Internet of Things and Data Analytics Handbook

36TRANSIT HUB: A SMART DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT OPERATIONS

SHASHANK SHEKHAR¹, FANGZHOU SUN¹, ABHISHEK DUBEY¹, ANIRUDDHA GOKHALE¹, HIMANSHU NEEMA¹, MARTIN LEHOFER² AND DAN FREUDBERG³

¹Institute for Software Integrated Systems, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

²Siemens Corporate Technology, Princeton, NJ, USA

³Nashville Metropolitan Transport Authority, Nashville, TN, USA

36.1 INTRODUCTION

The allure of smart city technologies lies in its promise to enrich the lives of residents by empowering the stakeholders to make efficient and informed decisions and help alleviate complex issues. One such issue that is universally faced by large cities of the world is the problem of commuter traffic. Solutions are difficult, partly because so much of our physical infrastructure was designed for a different era—when no one could imagine just how many cars would hit the streets each day—and partly because options like mass transit and adopting car shares, biking, and walking are seen by many as “trading down” making their commute less convenient. The irony is that very often, a short walk or bus ride would be far faster, easier, and cheaper than driving. Unfortunately, there is a general lack of awareness among people about the effectiveness of these options.

For example, consider the city of Nashville, TN. The traffic congestion in the city has nearly doubled over the last decade and is expected to grow at an even faster rate in future—a recent study found it to ...