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WTA is a Public Transportation Benefit Area (PTBA), defined by RCW 36.57A, providing fixed route and paratransit service throughout Whatcom County, Washington. Whatcom County is in the northwest corner of Washington State. Buses travel on major local arterials, as well as on Interstate 5 and State Highway 542 (Mt. Baker Highway). Paratransit minibuses also cover smaller streets throughout its service area including mountainous topography. See Appendix C for paratransit coverage area. Whatcom County has a population of approximately two hundred thousand (200,000) and has seen a population growth of thirteen percent 13% in the last ten (10) years.

Paratransit service has seen a 6% ridership increase between 2017 and 2018.

WTA has identified the following project outcomes for the implementation of the new MDT solution:

1. Reduce Dwell Time. The average dwell time is 2 minutes 30 seconds for ambulatory passengers and 4 minutes 30 seconds for non‐ambulatory passengers per stop. WTA is interested in ways that a new system could help automate processes and reduce dwell time.
2. Automatic & Wireless Information Push to MDT’s. The current system includes wireless communications for daily operations and manifest management, however, requires certain software to be manually loaded. The ideal system would allow all updates to be conducted wirelessly.
3. Provide Timely Information and Data Transmission Between Dispatch and Drivers. Through improved messaging and data communications, WTA is looking for ways to efficiently transmit information and streamline operations between the paratransit vehicle operator and dispatch.
4. Improve Trapeze PASS Operations. WTA uses, and will continue to use, Trapeze PASS as its paratransit reservations and dispatch system, however, there are issues. For example, the current auto‐arrival function often incorrectly assesses that the driver has arrived at the correct location.

Key Project Elements

The key technologies part of this project will incorporate:

1. Booking and Reservations
   • Maintain the interface with Trapeze PASS, PASS MON, and EZ Wallet
   • Increase the ease of viewing supplementary information about a passenger in the comment box on the onboard display
   • Push supplemental information to vehicle MDTs wirelessly and automatically  Provide drivers with improved information and knowledge about call‐aheads made by Dispatch
2. Scheduling
   • Provide a clear picture of new work or schedule changes on the onboard display.
3. Manifest Management
   • Migrate from paper pre‐trip inspection forms to electronic
   • Provide ruggedized tablets with a large screen for onboard display with improved mounts that are secured within the vehicle and provide full access to the device ports.
4. Dispatch Operations
   • Reduce data transmission latency between onboard systems and dispatch
   • Support a more user friendly map display on the MDT or tablet
   • Provide confirmation that drivers have arrived at the correct pickup/drop‐off location.
5. Service Analysis and Planning
   • Automate the collection of dwell time and other data

The MDT Replacement project will include the replacement of the current MDT system including, but not limited to, the supply of:

• The Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) and associated mounting hardware and cabling
• On‐Board Computer (OBC)
• GPS receiver
• Multi‐band Antenna
• Cellular and wireless LAN Communications
• ODB2 (for mileage)

The central systems and cellular devices supporting the MDT’s will interface with WTA’s commercial cellular network for data communications. WTA yard facilities are equipped with WLAN and infrastructure for data downloads from and uploads to the onboard systems.