Use of Web-Based Rider Input for Transit Management in the New York City Region

As new communications technologies are adopted by both transit managers and riders, there is increasing potential to improve dialogue and transportation services. Transit managers across the nation are conveying service information to riders through outgoing messages yet web-based customer feedback has rarely been used to inform transit policy and influence transit service. "Crowdsourcing," a concept that refers to tapping the wisdom of large numbers of people to determine a conclusion, is particularly ripe for development in the New York City Region, which has millions of transit riders and heavy social media users. Transit crowdsourcing can take the form of non-urgent service complaints, like overflowing trashcans, and real-time discussion of conditions that could precede information through official channels. Arriving through a variety of channels, including social media, emails, phone calls and some web applications, no singular channel exists for this information, which managers could use in order to obtain a timely, consumer perspective on field conditions. This project will produce a toolkit of best practices, emerging technologies, and suggested methods of collecting and acting on crowdsourced feedback on both a real-time and near-term basis, building upon the New York City Region, but potentially applicable across the nation.

• Record URL:
  http://www.utrc2.org/research/projects/use-web-based-rider-input-transit-management

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $155813.00
• Contract Numbers:

  49997-52-24

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  University Transportation Centers Program
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Mooney, Deborah

• Performing Organizations:

  New York University

  Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management
  Wagner School, 295 Lafayette Street
  New York, NY  United States  10012-9604
• Principal Investigators:

  Kaufman, Sarah

  Moss, Mitchell

• Start Date: 20120901
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20140131
• Source Data: RiP Project 32953

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Communication systems; Crowdsourcing; Management; Real time information; Technological innovations; Transit riders; Transportation system management; Websites (Information retrieval)
• Uncontrolled Terms: Feedback; Input
• Geographic Terms: New York (New York)
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Operations and Traffic Management; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01494946
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: University Transportation Research Center
• Contract Numbers: 49997-52-24
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Oct 4 2013 1:01AM