Tick Tock on the Dock–Harnessing High Tech for Bay Area Ferry Customers

Pop artists Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers must have had public transit in mind when crooning, “The waiting is the hardest part.” Indeed, the experience of not knowing when your bus, train, or ferry will arrive can be quite stressful. But, ferry customers’ anxieties may soon be relieved thanks to new technology that the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority (WTA) plans to introduce with the help of other Bay Area ferry operators.

About Time—for Real Time
At its March 24, 2005 meeting, the WTA Board selected NextBus to provide real time equipment, software, signage, and installation services. WTA Director Marina Secchitano enthusiastically voted for the contract and said: “It’s about time we get new signs in at these terminals. It is long overdue.” The project includes designing a kiosk at the Ferry Building that patrons can access for trip planning, fare, and other service information. Assuming approvals from the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transit District (GGBHTD) Board, Port of San Francisco, and Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), NextBus could start working on implementing service as early as Summer 2005.

The WTA would purchase this system and would first install it within the Golden Gate and Vallejo ferry services. Eventually, WTA would extend the system to the Alameda/Oakland ferry service. The WTA will use funds from new bridge tolls to pay for this program Jim Swindler, from the Golden Gate Ferry service, said, “We’re looking forward to working with the WTA on this project because we see the benefit it brings to our passengers. Our passengers rely on our convenient and reliable services and by adding real time information they will be able to take advantage of this new technology.”

 

Ferry Riders Get Wired
Public transit agencies have been using real time systems to inform customers of the next arrival time of buses and trains since at least the early 1990s.

Vallejo Baylink has been using Light Emitting Diode (LED) message boards at their ferry terminal in Vallejo for two years now.  Apart from announcing the ferry schedule, they use it to tell people about delays and service disruptions, special events, security threat levels, and to provide reminders concerning ferry service policies and procedures. 

Vallejo Baylink Ferry Service General Manager Marty Robbins said, “Having the message board has been like adding another customer service employee, but one that is available for duty 24/7. But, if we had actual real time information, customers wouldn’t need to come to the terminal to know when their next vessel is arriving: they would be able to remotely access the information via computer, handheld device, or telephone.  When a ferry is late or schedules change, our passengers would like to know so they can plan to spend their time more enjoyably than just sitting around the terminal.”

 

Coast to Coast
In a New York Minute
NextBus has installed, and currently operates, information systems for more than 30 public transit agencies throughout the country, including New York City Water Taxi Co.
Tom Fox, president of New York Water Taxi, said that NextBus has brought a “variety of benefits. We can tell where any of our boats are at any time and can let passengers know. The worst thing to do with a ferry service would be to leave the dock early–with this system, we can hold captains accountable. The real time information LEDs, which we expect to have up by summer, will make an unfamiliar place [the waterfront] comfortable for the public. It promotes ease of use and may even reduce instances of ‘trip and falls’ because people won’t be unnecessarily running for the boat [if they can tell the exact time that it will arrive]. We decided to use it because it works; and, anecdotally, people like the service.”

Mr. Fox predicted that it would be a boon to making transit connections and give office workers near the downtown San Francisco terminal enough advance warning that they could easily leave their computers in time to walk to the terminal and catch their boat. He said that New York Water Taxi’s real time information has been added to the plasma display in one large Brooklyn office building’s elevator. Along with bulletins such as news, time, and weather, this display now lets people know the arrival time for the next ferry at their neighborhood pier.

 

On the West Coast
In the San Francisco Bay Area, two major bus services use real time information systems: San Francisco MUNI and the East Bay’s AC Transit. According to John Rudniski, Director of Maintenance for AC Transit, their bus service switched from a radio dispatch system to an Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) and Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) run through GPS in 2002. They are still phasing in other features and refining it and have linked their system to a few LED displays placed at heavily trafficked bus stops.

Mr. Rudniski said that their system is similar to air traffic control, allowing their operations division to view the entire district and watch individual buses as they proceed on their route. “It is a more efficient way to manage our fleet, thus making more reliable service for our passengers.” He added that it has enhanced the emergency response capabilities too. “We now know the exact location of a bus [in distress] and can send help immediately.”