Visualizing Transit Through a Web Based Geographic Information System

Abstract

Abstract—Currently in many major cities, public transit schedulesare disseminated through lists of routes, grids of stop times andstatic maps. This paper describes a web based geographic informationsystem which disseminates the same schedule information throughintuitive GIS techniques. Using data from Calgary, Canada, an mapbased interface has been created to allow users to see routes, stops andmoving buses all at once. Zoom and pan controls as well as satelliteimagery allows users to apply their personal knowledge about thelocal geography to achieve faster, and more pertinent transit results.Using asynchronous requests to web services, users are immersedin an application where buses and stops can be added and removedinteractively, without the need to wait for responses to HTTP requests.Keywords—Geographic Information Systems, Public Transit, WebServices, AJAX, Human Computer Interface I. I NTRODUCTION F UEL costs and environmental concerns present new ob-stacles to transportation. Our reliance on personal trans-port has spawned numerous simulations of traffic flow [8],light timings [7], pedestrian crossings[9] and other intelligenttransportation applications [3]. Unfortunately, this focus hasoverlooked the mode of transport with the greatest potential:public transit. Public transit offers us a potential solution whichdoes not require substantially new investment or infrastructure.Despite these potential benefits, many people have a negativeopinion of public transportation, and will continue to drivetheir personal vehicles.Transit’s negative image stems from many independentvariables including punctuality, frequency, overcrowding, se-curity, schedule information, and others [6]. If access totransit information is hindered by poor user interfaces, largelag times, or difficult street name abbreviations, the negativeimage of public transportation will be reinforced. However,if we provide better, more intuitive access to information, weempower transit users, create a better overall experience, andeffect a positive change in the public perception of transit [14].Research of transit models, and route planning is extensive[2], [1], [17], but there remains limited research presentingthe existing data to end users through the web [10].For this research project, the public transit system of Cal-gary, Canada; a city with over 1 million citizens, is used.With 2 light rail transit lines, nearly 600 vehicles in serviceat a peak times[15], and over 5500 transit stops, the amountof data is significant, and through a classic web interface,absolutely overwhelming. Given the prevalence of successfulGoogle Maps projects [12], a web based application hasbeen developed to explore alternative techniques of schedule