GPS, Paratransit and Webinar

RantWoman knows a fair number of people who use ACCESS, our local paratransit.

RantWoman gets many an earful about trips that wander all over half of western WA between point of origin and destination. RantWoman really does not understand why some of the tellers of these tales cannot just appreciate the sightseeing, but they quaintly insist on having other things to do with their days besides looking out the windows of vans.

A much harder problem for all concerned is passengers who do things like use the restroom or hide indoors during foul weather. Then there are passengers who for any number of reasons have a very hard time speaking up for themselves or whose caregivers send them out unto the world without vital info like their ID#. RantWoman has her doubts that SOME drivers try very hard about some of their pickups, but the bottom line is that it is easy to miss connections and rescheduling is also a pain in the rear.

Mindful of all this, RantWoman took note of the following item in her mailbox tonight.

FREE WEBINAR!
Use of Personal GPS Devices in Paratransit
Thursday, February 18, 2010 2:00 pm – 3:00pm Eastern Time
(1:00 pm – 2:00pm Central Time; 12:00 pm – 1:00pm Mountain Time; 11:00am – 12:00pm Pacific Time)

Plan now to participate in NTI’s FREE webinar, Use of Personal GPS Devices in Paratransit. New technology offers transit agencies innovative solutions to improve service efficiency. Conventional paratransit procedures require reservations by telephone or Internet, often resulting in missed pickups, location ambiguities, and “connection failures” – occasions when the paratransit driver and waiting passenger are unable to find each other.

This webinar will examine the value of Global Positioning Devices (GPS) to improve paratransit services and review the results of “Feasibility Study on the Use of Personal GPS Devices in Paratransit,”a recent study sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration Office of Mobility Management.

Topics will include:·
Assessment of transit agency interest in GPS technology·
The current state of GPS technology·
Comparison (portability, reliability, user friendliness, durability, compatibility, accuracy) of four different GPS devices·
Development of a GPS prototype to test the coordination of multiple devices in a working environment·
Suggestions for further research

This webinar will be presented by Dr. Fabian Cevallos, Transit Program Director at the Lehman Center for Transportation Research at Florida International University.

Participants will log into the webinar to access the graphic content and dial into an audio-teleconference. The presenter will address the topics listed above and then open the phone lines for questions from the audience. Register Today! The webinar is FREE but you must register to receive the log-in information.

To register, go to www.NTIONLINE.com. From the home page, click on T-Classes and Webinars, then Use of Personal GPS Devices in Paratransit. For more information, contact Greta Ritz at 732/932-1700 ext. 255 or gretar@rutgers.edu.


Okay, so there are gizmos and science and RantWoman will not even guess about marketing, but anyone with an hour and an interest in paratransit could have a real nerd fest!

And just for tonight, RantWoman is going to resist all temptations to grumble about affordability or embedding this servie in other electronic devices so that one might, for instance, have a single all-purpose reading listening locating direction-giving.... handheld gizmo.