ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF TRANSIT BUS DESIGN STANDARDS

The research in this report investigates the perceptions of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) standards for the public transit industry. The public transit industry has a rather colorful past in standardization, and this experience is reviewed with an eye toward lessons that might be applied to transit ITS standards today. Particular examples of standardization include the President's Conference Committee (PCC) car from the 1930s, the Transbus program of the 1970s, and the subsequent White Book. To complement this historical review, a survey of transit agencies regarding recent transit standards was conducted. In particular, transit agency experience with the J1708/J1587 standard for on-board electronics, and with the recent Standard Bus Procurement Guidelines, was investigated. Both the historical review and the survey results suggest that there are some primary factors that affect whether transit design standards are successful; i.e., whether they improve technical compatibility and reduce costs. Based on these factors, recommendations for the current transit ITS standards efforts are suggested.

• Record URL:
  http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/167407-1.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/18000/18300/18319/167407-1.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Texas Transportation Institute

  Texas A&M University System, 1600 E Lamar Boulevard
  Arlington, TX  United States  76011

  Southwest Region University Transportation Center

  Texas A&M University
  3135 TAMU
  College Station, TX  United States  77843-3135
• Authors:
  • Hickman, M
  • Jeong, R
• Publication Date: 2001-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 45 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Design standards; Economic analysis; History; Intelligent transportation systems; Public transit; Standards; Surveys; Transit buses; Transit operating agencies
• Subject Areas: Economics; History; Operations and Traffic Management; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00815770
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: SWUTC/01/167407-1
• Contract Numbers: 10727
• Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 8 2001 12:00AM