Evaluating Interior and Door Configurations of Rail Vehicles by Using Variable Loading Densities

2005 ◽  
Vol 1927 (1) ◽  
pp. 268-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel W. Lau
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Dwell Time ◽  
Time Estimation ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Variable Loading ◽  
Uniform Loading ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
Rail Rapid Transit

As many U.S. metropolitan areas expect unprecedented growth in population and travel in the next 20 to 30 years, rail transit agencies are faced with the challenges of replacing their aging fleets and procuring new vehicles to keep up with ridership increases. As funds become increasingly scarce, many operators are exploring ways of increasing car capacity by considering interior configurations (to maximize loading efficiency) and door configurations (to minimize the effect of increased loads on station dwell times). Few studies address the design and evaluation of interior and door configurations as a system. Typically, seating configurations are designed separately from door configurations. Furthermore, interior configuration evaluations or maximum vehicle loading quoted by car manufacturers assume a uniform loading density applied throughout the car. Loading on transit vehicles, however, varies greatly within a car. This affects practical vehicle capacity and its impact controlling dwell time at the busiest door. The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, a heavy rail rapid transit system in California, recently conducted an evaluation of interior and door configurations based on a methodology that used variable loading densities and resulting impact on door loads for dwell time estimation. Variable loading density is more realistic in simulating actual passenger loading experience. This research shows that depending on the interior and door configuration, applying uniform loading density may misrepresent actual car capacity and door loads and thus waste valuable resources or underestimate actual needs.

Paper 5: Development of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit System (Bartd)

1966 ◽  
Vol 181 (7) ◽  
pp. 20-31
Author(s):  
S. D. Forsythe ◽  
T. J. Lowe
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
San Francisco Bay ◽  
San Francisco Bay Area ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Design And Development ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay area is facing a mounting problem of handling the ever-increasing flow of traffic. With this traffic rising so rapidly in an area severely constricted by topography it has been concluded that freeway, bridge, and parking improvements alone cannot meet the Bay area's mounting transportation needs. Rapid transit, utilizing only a fraction of the space and with much less cost, would provide far more passenger capacity than automobiles on freeway and as a result a billion dollar rapid transit system has been planned for the Bay area. This paper describes the design and development of the BARTD system at present being undertaken.

Design of Rapid Transit Equipment for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit System

1966 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl W. Sundberg ◽  
Montgomery Ferar
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Environmental Control ◽  
San Francisco Bay ◽  
San Francisco Bay Area ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Passenger Vehicle ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Appearance Design ◽  
System Requirements

Automobile traffic is threatening to overwhelm the cities of the San Francisco Bay Area, and an advanced mass transit system is being built by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BARTD) to help alleviate this problem. This article describes the design and development of the passenger vehicle for this system. BARTD system requirements and car design criteria are discussed, and the conceptual design and detailed development of passenger accommodations, environmental control provisions, lighting, ingress/egress, visibility and appearance design featurea are presented. The requirements for and the detailed design of the train attendant's pod are also discussed. A prototype car has been designed with primary emphasis on those human factors considerations that are expected to induce 200,000 commuters to use the system in preference to private automobiles. Public reactions to the prototype vehicle will be employed to refine and improve upon the design prior to its introduction into service in 1971.

scholarly journals Cost-Benefit Analysis of Novel Access Modes: A Case Study in the San Francisco Bay Area

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Rodier ◽  
Andrea Broaddus ◽  
Miguel Jaller ◽  
Jeffery Song ◽  
Joschka Bischoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
San Francisco Bay ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
San Francisco Bay Area ◽  
Automated Vehicles ◽  
Meeting Point ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Service Models ◽  
Transit Agencies

The first-mile, last-mile problem is a significant deterrent for potential transit riders, especially in suburban neighborhoods with low density. Transit agencies have typically sought to solve this problem by adding parking spaces near transit stations and adding stops to connect riders to fixed-route transit. However, these measures are often only short-term solutions. In the last few years, transit agencies have tested whether new mobility services, such as ridehailing, ridesharing, and microtransit, can offer fast, reliable connections to and from transit stations. However, there is limited research that evaluates the potential impacts of these projects. Concurrently, there is growing interest in the future of automated vehicles (AVs) and the potential of AVs to solve this first-mile problem by reducing the cost of providing these new mobility services to promote access to transit. This paper expands upon existing research to model the simulate the travel and revenue impacts of a fleet of automated vehicles that provide transit access services in the San Francisco Bay Area offered over a range of fares. The model simulates a fleet of AVs for first-mile transit access at different price points for three different service models (door-to-door ridehailing and ridesharing and meeting point ridesharing services). These service models include home-based drop-off and pick-up for single passenger service (e.g., Uber and Lyft), home-based drop-off and pick-up for multi-passenger service (e.g., microtransit), and meeting point multi-passenger service (e.g., Via).

Maintrainenance: Keeping Heavy Rail Maintenance on Track

2019 ◽  
Vol 2673 (7) ◽  
pp. 192-203
Author(s):  
Sreekar Shashank Boddupalli ◽  
Andrea Sherman ◽  
Joe Zerkus ◽  
Alice Grossman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Asset Management ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
Heavy Rail

Infrastructure management is an important aspect of transportation engineering. Contrasting views have emerged on feasible best practice in asset management for various transportation modes. The differences in current practice can provide insight into best practices and lessons learned. This paper focuses on heavy rail maintenance state of practice in the United States and compares the maintenance practices, strategies, and procedures implemented by four transit agencies across the country. The objective of the paper is to provide guidance and examples for other transit agencies in the United States to meet the short-term challenges they face and provide recommendations to improve services nationwide. This paper examines rail maintenance practices at the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), and the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). The paper found that out of the four agencies studied, MARTA has the highest maintenance to operations budget ratio, and most of the maintenance expenditure is on labor. WMATA found that automation of inspection improved maintenance efficiency, and BART is working toward adopting more automated processes. New York City’s MTA shows an example of the importance of clear governance in effective budgeting.

Securing Objective Data on the Quality of the Passenger Environment for Transit Riders: Redesign of the Passenger Environment Measurement System for the Bay Area Rapid Transit District

1998 ◽  
Vol 1618 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-219
Author(s):  
Aaron Weinstein ◽  
Rhonda Albom
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
San Francisco Bay Area ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Reliable Measurement ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Improve Service Quality ◽  
Graffiti Removal ◽  
Collection Methods ◽  
Environment Measurement

The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) recently revised the techniques it uses to collect data on qualitative areas of performance that are difficult to measure, such as station cleanliness, train cleanliness, graffiti removal, and restroom cleanliness. This paper documents the methodological changes implemented by BART and compares the accuracy of the new and the old techniques. Empirical evidence is presented demonstrating that the new data collection methods yield more reliable and objective statistics than the old system of measurement. Findings from this study suggest that reliable measurement of qualitative areas is possible. When carefully collected, these kinds of measurements can become an important component of an organization’s overall strategy to monitor and improve service quality.

Evaluating Interface Standards for the Public Transit Industry

1998 ◽  
Vol 1618 (1) ◽  
pp. 172-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Hickman ◽  
Sam Tabibnia ◽  
Theodore Day
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Systems Integration ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Systems Architecture ◽  
The Public ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Transit Agencies

The rationale behind the current research and development of interface standards for the public transit industry is explored. Recent efforts to define an information systems architecture for public transit have not sufficiently discussed the underlying need for information system standards and what impacts these standards might have on the transit industry as well as on vendors. Both advantages and disadvantages to the development of these standards are identified. For public transit agencies, there appears to be a well-reasoned yet unsupported belief that interface standards will be beneficial for systems integration. To explore the impacts for vendors, a survey was developed and fielded to learn about the characteristics of products and vendor attitudes toward interface standards. The results, though not conclusive, suggest that vendors are willing to consider standards; however, needed product customization and more comprehensive systems are important factors weighing against open interface standards. Also reported are three case studies of recent technology applications in the San Francisco Bay Area in which experiences with technical system design and systems integration are described. These case studies strongly suggest that key factors such as market timing, vendor-agency communication, and “learning by doing” affect the development of interface requirements and standards for the transit industry.

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