ITS application to fixed rail transit (ITS metro)

This paper looks at ways that ITS can make freed rail transit more demand responsive. The METRO rail system in Washington, D.C. is examined as a test case. Among the techniques analyzed are: 1. Better utilization of automatic fare card data to schedule and direct rail car operations. 2. Integration of express trains to downtown followed by local service trains based on demand analysis. 3. Use of automatic fare card data and construction of a limited number of interline connecting tracks or wyes to schedule separate train car sets to different locations in the metropolitan region. Shifting metropolitan travel patters from predominantly downtown destinations to suburb to suburb or edge city destination type trips, requires a re-evaluation of now a fixed rail system operates. What if, through the use of ITS and construction of a limited number of connecting tracks between different lines, alternate destinations could be offered to patrons at the end of the line station and from intermediate stations. For example, service from Montgomery County, Maryland could be offered to National Airport, Tysons Comer and Capitol Hill through the scheduling of separate two-car or four-car trains to the separate destinations. The need for patrons to change trains would be reduced and a direct suburb to suburb service would be provided. This paper looks at ways that a static fixed rail system serving radial travel patterns could be transformed into a new dynamic demand responsive system in the 21st century through the application of ITS concepts.