Transit Resources

In this replay from last year, Christian and Levi reflect on the life and legacy of Clinton B. Forbes, marking one year since his passing. Now, two years later, we continue to honor and remember the profound impact he made on public transit and the people who worked alongside him. Through personal stories and shared memories, they recall Clinton’s charisma, his unwavering dedication to customer service, and his transformative leadership—from ambitious initiatives like the Route Performance Maximization plan to his deep commitment to community service through United Way. Join us once again in celebrating the enduring legacy of a leader, mentor, and friend whose influence continues to shape our industry and our lives.

In this episode of Stop Requested, Levi McCollum and Christian Londono talk with Robert Romero, Transit Manager at ABQ RIDE, as part of a four part series on transit in Albuquerque. Robert oversees Sun Van paratransit service and ABQ RIDE Connect, bringing a customer experience driven approach to operations. The conversation explores how ABQ RIDE transformed its call center from a reservations and complaints function into a reservations and education center, using feedback from riders to drive operational changes. Robert also shares how his background in the private sector shaped improvements in wait times, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement. The episode also covers the rollout of new technology, including RideCo, and how it improved on time performance, reduced complaints, and gave riders more visibility into their trips. Robert discusses the role of communication, community engagement, and taking calculated risks to deliver better service for riders who depend on it most.

In this episode of Stop Requested, John Maglio, Levi McCollum and Christian Londono talk with Jolene Molitoris, former Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration and former Director of the Ohio Department of Transportation. As the first woman to lead the FRA, Jolene shares how her career grew from Ohio rail advocacy to national transportation leadership. The conversation explores rail safety, collaborative rulemaking, the creation of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee, and why lasting progress in transportation depends on teamwork across government, labor, industry, and the private sector.

The City of Yorktown operates a trolley service at the intersection of public transit and tourism. Visitors rely on the trolley to move between designated parking areas and Yorktown’s historic waterfront district, making dependability and real-time communication essential, not optional.

In this episode of Stop Requested, hosts Levi McCollum and Christian Londono sit down with Ricky Angueira, Principal at Jarrett Walker & Associates, to discuss the ridership versus coverage framework that’s changing how cities think about transit planning. From his background studying civil engineering in Puerto Rico to urban planning in Spain, Ricky shares his approach to full network redesigns in cities from Miami to Des Moines. Learn why successful transit planning starts with community values, not just data. Ricky explains why there’s no “one right answer” when designing transit networks—the choice between maximizing ridership or providing broad coverage depends entirely on what communities want to achieve. He walks through real examples from Knoxville, St. Pete, and Miami, showing how proper public engagement can unite regions around shared transit goals. The conversation covers the role of microtransit as a coverage tool, the importance of scalable transit plans during budget challenges, and why transparent community conversations are essential for successful network redesigns. Ricky also discusses emerging trends in travel patterns and offers practical advice for agencies considering system redesigns.

ETA’s radio integration improves dispatch communication at TARTA.

In the third installment of Stop Requested’s AI Roundtable series, ETA CEO John Maglio joins hosts Levi McCollum and Christian Londono, along with Derrick VanGennep of Voloridge Investment Management, to explore how machine learning can help transit agencies move from understanding what happened to predicting what might happen next.

Transit ITS Data Exchange Specification (TIDES) is a remarkable GTFS extension that delves into the realm of historical transit operation data. This repository provides data schemas and tools to support the access, management, and improvement of historical transit operations data, including vehicle operations, passenger activity, fare collection, and other similar data. TIDES bridges the gap between the past and present, allowing transit agencies to store and exchange historical data in a structured and standardized format. This opens a world of possibilities for transit providers, researchers, and developers.

Boca Raton, FL. March 18, 2024. ETA, a leading CAD/AVL bus technology provider, and Via, the global leader in TransitTech, have partnered to upgrade the Sioux Area Metro (SAM) public transit network in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In a mere four weeks, ETA deployed a state of the art 26 bus fixed route ITS project. More impressively, ETA demonstrated their dedication by completing the bus installation in one week during the December 2023 holiday season.

One of the more popular feature requests we receive for our SPOT™ ITS platform is digital pre-and post-trip inspection, also known as driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIR). It certainly seems that transit operators are eager to transition from manual or paper processes to connected digital logging and report solutions. Historically trip inspection involves four things: A driver A clipboard A pre-printed paper form A pencil or pen It’s a wonderfully simple process: a driver walks around a vehicle, looking for signs of damage, maintenance concerns, or any number of issues mandated by transit management. He documents his findings and turns the form over to a supervisor for followup. There are concerns, of course. A driver, late to start his route, may not give the inspection process the time it requires (pencil-whipping) and will miss some important safety items. An administrative assistant may not notice that she transposed some numbers when she use the inspection report to create a work order for the maintenance team. The documents themselves are easily lost or subject to the perils of office life, like spilled coffee or misfiling. And let’s not get started with how poor handwriting can impact an inspection report. These are among the many issues that digital inspection aims to solve: Eliminate transcription errors Minimize “pencil whipped” inspections Improve the ability of the maintenance teams to manage repairs and engage in proactive maintenance Improve vehicle safety Eliminate the expense of printing/reprinting maintenance forms Automatic notifications to maintence or fleet supervisors of potential issues The move from manual processes to digital inspections isn’t a concern among transit operations. They welcome it and all the benefits it brings to their agency. The software for implementing these inspections exists and is transit-tested. Making the switch to digital Deciding to make the switch is the easy part, now comes the hard part—which DVIR technology to choose? And this can be tricky because due to the current limitations of transit technology, there are some nuanced approaches to solving the trip inspection question. On the surface, it would seem obvious that every inspection solution would involve a portable device that a driver or maintenance team member would use to log the inspection. In truth, when ETA began exploring the creation of a DVIR solution, that’s exactly where we started—with a removable mobile data terminal (MDT). We quickly found out that a removable MDT ran into connectivity issues. No matter how securely that MDT was mounted on the bus or shuttle, the act of removing and reseating the device wore down the pin connector and charging cables over time. In just a matter of months, the removable MDT option became unusable and could no longer be counted on to provide data to the ITS or charge reliably. What about Qi chargers you ask? We explored that as well and found very few transit-tested ruggedized wireless charging options—an example of where the technology hasn’t matured to the point where its ready for prime time mass transportation. We explored a mounted MDT solution as well. This approach solved the communication and power issues, however it introduced other drawbacks to the solution. Inspections took longer, accuracy suffered, it was impossible to take photos of areas of concern, and drivers became more likely to “pencil whip” through the process which negated any benefit as a solution for safety or maintenance issues. We also took a deep dive into Bluetooth™ technology to see if strategically places switches on the vehicle would present drivers with a simpler inspection tool—each button would represent an inspection item. If an item was okay, set the switch to “yes,” if there was an issue, select “no.” It was an interesting approach, but lacked the detail necessary for meaningful followup by maintenance teams. Limitations of accurate Bluetooth^™ communication over distance also proved a challenging obstacle to overcome. Our journey forced us to take a step back and consider the factors that would influence the choice of DVIR solutions—not from a place of technology, but of real-world considerations. Understanding what a driver or maintenance team needed was a more important driver of choice than conquering the limitations of technology. We identified the following factors that are critical to address before a trip inspection is implemented: Device security: Do they store the inspection device in the vehicle or secure them elsewhere? Can they afford to replace trip inspection devices if they are damaged or stolen? How long is the replacement cycle for damaged or stolen devices? Data management: How will they manage the data collected? Will this data import require additional software development? What is the criticality of this data to other areas of the operation? Are there costs associated with processing and storing data? How long is data stored/accessible? Driver safety: Is there room on the vehicle to install the device? Would installation block driver access to other vehicle systems? Will installation obscure driver view of the road, doors, exits, etc.? Technology adoption: Is the solution easy to use? Does the solution present a significant learning curve for drivers, dispatchers, and maintenance teams? What will be the level of resistance toward the adoption of this feature? How might the system be exploited or subverted? Have all parties been consulted and included in the decision-making process? Our recommended solution Our path to DVIR discovery let us to a path that we hadn’t originally considered—the use of a rugged smartphone to handle inspections. The solution checks all the boxes: Puts an affordable portable device in the hands of drivers to log potential issues Protects data collection integrity by keeping MDTs secure and locked down Requires very little real estate within the driver cockpit to install a charging dock (or can reside in a driver’s pocket) Delivers hours of battery life Provides a secure platform from which to operate and allows the same device to be used elsewhere—such as VoIP It’s a simple, yet elegant solution that simplifies trip inspection and improves the safety and reliability of a transit fleet. It’s a solution that we our are proud to introduce to the market. Closing thoughts A pre-trip inspection solution can provide numerous advantages to transit operation and contribute to the overall safety and reliability of the fleet. Sometimes there is a gap between what software can do and the availability of hardware to support it. Nowhere is this more evident than the current state of driver vehicle inspection technology. Still, a transit agency may have to weigh the adoption of a DVIR solution against potential shortcomings that may not lead to a “right-fit” adoption. Our advice is to speak with your ITS provider and solicit outside vendors to take full stock of your available options before making that transition from paper to digital inspection. Once you find that ideal blend of technology and features, you’ll be amazed at how much your fleet will benefit from cost savings, reliability, and performance.

In this episode of Stop Requested, hosts Levi McCollum and Christian Londono explore the unique experience of the Transit Bus Summit, an event that goes beyond traditional transit conferences by fostering direct, meaningful connections between agencies and vendors. Christian shares key takeaways from this year’s summit, including discussions on integration challenges, open data standards, and the growing demand for infotainment and hardware reliability. Hear firsthand how this tailored approach to networking and knowledge-sharing is shaping the future of transit technology—and why it’s a must-attend event for industry professionals.

Boca Raton, FL – September 3, 2026 – ETA today announced that several transit agencies are rolling out TransitGPT™, its conversational AI application designed to help transit professionals ask questions across connected agency data in plain language.