To facilitate the efficient creation and application of computer software related to the transit industry, the National Transit Software Directory has been compiled. It contains almost 30 transit application programs submitted by more than 80 organizations. The directory's contributions come from organizations or individuals who develop, distribute, use, or sponsor the development of application software. Contributors are transit agencies; local, MPO, state, and federal government agencies; consultants; transit management companies; software vendors; and universities. To be eligible for entry, software must be applicable to specific transit functions or standard business functions with a demonstrated application in transit; it may be operational, under development, or in testing. The software may operate on any type or size computer, in any language; it may be proprietary or in the public domain. Utility tools and general business programs without a demonstrated application in transit are excluded, as are undocumented software products. The directory includes the program's purpose and features, descriptions of the hardware and operating system environment, transit agency characteristics, and how to find out more about the software. Information for the directory is collected through distribution and retrieval of a three-part survey form; data collection is continuous to ensure accuracy and keep the source up-to-date. To expedite data entry and processing, skilled personnel are not required for data entry or other operating functions, and the directory's programs are largely self-instructional. The directory's management system is dBASE II by Ashton-Tate. A six-volume directory containing descriptions of nearly 300 transit-related computers is available on request. The software operates on hardware as follows: Vol. 1: IBM 360/370, IBM 30 Series, and Amdahl; Vol. 2: Burroughs 1855 and 1955; Vol. 3: IBM 43xx Series; Vol. 4: IBM Systems 3x Series; and Vol. 5: non-IBM or Burroughs mainframes and minicomputers (CDC, DEC, VAX, HP, UNIVAC, etc.). Programs are organized by application: 100--Accounting; 200--Financial Management; 300--Administration; 400--Operations Planning, Scheduling and Management; 500--Passenger and Service Analysis; 600--Transit System Planning; 700--Maintenance and Material Management; and 800--Engineering and Construction Management. Information may also be obtained by searching the directory for programs that satisfy a particular set of criteria, such as function of interest, transit mode of interest, transit system size, equipment type and manufacturer, operating system, and language. (Author/publisher)
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