Deploying Intelligent Transit Signal Priority
for SamTrans in East Palo Alto
NEED
The efficiency of local transit has a direct impact on residents of communities such as East Palo Alto.
Designated as Equity Priority Community, the city’s population consists of many bus-dependent residents. In fact, the number of Zero-Vehicle Households in the city is at 9%, compared to 6% countywide. Today, those bus-riding residents must stop at traffic signals 70% of the time, costing them valuable time on the way to work, school, or other obligations.
The City of East Palo Alto is one place where improvements in transit reliability and performance can improve the quality of life for residents. For example, slow bus travel speeds along University Avenue resulted in a consistently poor rider experience. The problem has forced residents to opt for other modes of transportation, which contribute to neighborhood traffic congestion. A transit-first solution needed to be found to break through the congestion and achieve equitable mobility solutions for area residents.
SCOPE
With over $178,000
in funding from City/
County Association
of Governments
of San Mateo County (C/CAG),
Sustainable Silicon Valley (SSV)
formed a coalition of public and
private stakeholders including
San Mateo County Transit District
(SamTrans), City of East Palo
Alto and LYT to deliver intelligent
transit signal priority (iTSP) along
University Ave.
LYT’s cloud-based platform allows
SamTrans buses to leverage machine
learning principles and artificial
intelligence to provide green lights
more precisely. This improved
efficiency means buses can keep on
schedule while LYT.transit minimizes
the disruption to other vehicles and
side streets.
iTSP Pilot Corridor
The corridor where iTSP was
installed includes a subsection
of SamTrans Route 281 in the
following intersections:
• University Ave. & Bay Rd.
• University Ave. & Runnymede St.
• University Ave. & Bell St.
• University Ave. & Donohoe St.
What is iTSP?
Ordinary Transit Signal Priority (TSP)
solutions helps traffic signals gives green
lights to buses passing through by using
hardware transceivers. Intelligent Transit
Signal Priority (iTSP) offers the same basic
benefit, while also taking into account
current traffic conditions and other roadlevel data, harnessing the power of the cloud for faster and more detailed analysis.
The end result are perfectly timed, intuitive
green lights that minimize disruption to
other road users while keeping buses
moving through congested corridors.
BENEFITS
The iTSP pilot deployment on University Ave. yielded a significantly positive impact on several key performance indicators:
SCHEDULE
• Project Start: May 2021
• Pilot in Operation: November 2021 - March 2022
• Project End: March 2022
PROJECT CONTACT
Andrew (Drew) Clark
Sustainable Silicon Valley
[email protected]
Twitter/LinkedIn: @SustainableSV
Deploying Intelligent Transit Signal Priority
for SamTrans in East Palo Alto
Without iTSP, buses stop at traffic signals
70% of the time. With iTSP deployed at key
traffic intersections, the pilot demonstrated that
buses spent less time idling and got riders to
their destinations faster and more efficiently.
Reduced northbound intersection delays by
45% and southbound intersection delays
by 19%. These reductions translate to
18% and 7% reductions in travel time for
northbound and southbound respectively.
Increased the average speed on the
University Ave. corridor by 11% in the
Northbound direction and 4% in the
Southbound direction.
Offered a transformational opportunity for
the county to make its transit system more
intelligent and streamlined than ever before
with a cost-efficient solution.