Transportation & Land Use

 

Traveler Information Display System

Greater Portland, Maine ITS Project Architecture

Concept
Provide rail, bus, ferry and airline schedule information to travelers at Portland transportation terminals, participating hotels, the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and The Maine Mall. A transportation web site www.transportme.org was developed as Phase I of the project

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Background
The Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) on behalf of the City of Portland is administering a transportation information display system (TIDS) displayed at key transportation terminals and select hotels.

In 2004, GPCOG and VIP designed an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) pilot project for the Portland Explorer bus service. AVL is based on Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and provides the location of the bus in real time. It also has the ability to obtain travel speed, stop time, e-mail notifications and route data reports for each vehicle. Spaced satellites that orbit the Earth make it possible to determine geographic coordinates for each bus through a mobile terminal device. Then the data is transferred to the server via wireless connection and displayed on the map using mapping software. The process initializes every five minutes, which changes the bus location on the map. The information is shared with customers via the Internet at transportation terminals and participating hotels equipped with high-resolution screens or Transportation Informaton Display Systems (TIDS). In addition, displays show schedule information for the local transit providers, as well as public announcements.

GPCOG administers the system with technical support from Intersystems, Inc. and the Portland Jetport. Screens are currently installed at the following locations.

 

Locations	Scheduled Arrivals and Departures
Casco Bay Ferry Terminal	Ferry, Explorer, METRO
Convention & Visitors Bureau	Airlines, Ferry, Concord, Amtrak, Explorer
Embassy Suites Hotel	Airline, Explorer
GPCOG Test Site	all locations displayed
Hilton Garden Inn @ Jetport	Airline, Explorer
Maine Mall	Local buses, Airlines, Ferry, Mall web page
Marriot Hotel	Airlines, Ferry, Concord, Amtrak, Explorer
Portland Transportation Center	Concord, Amtrak, Explorer, METRO
Vermont Transit Bus Terminal	Vermont, METRO