Government agencies that oversee public transportation systems depend on public transportation software to manage operations, infrastructure, and their environmental impact, and to ensure compliance with public transport regulations. This software helps manage timetables and ticketing, driver assignments, route planning (including detours), and passenger safety and security, as well as maintenance for buses, trains, and other transit vehicles. Often, these tools utilize geolocation tracking to ensure both administrators and riders can access real-time data about vehicle status.
Beyond fixed route transit management, transportation agencies also need public transportation software to manage on-demand and paratransit dispatch operations to serve residents with disabilities who require ADA-compliant access to public transit. These tools help track and improve the costs of these on-demand transport operations and maintenance, as well as the passenger satisfaction and comfort.
Some public transportation solutions may offer a complete set of features and functions for administrative operations and back-office maintenance, such as accounting or computerized asset management, or may integrate with solutions that handle those tasks. More advanced solutions offer features for passenger flow tracking and simulation. POS terminals may also link to public transportation solutions to facilitate the sale of tickets. As mobility as a service (MaaS) solutions continue to gain traction, these tools will also likely evolve to provide one centralized platform for a city’s entire public transportation operations.
To qualify for inclusion in the Public Transportation category, a product must:
- Be designed for use by an agency that manages transportation systems within any locale
- Manage one or more operational functions related to fixed route or on-demand public transportation services
- Allow riders to access fixed route schedules or request on-demand transportation, or integrate with solutions that do so
