How Transit ITS Connects Entire Communities: One Call Gets It All in Western Kentucky
This video highlights the great new features of the Purchase Area Regional Transit’s (PART) groundbreaking Travel Management Coordination Center (TMCC) in Western Kentucky. PART is a cooperative effort between four transit providers in Western Kentucky: Paducah Area Transit System, Easter Seals West Kentucky, Fulton County Transit Authority and Murray-Calloway Transit Authority. They have implemented an ITS solution to more efficiently manage the transportation and information needs of those living in the Purchase Area region of Western Kentucky.
The four transit agencies are connected through a centralized computer network which increases dispatching efficiency. Using Computer Assisted Scheduling and Dispatching (CASD) and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), dispatchers can keep track of all trips and vehicles. AVL constantly sends every vehicle’s precise location to the central dispatching computer network so that PART dispatchers always know the nearest vehicle to a caller.
The centralized computer network communicates with all the vehicles of the four transportation providers through in-vehicle mobile computers. The in-vehicle units keep drivers aware of all pick-ups and drop-offs, and dispatchers can send messages directly to the driver’s in-vehicle computer if there are changes to their schedule.
Customers will be able to access the TMCC by phone or via the PART website to make or modify travel plans. Customers will be able to receive information not only for transportation, but for health and human services and general governmental and educational information as well. For more information about PART, and their exciting new project, click here to visit their website.
