AUTOMATED TRANSIT RIDERSHIP DATA COLLECTION. FINAL REPORT

Transit systems need to periodically collect and analyze ridership data to determine operational efficiency. Data must also be collected by those transit systems that receive Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) funding. An automated data collection system can be used to collect, check, arrange, summarize and store bus ridership data. The initial is more than offset by the savings in employee time after implementation. The Check*mate and TIM software packages developed by Multisystems provides the benefits of an automated data collection system at a reasonable price. However, the documentation that is presently available is inadequate. Implementation of this system would be extremely difficult for a novice user and additional documentation is recommended. The centralized or pooled concept of an automated data collection system that could be made available to small transit systems in Texas was determined to be not feasible. The influencing factor for this decision include, the logistics of providing the equipment to the transit systems, the difficulties of scheduling and communication, the cost of an adequate number of systems and the time required to train the users. The Multisystems system does however appear to be a reasonable expenditure for individual transit systems. The final step in evaluating the benefits of an automated system and the recommendation of this study would be to provide a small transit system with the Multisystems system, appropriate hardware and training and then evaluate its use and effectiveness.