Project: #31 Busload Detection via Autonomous Sensing Progress Report - Reporting Period Ending: Sept. 30, 2018 Principal Investigator: Anthony Tomasic Status: Active Start Date: Jan. 1, 2017 End Date: Dec. 31, 2018 Research Type: Advanced Grant Type: Research Grant Program: FAST Act - Mobility National (2016 - 2022) Grant Cycle: 2017 Mobility21 UTC Progress Report (Last Updated: Aug. 16, 2018, 7:17 a.m.) % Project Completed to Date: 80 % Grant Award Expended: 80 % Match Expended & Document: 0 USDOT Requirements Accomplishments In the last reporting period, we have gathered data on three experiments. The first experiment measures the accuracy of current real passenger load data on transit systems. This transit data was obtained from PGH PAAC bus transit system. The second experiment measures the relationship between people standing on the bus and the % of seats taken on a bus (as a measure of bus 'fullness'). This experiment was done via direct observation. The third experiment measure the accelerometer changes of smartphone use during a variety of transit rider activities (walking towards a bus stop, standing or sitting waiting for the bus, standing or sitting on a bus, with the phone in hand, in a pocket, or in a bag). This measurement was done by construction of a smart phone data recording app for the various possible states of a user. Impacts Our experimental results were combined into a paper to make a convincing argument that the 'fullness' (percentage of seats taken on a bus) could be indirectly measured by modeling the percentage of riders standing on a bus. This paper was submitted to the annual TRB conference. We are waiting on the results of reviews. We are also preparing a presentation of the work to the CMU transit community. Finally, we will submit the idea as a possible patent application for CMU IP pipeline. Other none New Partners Anthony Tomasic joined the project as PI. Issues The project has completed its major scientific work and now is in the dissemination stage.