Automatic Passenger Counter User Group Meeting

Accurately recording ridership data is a necessity for any public transportation system. By keeping an up-to-date and reliable record of ridership data, such as how many riders use a particular route and at what dates and times, systems can better plan route schedules and make the best decisions when developing transit plans for the needs of their communities. Several North Carolina urban systems met with other organizations earlier this year to discuss APCs and how they could benefit their services.

In February, Capital Area Transit in Raleigh hosted their annual meeting for North Carolina’s users of Automatic Passenger Counter technology. APC technology uses infrared beams to record boarding and departures at fixed-route bus stops. 

The meeting included representatives from eleven North Carolina urban fixed-route transit systems, the APC vendor – Urban Transit Associates of Cincinnati, OH, the N.C. State University Institute for Transportation Research and Education, and the N.C. Department of Transportation. During the meeting, the group discussed innovative practices in service planning and reporting using APC data.

The meeting was organized into the following four categories:

1.       Analyzing APC data to provide value to transit users;

2.       Successful methods for maintaining APC technology;

3.       How to use APC data for required annual reporting; and

4.       Best practices in collecting and analyzing APC information.

Each session consisted of up to five presentations, where experts shared their insights among the group. The presentation concluded with questions and discussion. The attendees left the meeting energized and excited to apply their new knowledge to improving transit service in their communities.

In order to get approval for using APCs, transit agencies must notify the Federal Transit Administration of when they plan to start using these systems, develop a plan to maintain the system, conduct approximately six months of testing to compare manual counts with counts from APCs and then finally compile their findings in a report.  

The NCDOT Public Transportation Division awards grant funds to local public transportation systems. These grants enable systems to provide people in all 100 counties access to education, job opportunities and health care.

For more information on grant programs through the Public Transportation Division of NCDOT, as well as transit systems that serve the public throughout the state, visit www.ncdot.gov/nctransit.