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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Fare Payment Compliance on MBTA Buses and Light Rail</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2355364</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Fare evasion reduces needed revenues to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). There is a need for methods to track fare payment compliance over time to assess fare collection policies and technologies.
It is important to monitor fare payment patterns and the effect of policies and technologies on the MBTA’s ability to collect fares. Although fare gates provide a systematic measure of various types of fare non-payment for the MBTA heavy rail system, it is more difficult to measure different types of non-payment on buses or light rail vehicles. Manual observations are costly and therefore conducted infrequently, so there is a need for methods to track fare payment compliance over time and identify where and when manual checks are most valuable. This project coincides with the Fare Transformation project that changes how passengers pay fares.

This project has two main objectives: (1) To use existing data sources to estimate the rates of fare payment compliance on MBTA buses and light rail services. (2) To develop a method to identify when and where manual spot checks of fare payment/evasion behaviors are most valuable.

The proposed research method is to start with data that the MBTA already collects in a continuous and comprehensive manner. These data include records from automated fare collection (AFC) and from automated passenger counters (APC) used on buses and light rail vehicles in the fleet.  A joint analysis of this data with existing records of infrequent manual observations will be used to develop a model to estimate rates of fare payment compliance across bus and light rail lines. Patterns in the AFC or APC data that are correlated with higher rates of error or uncertainty will provide insights about where and when it is most valuable to conduct manual spot checks of fare payments. The final deliverables will include a replicable method to estimate fare payment compliance on buses and light rail services.

]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 22 Mar 2024 13:24:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2355364</guid>
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      <title>Optimizing ADA Paratransit Operations with Taxi and Ride Share Programs</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1574983</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Rising ridership on Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) paratransit services, such as MBTA’s The Ride, pose a challenge due to the high costs of operating this required service.  The objective of this project is to optimize programs to serve some paratransit trips by taxi or other mobility service in order to minimize system cost.  The benefits to MBTA will be to lower the cost of providing service in order to be better positioned for expected continued increases in ridership. The challenge of managing a system of demand-responsive transportation services for people with disabilities is that the operation of the system depends on the demand-side considerations related to traveler behavior and supply-side considerations related to the system structure and costs.  Starting with limited participation in September 2016 and expanded to all eligible ADA paratransit service “The Ride” customers on March 1, 2017, a pilot program now allows eligible customers to use taxicabs, Uber, or Lyft for a subsidized trip in addition to conventional ADA paratransit service from The Ride.  This research project will seek to evaluate the effects on demand, supply and optimal service provision of this new service.  The goal is to provide insights about how the operation and use of the system is changing under the pilot program and then to provide guidance about how to manage a multimodal ADA program that provides users with a greater range of choices than they have had in the past.  Although the scope is tied closely to analysis of the MBTA system, the insights are likely to have implications for the ADA paratransit systems elsewhere in Massachusetts.

]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 17 Dec 2018 15:56:59 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1574983</guid>
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      <title>PERCEPT Indoor Navigation System for Visually Impaired:  Beta Study</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1574981</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Independent navigation through unfamiliar indoor spaces is beset with barriers for Blind and Visually Impaired (BVI) individuals. A task that is trivial and spontaneous for people without disabilities, has to be planned and coordinated with other individuals for the BVI population.  Currently there are no commercial systems that enable BVI users to independently navigate in indoor environments. The PERCEPT system (PERCEPT), is an affordable and accurate indoor navigation system for BVI users, that was developed by Professor Ganz and her team at the University of Massachusetts 5G Mobile Evolution Lab. Using real time localization and detailed navigation instructions that are automatically generated, PERCEPT enables BVI users to independently navigate through large indoor venues as demonstrated in trials in North Station. This project objective is to assist MBTA evaluate PERCEPT suitability for MBTA system-wide deployment. To accomplish this objective the research team will conduct a beta study with at least 20 BVI participants who will download and use PERCEPT on their Smartphones to independently access and navigate the MBTA’s subway system at North Station.  This information will be used to determine MBTA system-wide deployment of PERCEPT.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 17 Dec 2018 15:47:42 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1574981</guid>
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