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Visualizing public transit system operation with GTFS data: A case study of Calgary, Canada.

ABSTRACT: Public transportation agencies are one of the industries that generate a large volume of data on a high frequency and velocity basis. The General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) is one of the datasets these agencies generate and share openly with the public. GTFS feeds contain data for scheduled transit service including stop and route locations, and schedules information. This paper aims to demonstrate the potential of GTFS data, specifically, the paper describes the development of a GTFS data visualization tool that displays spatial and temporal patterns of transit services from which qualitative information and insights can be gained. In this paper, GTFS data from Calgary Transit was used as a case study. Previous studies focused on the development of visualization tools that display transit movement, or static graphical representation of transit operation. However, there is still a need for a dynamic interactive visualization tool that can also measures and displays transit system operation geographically and statistically. This study builds on the previous investigations and further develops a new public transit system operation visualization tool (called PubtraVis) with six visualization modules that reflect on different transit system operational characteristics; mobility, speed, flow, density, headway, and analysis. The user can evaluate two modules side by side for comparative analysis. The analysis module provides an insightful statistical summary and similarity measure and clustering results based on the transit operation characteristics. PubtraVis was tested with real-world users through a user experience study from which it was found to be useful and easy to start using. PubtraVis can be a useful tool to demonstrate the dynamism of transit vehicles from the entire transit network at a glance, and can be used to facilitate communication between transit operators, city authorities, and the general public regarding the public transit planning and operation.

SUBMITTER: Prommaharaj P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7160583 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Visualizing public transit system operation with GTFS data: A case study of Calgary, Canada.

Prommaharaj Postsavee P Phithakkitnukoon Santi S Demissie Merkebe Getachew MG Kattan Lina L Ratti Carlo C

Heliyon 20200414 4

Public transportation agencies are one of the industries that generate a large volume of data on a high frequency and velocity basis. The General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) is one of the datasets these agencies generate and share openly with the public. GTFS feeds contain data for scheduled transit service including stop and route locations, and schedules information. This paper aims to demonstrate the potential of GTFS data, specifically, the paper describes the development of a GTFS dat ...[more]

PMID: 32322722

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Project description:IntroductionPublic health is not only threatened by diseases, pandemics, or epidemics. It is also challenged by deficits in the communication of health information. The current COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that impressively. One way to deliver scientific data such as epidemiological findings and forecasts on disease spread are dashboards. Considering the current relevance of dashboards for public risk and crisis communication, this systematic review examines the state of research on dashboards in the context of public health risks and diseases.MethodNine electronic databases where searched for peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings. Included articles (n = 65) were screened and assessed by three independent reviewers. Through a methodological informed differentiation between descriptive studies and user studies, the review also assessed the quality of included user studies (n = 18) by use of the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT).Results65 articles were assessed in regards to the public health issues addressed by the respective dashboards, as well as the data sources, functions and information visualizations employed by the different dashboards. Furthermore, the literature review sheds light on public health challenges and objectives and analyzes the extent to which user needs play a role in the development and evaluation of a dashboard. Overall, the literature review shows that studies that do not only describe the construction of a specific dashboard, but also evaluate its content in terms of different risk communication models or constructs (e.g., risk perception or health literacy) are comparatively rare. Furthermore, while some of the studies evaluate usability and corresponding metrics from the perspective of potential users, many of the studies are limited to a purely functionalistic evaluation of the dashboard by the respective development teams.ConclusionThe results suggest that applied research on public health intervention tools like dashboards would gain in complexity through a theory-based integration of user-specific risk information needs.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=200178, identifier: CRD42020200178.

Project description:BackgroundThe Alberta Immunization Program offers a vaccine against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) free of charge to all girls in Grades 5 and 9. The vaccine is provided in two different service delivery models depending upon the acceptance of the program by the local school board. Vaccinations may be provided "in-school" or in "community" through appointments at Public Health Clinics. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a difference in vaccine uptake in Calgary between the two service delivery models, "in-school" and "community", and to examine if socioeconomic status (SES) was a contributing factor.MethodsIndividual data from the Calgary Zone Public Health vaccination database for all grade 5 and 9 girls in Calgary for school years 2008-2011 were analyzed using descriptive statistics. These data included vaccination records for 35,592 girls. Logistic regression was used to examine the effect of delivery system and SES status on being vaccinated, controlling for school type.ResultsHPV vaccination completion rates were 75% (95% confidence interval = 74.7%, 75.8%) for girls with an "in-school" compared to 36% (95% confidence interval = 35.3%, 37.2%) for girls in schools with a "community" service delivery model. A girl's neighbourhood SES was related to the likelihood of being HPV vaccinated depending on the service delivery model available to her. For girls attending a Public school with an "in-school" delivery model, the proportion completing vaccination increased as SES decreased (high SES = 79%; medium SES = 79%; low SES = 83%; p-value<0.001). For girls attending Calgary Catholic School District schools with the "community" delivery model there was a decrease in immunization rates from high and mid to low SES (high SES = 41%; medium SES = 42%; low SES = 34%; p-value<0.001). These results show that those with lower SES were differentially disadvantaged by not having access to an "in-school" vaccination delivery model.ConclusionService delivery models make a difference in HPV vaccination completion rates and create inequities for health protection and disease prevention based on socioeconomic status.

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Visualizing public transit system operation with GTFS data: A case study of Calgary, Canada.

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Visualizing public transit system operation with GTFS data: A case study of Calgary, Canada.

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