Modes: bringing multi-modal information to the ITS architecture

Real-time transit management systems that can inform the public about transportation options and availability are gradually being deployed in many parts of the world. While many larger cities have been able to provide this information on web sites or through automated telephone systems for several years, smaller municipalities often lack the resources to develop their own transit management systems. Addressing this issue as a joint effort, transportation agencies in the multi-state North American CARS Program have cooperatively developed a real-time, multi-modal transit tracking and incident reporting system called Modes. Modes builds on the CARS road condition reporting system developed by 17 transportation agencies in North America. Modes extends the CARS software to include ferry, bus, and passenger rail services to the basic highway network information it manages. Modes was initially created to track the Alaska Marine Highway System's extensive ferry system and has been successfully applied to New England's popular Acadia National Park bus tracking system, three bus systems in Maine, 13 bus systems in Idaho (in progress), three bus systems and a light rail line in the Sacramento, California area (in progress), as well as the Amtrak Downeaster and Capitol Corridor rail lines.