Evaluation of Utah Transit Authority's Connection Protection System - Final Project Report

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) implemented a Connection Protection (CP) system to improve the reliability of transfers from the higher frequency light rail TRAX trains to the lower frequency bus services. The CP system examines the status of TRAX trains and issues a "hold at {station name} until {time}" message to buses waiting at the connecting rail stations via the bus' onboard Mobile Data Terminal (MDT), if the lateness of train is within a pre-determined threshold (e.g., three minutes). The system was completed and tested in January 2002 prior to the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. The successful implementation and operation of the CP system has received attention from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Joint Program Office (JPO) to warrant a national evaluation study.