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May 17, 2012
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Summer Service Reductions 2012

Posted on May 14, 2012 by asnyder

Congrats!

"UIUC" "Graduates" "CUMTD" "MTD"

"Congrats Graduates!" ran on MTD destination signs all through finals week and graduation weekend. Photo Credit: University of Illinois Police Department

Hearty congratulations to graduates of the University of Illinois, Parkland College, Centennial, Central, and University High Schools! With degrees obtained and move-out weekend behind us, summer service reductions are firmly in effect. The below reductions will last through the summer until the weekend of August 25 and 26, just before the University of Illinois fall semester begins.

  • No 2 Red Express trips, which are labeled with “L” and “U” footnotes, during the summer.

  • No 5/50 GREENhopper on the weekday, weekday evenings, or Saturday evening.

  • No late night service after midnight on the 50 Green, 100 Yellow, 120 Teal, 130 Silver, or 220 Illini. There is also no 335 SafeRides all summer.

  • The 12 Teal Limited Weekday will now operate and the frequency is reduced to 20 minutes. The evening and weekend Teal are unaffected.

  • The “U” trips of the 13 Silver Weekday will not operate through the summer, bringing the frequency to 20 minutes. The 130 Silver Limited will operate in the evening and all day Saturday and Sunday. The frequency is 20 minutes and the route is shortened.

  • The 22/220 Illini Limited will operate all week during all day types. The route is shortened and the frequency is reduced to 30 minutes.

Housekeeping

A Public Hearing on proposed improvements for the 2012-2013 service year will be on Wednesday, June 6 at 4:30 pm at CityView at Illinois Terminal in downtown Champaign.

There are two summer holidays coming up that MTD will observe with no service all day. The first is Memorial Day on Monday, May 28 and the second is Independence Day on Wednesday, July 4.

Is your MTD trip affected by summer reductions? Do you or your organization make adjustments for the reduced community demand?

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Green Light: Significant Aspects Part One

Posted on May 7, 2012 by asnyder

Sustainability Intern, Jane Sullivan, returns to guest blog and school us on MTD’s ESMS.

Two posts (one and two) were published in previous Green Lights about MTD’s Environmental and Sustainability Management System (ESMS) and efforts to achieve ISO 14001 certification.

Fundamental to our ESMS are six significant aspects chosen for the Maintenance Department to focus and control. All aspects, which can have any level of impact on the environment, are ranked across several criteria and ordered. The top six aspects with the most potential for impact are deemed ‘significant.’

In this month’s Green Lights, I’ll focus on three of these aspects: Filling of Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) with Diesel Fuel, Storage of Diesel Fuel in USTs, and Used Coach Batteries.

Filling USTs with Diesel Fuel and Storage of Diesel Fuel in USTs

"CUMTD" "MTD" "ESMS" "UST"

View of top of diesel underground storage tanks.

Located within our Maintenance Department fenceline are two storage tanks buried underground. Each holds about 15,000 gallons of diesel fuel. These USTs are filled at high rates using a four inch diameter hose. Fuel is stored in these tanks until it is dispensed to our fleet.

MTD’s ESMS establishes our commitment to maintaining zero spills and uncontrolled releases while filling USTs and also during the storage period. Fortunately, MTD has never experienced a spill or release while filling or storing diesel fuel in our USTs, but maintaining this success is a hefty task nonetheless.

If the equipment used to fill these tanks were to fail, a large volume of diesel fuel could drain into our oil/water separator quickly. This could lead to a release into the storm sewer, harming nearby waterways and aquatic life. It’s vital to keep a close eye on our USTs diesel storage because structural failure may result in contamination of soil and groundwater.

We are lucky enough to live and work above one of the largest groundwater resources in Illinois, the Mahomet Aquifer, which supplies drinking water to our surrounding communities. Our USTs, so we must do all we can to protect this freshwater resource.

Maintenance, Handling, and Disposal of Used Coach Batteries

MTD uses an average of 160 coach batteries a year, which leaves us with a big responsibility! New batteries are dropped off by contractors and stored on site. A battery is stored for six to 12 months before it is installed on a bus.

Each bus has two batteries and each battery has a life of one to two years. Once a battery can no longer be used, it is stored on a pallet outside of the battery storage room until it is picked up by a contractor to be properly recycled.

The components of lead-acid batteries are toxic and corrosive. Our ESMS establishes our commitment to reduce the risk of acid release, contamination to storm water and groundwater, and the overall number of batteries being discarded. Improper handling can lead to serious hazards such as fire, explosion, and burning of skin and eyes. If storm or groundwater is contaminated, both local community members and aquatic life can be harmed.

MTD is working to protect the environment by avoiding contamination of air, soil, and groundwater and also working to increase the lifespan of our batteries by 20 percent. Operational controls for handling and maintaining used batteries have been researched, revised, and implemented in order to ensure safe handling, the health of community members, and our employees.

In next month’s Green Lights, I’ll cover the remaining significant aspects and why MTD’s ESMS is the key to continued success.

Do you or your place of business seek to reduce your environmental impacts? What are your latest initiatives?

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Third Annual C-U Bike to Work and School Day

Posted on April 30, 2012 by asnyder

Let’s Roll

"Champaign" "Urbana" "Bike to Work Day"

Bike to Work Day host organizations prepare giveaways while wearing this year's t-shirt.

The Champaign-Urbana Bike to Work and School Day is tomorrow, Tuesday, May 1! This event is hosted by the cities of Champaign and Urbana, the University of Illinois, the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, Champaign County Bikes, and MTD! There is also a long list of Platinum and Gold sponsors.

There were 557 pre-registrants for the event! Station hosts, local businesses, and enthusiastic participants are bringing this event to life. Here’s a list of some updates and things to look for tomorrow:

  • One of the ten station hosts, Wolfram Alpha, created a widget for C-U Bike to Work Day, to help you calculate how much money you can save by commuting by bike.

  • A Facebook Event is posted for you to “attend” and share with your friends.

  • The 2012 Bike to Work Day t-shirts were screen printed by Weiskamp. A big thanks for their sponsorship. Registrants get first dibs on the t-shirts and they’ll be given out on a first-come, first-served basis.

  • The other giveaway is a PBA-free water bottle brought to you by a Platinum level sponsor, the Illinois Student Senate. Thank you!

  • If you missed the deadline to pre-register for C-U Bike to Work Day, do not fear! You can still sign up at any of the bike stations on Tuesday morning (from 7 – 10 am) and receive the star treatment.

  • Want to do even more? You can sign-up to volunteer! Volunteers are especially needed at the Campus Bike Project station.

    "Champaign" "Urbana" "Bike to Work Day"

    This year's t-shirt: "One less car / C-U Bike to Work Day / May 1, 2012."

  • Siam Terrace in Urbana and My Thai in Champaign are offering free soft drinks to anyone who purchases an entree while wearing their Bike to Work Day t-shirt on Tuesday.

  • Professional mechanics from Champaign Cycle will be available for basic checks and repairs at the three biggest stations tomorrow: Alma Mater, Downtown Urbana, and Downtown Champaign. How nice!

WILL published a story on the event as well as Smile Politely. Thanks for the advance publicizing! For those participating or still on the fence about participating, the Bike to Work site offers helpful commuting tips as well as local bicycling resources. Although there is a 30 percent chance of rain, we’re looking forward to celebrating another year of bicycling in Chambana. Remember, if the rain is intolerable you can always put your bike on a MTD bus bike rack and get home with ease.

Are you participating? Is this your first year? Why do you choose to commute via bike?

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2012 Illinois Marathon and Ebertfest

Posted on April 23, 2012 by asnyder
Illinois Marathon

Marathoners travel east on Main past the Champaign County Courthouse. Photo Credit: Illinois Loyalty

Beginning Wednesday, April 25, visitors will descend upon Chambana for the Illinois Marathon and Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, Ebertfest.

The fourth annual Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon grows each year. The races include a marathon, half marathon, wheelchair half marathon, marathon relay, 10K, and 5K. All registered participants will pick up their packets, beginning Thursday, April 26, at the ARC located on Peabody Drive between First and Fourth Streets.

Providing service during the Illinois Marathon weekend may not be a test of physical endurance, but it certainly tests MTD’s operations. Maintaining service schedules is difficult and STOPwatch real-time departure information will not be available for passengers. We recommend everyone give themselves extra time to get to final destinations and anticipate delays.

The 5K kicks off the weekend on Friday, April 27 at 6:45 pm. Almost all MTD routes will be rerouted for the race. The boundaries of the street closures are much reduced compared to the marathon. The furthest closure to the north is Green Street, to the east Sixth Street, Hazelwood Drive to the south, and to the west Oak Street. See course map.

The closed streets will be reopened as soon as the racers finish and the streets are cleared of spectators. MTD will restore regular service for the remaining evening and late night.

All MTD routes will be affected by the full and half marathons, which begin the morning of Saturday, April 28. Reroutes will go into effect at the start of the service day. The marathoners step-off at 7:00 am.

As the Illinois Marathon website details, “The race starts near Assembly Hall, runs through campus, loops through Urbana, back through campus, out into Champaign, and finishes on the 50-yard line of Memorial Stadium.”

For runners averaging a 13:45 mile pace or faster, the course will be free of outside traffic. Slower participants will have to share the road as it will be opened to traffic later in the day. Marathon staff and volunteers are slated for seven hours, 7:00 am until 2:00 pm, to assist all participants. Just like the 5K, when streets are reopened and deemed safe for traffic, MTD will attempt to resume regular service.

The boundaries of street closures in Champaign are Church Street to the north, First Street to the east, Valleybrook Drive to the south (north of Windsor Road), and Maynard Drive (west of Duncan) to the west. For Urbana, the farthest north point is Main Street, Smith Road to the east, and Windsor Road to the south (including Meadowbrook Park), and of course everything to the west until the City of Champaign begins. See the course map.

For up-to-date details on Friday and Saturday reroutes, as well as estimated timing, please visit our website.

Lick Creek Photography

View of panel at Virginia Theater, the main venue for Ebertfest. Photo Credit: Lick Creek Photography

Ebertfest is celebrating its 14th year! While the festivities will not result in street closures, the four-day event from April 25-29 will definitely contribute to congestion and parking demand.

Try riding MTD! If you don’t have a $60 annual pass, it’s just $1 each way. Use our Trip Planner and select the date and time of your desired departure or arrival time. Download an app from our App Garage to check STOPwatch, plan trips, and more.

Good luck to all walkers, joggers, and runners in the Illinois Marathon races and happy viewing to all Ebertfest attendees!

Will you be participating in one or both events?

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Bloodmobile Donors Since 1985

Posted on April 16, 2012 by asnyder

Like Clockwork

Donors can give blood every two months. So our internal coordinator, Jim Dhom (also known as MTD’s Safety & Training Director) makes six appointments a year with Community Blood Services of Illinois.

Did you know that in the United States someone needs blood every two seconds? To meet that demand more than 38,000 blood donations are needed nationally each day [source]. 20 percent of the persons who need blood are children. Shortages are an unfortunately common occurrence.

"Community Blood Services of Illinois" "Bloodmobile" "CUMTD" "MTD"

The Bloodmobile affords convenience without compromising on safe donations.

The Bloodmobile parks at our Administration and Operations Building at 1101 E University Ave in Urbana from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm. Our neighbors to the west, Carle IT, and north, Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District, also encourage their employees to participate. Appointments can be made but walk-ins are also welcome.

Together, the three organizations average 12-15 donations each time. The most recent Bloodmobile visit was last week on Wednesday, April 11. At the day’s end, there were 18 donors, but three were deferred due to health disqualifications.

The first blood drive was held September 4, 1985. As of last Wednesday’s blood drive, MTD and area organizations had donated a total of 1,332 pints since 1985! If one pint saves three lives, then we’ve saved approximately 3,996.

Five years ago, MTD added another layer of commitment when our Maintenance Department donated labor to install a new ribbed flooring inside the Bloodmobile.

A Small Thing

Amanda Howie, Donor Relations Coordinator of Community Blood Services of Illinois, recognizes the common resistance to donating. “It is essential for many people’s survival and while no one likes needles and it is an inconvenience for some people to donate, there is no greater feeling than knowing that you did so little to help someone else so much.”

Community Blood Services supplies to Carle and Provena in Champaign, Provena in Danville, Sarah Bush in Mattoon, and St. Anthony’s in Effingham. The Bloodmobile will visit any location within the same boundaries that they supply blood.

“We hear many reasons why people need blood whether it is a car accident, sickle cell anemia, hemorrhaging in childbirth, or cancer treatments,” said Howie.

One pint of blood can save up to three lives.

Community Blood Services provides donors with additional benefits. “We have an online hub that allows donors to get t-shirts, blankets, watches, and all sorts of things for their blood donations.”

Although an estimated 38 percent of the United States population is eligible to donate blood at any given time, less than 10 percent do so annually [source].

“There is never a situation in which we don’t need your blood and the blood is used 99% of the time. By taking some of your time to donate, you are helping your neighbors and their families in more ways than you can know,” stressed Howie. “We are beyond grateful to MTD’s dedicated donors. Without locations like MTD, that host a drive every eight weeks, we would have a difficult time meeting our hospitals’ needs.”

Does your organization schedule Bloodmobile visits? Why do you donate blood?

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STOPwatch Explained

Posted on April 9, 2012 by asnyder

Recently on Facebook, Twitter, and formspring, riders shared their concerns about STOPwatch real-time bus departure information. Two issues came to the forefront that both have solutions. The first requires education and the second asks for time.

Rethinking Your Ride

This question was posted on formspring two months ago:

“Why is it when a bus on the stopwatch says 3 or 6 min until it’s due, and once that bus comes within 2 min, it leaves without waiting for those last few minutes? It confuses many and I have missed buses this way.”

(You can read our formspring response, too.)

"STOPwatch" "22 Illini" "CUMTD" "MTD"

STOPwatch kiosk on Goodwin Avenue at the Krannert Center

When an operator begins driving, he/she logs their bus into service. Location data is pulled from each bus approximately every 30 seconds via radio transmission. The data pulled is organized based on the “block” the driver logged into.

So each time you use Bus Stop Lookup on our website, send a text to 35890, or pull up a search on a mobile app, a request is sent to MTD for estimated departure for your bus and stop. The information that you receive, in most cases, is one to 30 seconds old if radio quality is adequate.

If you receive information that your bus will arrive in six minutes, we recommend sending another request two minutes later to get an update. If your bus hit a series of green lights, the departure time will likely change. If your bus got slammed with heavy passenger loads, the departure time may be affected.

The word “departure” is a well-chosen descriptor. STOPwatch gives you the time the bus will depart a stop, not arrive. We encourage all passengers to arrive at their stop five minutes before the departure time. In the above example, if STOPwatch says your bus will depart in six minutes, you should get your fanny to the exact stop ASAP! If we operated along a railroad track, service delivery would be different. But the unpredictability of the shared road makes it imperative to be at your stop five minutes before.

Turn Buses

The second issue is what insiders are calling phantom or ghost buses, which are an unfortunate side effect of turn buses. Fortunately, we’re working on a cure.

Turn buses are extra vehicles that slip into service. These buses restore on-time service when a route is operating behind schedule. Buses wait in the wings until a dispatcher notifies them that they are to go in-service. That operator then logs into the “block” of the delayed route and operates it until the original bus can reenter service on schedule.  The original bus continues to countdown in STOPwatch but then “disappears” because it is taken out of service. And then you have… a phantom bus! Boo!

The upside is turn buses improve schedule adherence. The downside is that occasionally a rider may be waiting for a bus that won’t arrive. This is an issue we diagnosed a few months ago with the help of some Twitter and formspring interactions. We are working with the developer of the software, INIT, to implement a software solution for inserting and removing turn buses from service with less disruption. A fix is expected to be provided, and employees trained, by May 2012.

A final takeaway that applies to both issues: please reference a bus schedule! Read through the timetables on our website or grab our Maps & Schedules Book. Whenever routes get off schedule, we always focus on returning to the information on our schedules.

Our technologies can always be improved. Several staff people dedicate a large part of their jobs to doing just that. Adjustments, updates to software, and constant communication with contract companies, are essential to providing the most accurate information.

What’s your favorite way to get STOPwatch information? How often do you reference the schedule for a route you’re riding?

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Green Light: Adopt Urbana

Posted on April 2, 2012 by asnyder
"Adopt Urbana" "CUMTD" "MTD"

Our street signage declaring our adoption of Windsor Road between Philo and Race.

Giving Back

MTD is celebrating the second year of our adoption. In 2011, we signed onto the City of Urbana’s Adopt Urbana Program. We became the proud parents of Windsor Road between Philo and Race. MTD promised to arrange litter clean-ups at least three times each year for two years, which is the duration of the promise contingent upon renewal.

The program allows, “not-for-profit organizations an opportunity to help keep the streets in Urbana clean by collecting litter.” [Source]

MTD is invested in improving the safety, accessibility, and cleanliness of the environment in which we operate everyday. There are many environmental benefits to riding public transit. The inclusion of hybrid diesel-electric buses and the diesel particulate filters, which capture 90 percent of particulate matter before it enters the air, make the decision even greener. The Adopt Urbana program is a no-brainer extension of that mission.

Clean-Up Clean-Up, Everybody Everywhere

Saturday, March 24 kicked off the first clean-up of 2012! A group of MTD employees, including staff, operators, and their families, arrived that morning at 8:30 am for a bit of donuts and conversation. Our adopted area has the perfect meeting place: Meadowbrook Park.

The team divided in half to cover the north and south sides of Windsor Road. Equipped with safety vests, gloves, garbage bags, and very handy trash picker-uppers, the team hauled in four bags of trash. One group found a pair of boots! I’m sure there’s a story behind that…

"Adopt Urbana" "MTD" "CUMTD"

MTD employees walk along Windsor Road collecting trash. Note the reflective vests that read, "MTD @ Work."

The ground was wet because of rain, which left everyone’s shoes pretty soaked by the end. But that did not seem to dampen any spirits as the sacrifice for a clean environment was well worth it. Four bags were collected and left under our Adopt Urbana street signs (one at Windsor & Race, the other at Windsor & Philo) for the Urbana Public Works Department to collect.

To add another layer of environmental celebration, MTD plans on purchasing a scale to weigh the impact of future clean-ups.

Drew Bargmann, Planner, is MTD’s coordinator for the Adopt Urbana program. “I think we will renew the promise, it’s a good opportunity to give back to the community.”

Does your organization participate in Adopt Urbana? What are other community events that help keep our community litter free?

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Transit Gets Sexy at South by Southwest

Posted on March 26, 2012 by asnyder

A Historic Festival

What began as a music festival and conference in 1987 has grown into a ten-day extravaganza called South by Southwest. The annual event brings 32,000 registrants to Austin, Texas.

“SXSW’s original goal was to create an event that would act as a tool for creative people and the companies they work with to develop their careers, to bring together people from a wide area to meet and share ideas. That continues to be the goal today whether it is music, film or the internet.” [Source]

Panels of individual, duos, and small groups run throughout the festival on all topics imaginable across hotels and facilities around downtown Austin. What makes SXSW unique is that the public gets to vote on which ones they’d like to see earn a spot.

Transit Gets the Green Light

In July 2011, I was contacted by Laura Oppenheimer, Marketing Manager at Formspring, which is a question and answer social network. (Visit CUMTD’s profile and ask us a question!) She wanted to submit a panel on public transit to address the challenges of sharing data and communicating timely information to riders. Because MTD has an API (application programming interface) and is active on social networks, Oppenheimer thought I could share an insider’s perspective from an agency that’s attempting to meet riders’ needs in a technologically innovative way.

I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Oppenheimer also brought in three other panelists.

Brian Ferris, founder and lead developer of OneBusAway and a software engineer at Google Transit, was invited to share his insight in transit mapping and data aggregation. Ferris provided a wealth of knowledge about the history of transit data, open data, and what he envisions for the future.

Eugenia Chien is co-founder of Muni Diaries, an award-winning website that enables bus riders in San Francisco to share stories, transit updates, and news tips. This vibrant, interactive community has evolved into a primary source for accidents, delays, and area news. Chien’s crowdsourced site is providing an incredible tool driven by riders, for riders.

The final panelist was Ravi Pina, founder of Caltrain Tweets. Frustrated with his San Francisco Bay Area commute, Pina created Caltrain Tweets. Users submit service delays as they experience them to Caltrain Tweets and the content is then broadcast for all to see on Twitter from a single account.

Oppenheimer submitted our white paper to SXSW’s Panel Picker. Voting commenced, links were shared, and pleas were made to get our panel chosen.

At the end of October, we were notified that our panel had been accepted! Oppenheimer orchestrated email conversations and conference calls to generate possible questions and topics for discussion.

Our panel was named, “Sexy Data Solutions for Public Transit” and was held in the AT&T Conference Center, which housed panels under the category of “Government and Global Issues.” The above link provides a full audio recording of our hour panel along with a description. Warning: It’s not very sexy at all.

Approximately 40 attendees arrived to hear our discussion on Monday, March 12. Oppenheimer opened our session by polling the audience. We found that almost all the attendees lived in urban areas and rode transit. There were about five attendees who worked in public transit or as contractors for agencies. Finally, ten hands identified themselves as developers.

Conversation flowed easily and questions were frequent as we navigated through topics of access, lacking funds, shortsighted transit agencies, and fickle users.

It was a memorable experience for me and I was honored to represent MTD as well as Champaign-Urbana. The dedication of dozens of people for over ten years has brought our community several advances including STOPwatch real-time departure information, wayside signage, a slick website, and most recently our API and App Garage.

Have you attended South by Southwest? What are areas of MTD’s data and communications that you think could be improved?

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Spring Break Service Reductions

Posted on March 19, 2012 by asnyder
"Amtrak" "Illinois Terminal" "CUMTD" "MTD"

Waiting area at Illinois Terminal for northbound Amtrak train on Friday, March 16.

The Essentials

It’s time again to review the University of Illinois spring break-inspired service reductions. If you’re already familiar with the routes affected, don’t close this tab! At the bottom is an inside look at spring break projects MTD staff are undertaking while service and buses are in reduced demand.

But first, the reductions began going into effect on Saturday, March 17. The 12/120 Teal, 13/130 Silver, and 22/220 Illini switched to their limited route and schedule counterparts. For the Teal and the Silver there are slight route adjustments and frequency goes to 20-minutes. The Illini Limited operates a very different routing along with a reduction to 30-minute service. The Teal, Silver, and Illini will return to full service at 6:30 pm on Sunday, March 25.

Saturday also bade a temporary adieu to the 5/50 GREENhopper, late night service (after midnight), and SafeRides. With the passage of the University of Illinois transportation fee referendum this month, SafeRides will continue to operate during the fall, winter, and spring breaks next service year which begins August 2012. For the current service year, SafeRides service will resume at 7:00 pm on Sunday, March 25 and late night service will also resume that same night. The GREENhopper will return to the streets at the start of service on Monday, March 26.

The 27/270 Air Bus ran through Saturday but there will be no service again until Sunday, March 25. The Air Bus will operate all day Sunday.

Finally the 2 Red Express, which operates during the daytime on weekdays, will not operate until Monday, March 26. Trips in the 2 Red schedule marked with the footnote “L” and/or “U,” called Express trips, will not be taken. Essentially, these trips provide additional campus bus service.

The Cool Stuff

Now on to the updates that make The Inside Lane so fun to read! Breaks during the academic year reduce service demand and free up the fleet and staff time for intensive projects.

One project scheduled to begin during spring break is the removal of the wayside signs at the Illini Union for later replacement with new, LCD/LED combination STOPwatch kiosks. These kiosks have already been installed to the delight of riders at the Transit Plaza, Ikenberry Commons, PAR/FAR, and along Goodwin Avenue. The old, LED wayside signs will be installed at another, high-traffic stop that is currently without digital signage.

"STOPwatch" "CUMTD" "MTD" "University of Illinois"

STOPwatch kiosk at the Chemical and Life Sciences on Goodwin Avenue.

Without the constant flow of  foot traffic, removal of the old electronic display is easier. Potter Electric is installing the conduit, MCS Office Technologies will set-up the kiosk (hard and software), and CITES (Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services) is in charge of the fiber. We’re all looking forward to this technology upgrade at the Illini Union for both north and south sides of Green Street.

During the transition from the LED signs to the new high-tech kiosks, riders can continue to access real-time information via text messaging, MTD’s mobi site, or download an app from our App Garage.

The fleet of 16, 60-foot articulated buses has the opportunity for some TLC with U of I, middle, and high school students all on break. The maintenance department will  install heated mirror controls on all the “accordion buses.”

Finally, with fewer buses in use, two staff people will begin taking inventory of a firmware chip that will enable automatic destination (a.k.a. head) sign changing. The responsibility of switching a route’s direction from north to south, east to west, will soon no longer be the responsibility of the operator. GPS tracking will trigger the switch automatically.

Implementing this technology has been long in the making. Operators and riders benefit from the automated switch…if it’s accurate. We wanted to ensure that driver’s could also perform an override for unforeseen circumstances. After much testing and software tweaking, MTD staff think we’ve go it, by jove!

Are your MTD trips affected by spring break service reductions? Which of the above projects are you most excited about?

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App Challenge Winners Announced

Posted on March 12, 2012 by asnyder

A Day of Gadgets

It took five hours for the five judges to grade the 24 submissions to the App Challenge, which ended February 20.  Community developers submitted 12 for Android, four for iPhone, two for Windows 7, one Windows 6.5, and five web applications. The judges and MTD software developers worked side-by-side to navigate through each submission.

“We were there to help the judges understand each platform, assist with any connectivity issues, and reset the apps after they’d been used,” said Ryan Blackman, MTD Software Developer/Network Administrator. Blackman, along with Software Developer Sean Sartell, worked tirelessly for over a year to bring versions one and two of the application programming interface (API) to the public as well as facilitate developer resources.

“When we got the go ahead to do the App Challenge, Ryan and I knew immediately that we could not participate in the judging,” Sartell explained. “We’ve had so many interactions with the developers and we’re close to a few of them. So of course, we’re pretty biased.”

To encourage random app judging, Blackman and Sartell printed individual grading rubrics for each app, shuffled them, and stuffed a folder for each judge. Champaign Telephone Company provided four Android phones, two iPhones, and a Windows Phone 7 to expedite the judging process. Thanks, CTC! MTD staff shared their tablets, for the web applications, and a Windows Mobile 6.5 phone.

"CUMTD" "MTD" "App Challenge" "API"

From left: Ryan Blackman, Brandon Bowersox-Johnson, Sean Sartell, and Matt Wettersten tally grading rubrics.

As previously announced, the judges panel consisted of three local professionals and two staff members of the MTD.

Brandon Bowersox-Johnson, VP of Technology at Pixo, is involved with research and development for mobile apps and web applications. Bowersox-Johnson was critical of user interfaces and kept an eye on the standards of each operating system. As a multi-decade MTD rider, Bowersox-Johnson is also familiar with MTD’s routes and services. Basically, he was a power house of a judge.

Dr. Kevin Jackson, Assistant Professor of Accountancy at the University of Illinois, brought systematic consistency to the judging. Jackson went through each criterion and gave apps a low, middle, or high ranking accompanied by a plus or minus. Afterward, he placed the score sheet for an app in either a low, middle, or high category among the other submissions. Jackson preferred apps that enabled users to type in an address and then find possible routes and stops.

“For people new to the community, which is always the case at the U of I, they oftentimes just have an address to work with,” Jackson said. “I think it’s useful when apps allow the user to input an address at the start.”

The final outside judge was WCIA Channel 3′s Matt Wettersten. Enthusiasm and aesthetics were Wettersten’s contributions to the judging. By searching major Chambana destinations, he focused on the experience of navigating each app. With a good sportsmanship attitude, Wettersten could never bring himself to score any app with “goose eggs,” as he called them.

MTD’s Director of Market Development, Karl Gnadt, and yours truly, Amy Snyder, Communications Specialist, rounded off the judges panel. Both of us entered common sources of service confusion to see how each app responded and recovered.

“The quantity of the Apps that were submitted exceeded my expectations. More importantly – the quality of the Apps submitted went way beyond my expectations,” Gnadt said.

After much deliberation, a bit of heated discussion, and copious use of the word “subjective,” the judges panel decided to award two first place winners and two third place winners in a dual tie. The first place winners each received $1,000 and the third place winners each got $200.

The Apps

1st Place: Catch MTD by David Grochocki, Phone 7

  • Route maps, stop searching, the option to favorite stops, STOPwatch real-time departure information, searching for nearby stops using GPS, trip planning, link to call SafeRides or a taxi, and a feed of MTDnews stories from our website and this blog, The Inside Lane!

1st Place: RideCU by Thomas McGinniss, Android

  • Stop searching, favorite stops, STOPwatch, stop searching via GPS, trip planning, and a bus tracker that displays the actual progress of buses for a selected stop.

3rd Place: CU Buses by Benjamin Esham, iOS

  • Stop searching, map views, favorite stops, STOPwatch, scheduled time, trip planning with maps as well as detailed origin and destination option including contacts on the user’s phone.

3rd Place: CU Transit by Sukolsak Sakshuwong, iOS

  • Views of all maps and schedules, stop searching, detailed map views, STOPwatch, nearby stops via GPS, trip planning, and mapping of trips.

The entire group was a bit bleary eyed by the end, but pleased with the outcome. Get links to download the winning apps and view others submissions to our App Garage.

Which apps have you downloaded? Share a review for one of them!

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Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District
1101 East University Avenue
Urbana, IL 61802-2009
(217) 384-8188
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