National Evaluation of FY01 Earmark: Area Transportation Authority of North Central Pennsylvania-Regional GIS/ITS Initiative. Phase III (Final) Evaluation Report

摘要

This report presents the results of the United States Department of Transportation evaluation of a federally funded earmark project implemented by the Area Transportation Authority of North Central Pennsylvania (ATA). The project implemented a suite of technologies including computer-assisted scheduling and dispatch (including automatic vehicle location and mobile data computers), maintenance management and invoicing systems. Intended benefits of the project consisted of enhanced productivity, safety, and customer satisfaction. The evaluation examined impacts in each of these areas as well as ATA staff perspectives on benefits, challenges and lessons learned. Overall, the deployment has been successful. Of the 19 specific hypothesized benefits that were tested through the evaluation, 10 of them were fully supported, six were partially supported, and three were not supported. Benefit highlights include a 28 percent reduction in dispatchers time on the radio with drivers; reduction of the lag time for identifying vehicle preventative maintenance from two weeks to less than one day; a 43 percent reduction in the time required to prepare monthly invoices; and a 68 percent reduction in the number of in-service vehicle breakdowns. The evaluation results confirm the value of these sorts of advanced technologies for transit systems, especially rural operators providing demand response service. The results also corroborate similar studies showing that successful technology deployments can take many years to complete and demand a high degree of competency, preparation, and follow-through on the part of the deploying agency.