Evaluation of the Salt Lake City Computerized Rider Information System

Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference Centerhttps://doi.org/10.21949/15271941985PDFTech ReportRuiter, E. R.Lung, R. E.Cambridge SystematicsJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)United States. Urban Mass Transportation AdministrationUnited States. Urban Mass Transportation AdministrationUtahBenefit cost analysisBus stopsBus transitMeasures of effectivenessPassenger information systemsReal time controlRidershipTelephoneUMTA-MA-06-0049-85-15;DOT-TSC-UMTA-85-23The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) Computerized Rider Information System (CRIS) project involved the installation of an automated telephone service to quickly provide bus stop-specific schedule and service information to residents throughout the Authority's service region, which includes Salt Lake City and its surrounding suburbs, as well as the city of Ogden, Utah. Potential bus users obtain this information by calling telephone numbers assigned to specific bus stops or groups of stops. UTA's bus dispatchers have access both to the CRIS system and to the existing dispatch/communications system which includes radios on each bus. The dispatchers monitor bus drivers' reports or schedule deviations and in turn enter this information into the CRIS system. In this way the information supplied to potential passengers who call the CRIS numbers reflects actual operating conditions. The primary goal of the system was to increase ridership and passenger revenues by making up-to-date service information available to all potential users of the transit system. UTA implemented this system, initially on six test routes, on February 4, 1983 under the same "Buzz-A-Bus." This final evaluation report is based on information gathered on CRIS system impacts throughout the sixteen-month Phase I period, which included two system effectiveness tests of six months each separated by four additional months of system operations. The final report includes a history of the system and an analysis of CRIS system usage and awareness, as well as the impacts on bus ridership and the usage of UTA's other information services. The system's cost and benefits are studied, and its lessons for other transit agencies are described.138