DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF INTERACTIVE TRIP PLANNING FOR WEB-BASED TRANSIT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

This paper presents a WWW-based transit information system (TIS) design that uses geographic information system (GIS) technologies to integrate Web serving, GIS processing, network analysis, and database management. A path finding algorithm is proposed to handle the special features of transit networks. The algorithm takes into account the overall level of services and service schedule on a route to determine the shortest path and transfer points. A framework is created to categorize the development of TISs on the basis of content and functionality, from simple static schedule displays to more sophisticated real-time TISs. A unique feature of the reported WWW-based TIS is the Internet-GIS based system with an interactive map interface. This enables the user to interact with information on transit routes, schedules, and trip itinerary planning. Some map rendering, querying, and network analysis functions are also provided