice capability. The technology projects are deployed on the suburban Boston (USA) MetroWest region and a tourist-oriented region on Cape Cod, Massachusetts (USA). These Beta test sites can found at www.geolabvirtualmaps.com. Original programs were written to use assisted global positioning system (AGPS) cell phones to provide low-cost automatic vehicle location (AVL) with very high refresh rates.