Poe also used Remix’s built-in demographic analysis tools to ensure that the changes would comply with federal anti-discrimination laws and regulations.īut Walker, the consultant and blogger, says Remix could be even more useful if it's made available directly to the public. Because the information is presented in an easy-to-understand format, Poe could share information with management directly in Remix (although it can be exported in other formats, too). Poe said Remix helped him with a proposal to redesign three bus routes that traveled along the same corridor, so that they offered more service for longer hours with nearly the same cost.

'Transit planners have been lacking a long time in anyone building software with us in mind in terms of our daily needs,' he said. He praised the software for being tailored for people in his profession. Joshua Poe, a planner for the Transit Authority of River City in Louisville, Ky., has used Remix for several projects over the past year, including estimating costs for a proposed bus rapid transit route.

Nevertheless, Remix already has many fans in the transit planning community. Bills said those are kinds of analyses that Esri’s software can do, but Remix cannot. But Esri focuses on mid- to large-sized agencies, which often want software that can keep track of how well their buses and trains are performing, coordinate with planning departments to determine how land-use patterns could affect ridership or even determine where to dispatch police to deter vandalism. Esri, a company that develops geographic information system, or GIS, software will release an update in the late summer or early fall version that will have a similar interface to Remix’s but will also incorporate lifestyle and economic data, according to Terry Bills, Esri's transportation industry manager.īills called Remix a “nice product” and said it would be particularly helpful for smaller transit agencies. One software package that's already used by most of the country’s top transit agencies plans to unveil tools similar to those offered by Remix in the late summer or early fall.

It makes it hard for the public to see why buses are overcrowded or empty, or why they never seem to come and why fares are going up. Instead, planners have had to toggle back and forth between scheduling software, mapping software, graphic design software and spreadsheets as they develop proposals.įor local officials and the public, the set-up is so complicated it might as well be a black box. Until recently, there's been no simple interface for tracking costs, the neighborhood impact and a map of the routes all in the same place. Louisville, Ky., used Remix to redesign three bus routes that traveled along the same corridor, so that they offered more service for longer hours with nearly the same cost.

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