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11
CHAPTER 2
Findings on Current Technologies
This chapter presents analysis and findings pertaining to technology deployments in the U.S. transit industry have
current public transportation technologies. These findings not provided all the benefits that they potentially can. Sec-
fall into three categories: (1) the value of current technolo- tion 2.1.3 describes the methods and processes of three U.S.
gies, (2) recommended strategies and practices for improving transit agencies that have successfully approached technol-
the success of technology implementations ("best practices"), ogy deployment.
and (3) transit agency "prerequisites" for employing best prac-
tices. The first section, on the value of technology, includes
2.1.1 Current Technologies
a description of the technologies, an assessment of the value
and Their Application
transit agencies have derived from them, and a discussion
of three real-world examples of how agencies have applied The following subsections provide a brief overview of tech-
state-of-the-art techniques to maximize the value of tech- nologies that are currently deployed at transit agencies in the
nologies. The second section, on best practices, identifies United States. The technologies can be classified using the
both overarching strategies critical to success (Enterprise following functional categories:
Architecture Planning, Systems Engineering, and Change
Management) as well as specific practices ranging from insti- · System integration,
tutional to technical. The third main section of this chapter, · Fleet management,
on prerequisites, identifies core capabilities and conditions · Electronic fare payment (EFP) systems,
that must be present within a transit agency to allow it to suc- · Automated traveler information,
cessfully employ more specific best practices and the impli- · Transit safety and security,
cations for agencies lacking those prerequisites. · Transportation demand management (TDM), and
· Intelligent vehicle systems (IVS).
2.1 Value of Current Technologies
The technology descriptions in this section incorporate
The purpose of this section is to identify current applica- material from Advanced Public Transportation Systems: The
tion of technologies to transit, discuss the expected and re- State of the Art--Update 2006.6 Information on the deploy-
ported benefits of the technologies, and discuss several actual ment status of these ITS technologies across the United States
cases in which agencies have used an exemplary process to is based on Advanced Public Transportation Systems Deploy-
plan, procure, and deploy technology. Section 2.1.1 includes ment in the United States--Year 2004 Update.7 The deployment
brief descriptions of technologies in current use, along with
their level of deployment throughout U.S. transit agencies.
6 M. Hwang, J. Kemp, E. Lerner-Lam, N. Neuerburg, P. Okunieff, Advanced Pub-
Section 2.1.2 describes the value of technology throughout
lic Transportation Systems: The State of the Art--Update 2006, FTA-NJ-26-7062-
the industry. Three main issues that will be discussed in Sec- 06.1, prepared for FTA Office of Mobility Innovation (Washington, D.C.: U.S.
tion 2.1.2 are the following: (1) there is minimal information DOT, March 30, 2006).
about the expected benefits of technology deployment and 7 S. Radin, Advanced Public Transportation Systems Deployment in the United States:
Year 2004 Update, Prepared by the Research and Special Programs Administration/
no "baseline" for interpreting the expected benefits of technol-
John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center for the FTA Office of
ogy deployment; (2) there is little to no assessment of the "real" Mobility Innovation (Washington, D.C.: FTA, U.S. DOT, June 2005), p. 8,
benefits after technology has been deployed; and (3) many www.itsdocs.fhwa.dot.gov/JPODOCS/REPTS_TE//14169_files/14169.pdf.
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600
Planned
DEPLOYMENTS 500 Operational
400
300
200
100
0
COMMUNICATIONS
MONITORING
OPERATIONS
AVL
PROBES
APC
MDT
MULTIMODAL ATIS
INTEGRATION
INCIDENT MGMT
ATIS
EFP
MANAGER
COMPONENT
TMC
SIGNAL PRIORITY
CAMERAS
ALARMS
MICROPHONES
WEATHER
MOBILITY
SOFTWARE
FARE
Notes: A total of 516 transit agencies were surveyed. AVL = automatic vehicle location. APC = autmatic passenger counting. MDT = mobile
data terminal. ATIS = advanced traveler information systems. EFP = electronic fare payment. TMC = transportation management center.
Figure 1. Summary of technology deployment.8
status was determined based on a survey of agencies in- recorded information on fares and schedules. This same cat-
cluded in the National Transit Database. Survey data was egory includes the much more sophisticated but less widely
collected by the Volpe National Transportation Systems deployed Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems that are
Center (Volpe Center) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory more automated and provide many more features, often in-
(ORNL). A total of 516 agencies responded to the survey. The cluding voice recognition.
surveys were divided into two categories: To provide additional perspective on technology imple-
mentation, also presented (see Section 2.1.1.8) are results
· The 78 largest metropolitan areas (jurisdictions with from the Volpe Center's work on what they term a "core suite
population > 50,000), which accounted for 189 of the of technologies" for each type of transit agency. This work
516 respondents does not capture the penetration of technologies but does
· The remainder of the United States, which accounted for identify primary technologies and their application to agen-
the other 327 respondents. cies of differing sizes and types of service.
Figure 1 provides a general summary of the status of ITS
Some caution should be exercised in using the survey re- technologies that were planned or expected to be in operation
sults in drawing conclusions relating to the penetration of by 2005 at transit agencies in the United States. The infor-
the most advanced technologies. Survey categories include, mation in this figure is based on the responses received from
or may be interpreted to include by some responding agen- all 516 transit agencies on transit technology deployment.
cies, a very wide range of applications, ranging from older, While it is a challenge to interpret the term "planned" in this
fairly low-tech to sophisticated, cutting-edge applications. chart, it does indicate that U.S. transit agencies definitely
For example, the category "automated transit information" value technology by showing significant interest in continu-
includes the widely deployed, very basic and no-longer state- ing its deployment.
of-the-art customer information lines that provide only pre- Please note that the status of each technology reported in
the following subsections does not always include the num-
ber of agencies that have deployed the technology. The status
8 Radin, Advanced Public Transportation Systems Deployment in the United States. was taken directly from the aforementioned Advanced Public
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13
350
300
250
Number of Agencies
200 Unaware
In Progress
150 Completed
100
50
0
78 Largest Metropolitan Areas Remainder of the United States
Agency Categories
Note: A total of 516 transit agencies were surveyed.
Figure 2. Status of intelligent transportation system architecture development as of 2004.
Transportation Systems Deployment in the United States-- defines functional processes and information flow at a high
Year 2004 Update, which did not always coincide with the (or system) level. Information described in the logical archi-
technologies covered in Advanced Public Transportation Sys- tecture is used to define detailed information flows at the
tems: The State of the Art--Update 2006.9 equipment (or subsystem) level--the physical architecture.
According to the FTA National ITS Architecture Policy on
Transit Projects issued in January 2001, all ITS projects shall
2.1.1.1 System Integration
conform to the National ITS Architecture and standards. The
This technology category includes elements that are re- FTA policy introduced three specific requirements for transit
quired to integrate various IT and ITS elements either within ITS projects that use federal funding. These are to perform
an agency or among transit agencies in a region. (ITS refers a systems engineering analysis, develop a project-level ITS
broadly to a wide range of advanced technologies for surface architecture (if a regional ITS architecture is not yet in place),
transportation, including sensors, surveillance, communica- and develop a regional ITS architecture.
tions, data processing, etc.) Both agencywide and regional in- Figure 2 illustrates the status of regional ITS architecture
tegration provide an opportunity for seamless information development across the country as of 2004. Out of the 189 tran-
exchange among deployed systems. sit agency respondents in the 78 largest metropolitan areas,
55 agencies reported that regional architectures were com-
National and regional ITS architecture and standards. plete in their regions and 71 agencies reported that regional
The U.S. DOT developed the National ITS Architecture to architecture development and planning was in progress.
facilitate the integration of services between and among Among the remaining 327 agencies (those not in the 78 largest
transportation stakeholders using standards and protocols. metropolitan areas), 49 reported that architectures have been
An ITS architecture describes processes and procedures to developed for their region and 113 reported that architecture
integrate ITS systems and subsystems at three levels: transit development was in progress. These figures show that the re-
agencylevel IT/ITS architectures, regional ITS architectures, gions in which many transit agencies operate have been slow
and project-level architectures. to develop ITS architectures.
In an ITS architecture, the information is described at
Enterprise data management systems. A number of
both a logical and physical level. The logical architecture
transit agencies in the United States are beginning to use
enterprise data models to organize, maintain and use the
9 Ibid; Hwang et al., Advanced Public Transportation Systems. data being generated by their ITS and IT systems. Enterprise
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data consist of information from various units within a tran- which offers range and bandwidth advantages over Wi-Fi but
sit agency such as service planning, scheduling, operations, is less mature. Wi-Fi and WiMAX are not technologies per se,
and maintenance. Enterprise database management systems but rather trade group certifications of technologies that uti-
(DBMS) provide a platform for seamless data exchange by lize Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
sharing enterprise data from various departments within a specifications 802.11 (Wi-Fi) and 802.16 (WiMAX). Both
transit agency. Enterprise DBMS are driven by agency poli- Wi-Fi and WiMAX are in use by transit. For example, King
cies and procedures for centralized data management and County Metro conducted a 5-month trial of Wi-Fi on two of
involve development of a logical data model (technical orga- their bus routes, Altamont Commuter Express has offered
nization and structure of the database), data dictionary (defi- Wi-Fi on some of their trains for several years and Caltrain
nitions of data and the interrelation between various data (a commuter rail operator in California) recently conducted
elements), data exchange formats, and security/data access the first successful U.S. rail "proof of concept" demonstra-
procedures and policies. tion of WiMAX, at travel speeds up to 79 miles per hour.10
Although WiMAX has been developing and deployments
Geographic information systems (GISs). GISs facilitate
have been occurring over the last couple of years in the ab-
the creation, management, analysis, and display of spatial
sence of standards, a major recent breakthrough occurred in
transit data such as routes, stops, facilities, and points of
December 2005 with IEEE's official approval of the 802.16e
interest. Further, GISs have a critical role in supporting ITS
wireless mobile area network standard. The availability of
applications such as automatic vehicle location (AVL), auto-
standardized, interoperable WiMAX equipment will acceler-
matic passenger counting (APC), and trip-planning systems
ate WiMAX implementation.
with an ability to locate transit data on a map. A typical GIS
includes the following components:
2.1.1.2 Fleet Management
· A relational database management system;
Fleet management technologies assist in transit planning,
· Software for creating, updating, and managing GIS data; and
operation, and maintenance functions. The following sections
· Customized GIS applications, such as asset management.
describe specific technologies in use in the transit industry to
support such functions.
Agencies such as Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation
District (TriMet), UTA, and WMATA are now managing their Transit operations. Operational technologies provide
spatial data within enterprise DBMS to reduce operations supervisors and transit managers with the real-time status of
and maintenance costs by having a centralized GIS database. transit vehicles that are in operation. Transit operation tech-
nologies can be categorized as follows:
Communications systems. Voice and data communi-
cation systems serve as the foundation of many ITS applica-
· Rail operation control system. This includes electronic
tions that are used in transit planning, operations, mainte-
vehicle identification, communication-based train control
nance, and incident management functions. Transit agencies
(CBTC), video processing, center-to-center communica-
need a robust communication system with interoperability
tion, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA),
across various types of communication networks for exchang-
and interfaces to other systems with a need for real-time
ing data with other regional transportation agencies and with
information.
emergency and public safety organizations.
· Bus operations system. This includes mobile data termi-
Common communication technologies--which can be
nals (MDTs), computer-aided dispatch/automatic vehicle
categorized as mobile, landline, and short-range wireless--
location (CAD/AVL) software, fixed-route scheduling and
include analog and digital radio, fiber optic networks, digi-
tal subscriber line (DSL), and wireless local area network
(WLAN). Table 2 summarizes the deployment status of com-
munications systems at U.S. transit agencies. 10 "Metro Bus Riders Test Country's First Rolling Wi-Fi Hotspot: Pilot Wireless
Two communications technologies of particular note are Internet Service Begins Today on Two Cross-Town Routes," press release (Seattle,
WA: King County Department of Transportation, September 7, 2005), www.
wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) and Worldwide Interoperability for
metrokc.gov/kcdot/news/2005/nr050907_wifi.htm; Business Wire Editors and
Microwave Access (WiMAX). These technologies are signifi- Writers, "Altamont Commuter Express and PointShot Wireless to Launch First-
cant because they enable important wireless transit applica- Ever Wi-Fi Train Access in the United States," Business Wire (August 25, 2003),
tions like real-time, on-board video surveillance and passenger http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2003_August_25/ai_10686906;
"Caltrain Succeeds with High-Speed Internet Connectivity," press release (San
Internet access. Although both technologies are currently in Carlos, CA: Caltrain, July 31, 2006), www.caltrain.com/news_2006_07_31_high-
use, they are still emerging and evolving, especially WiMAX, speed_internet.html.
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Table 2. Status of deployment communication systems.11
Number of Agencies Number of Agencies
Category in 78 Largest in the Remainder of
Metropolitan Areas the United States
Trunked 50 68
Technology Digital only 23 43
Trunked and digital 34 70
To a digital system 19 21
To a dedicated 800 MHz
24 16
system
Planned Updates
To an areawide 800
34 70
MHz system
No updates 102 233
Dedicated radio channels 35 69
Communication
Joint interoperable
with Public Safety 30 41
systems
Agencies
No direct means 98 196
Communication switch 10 18
Interoperability
Join interoperable
with Public Safety 54 61
system
Agencies
No plans 98 204
runcutting software, and software modules to support · Reporting tools for decision making,
incident management/reporting, maintenance, and oper- · Operator assignment management tools, and
ations supervisors' functions. · Electronic scheduling systems (e.g., fixed route scheduling
· Dynamic scheduling and paratransit operating system. software).
This includes MDTs, scheduling and dispatching, CAD/
AVL, and incident management and reporting. Figure 5 shows the deployment status of APC systems by
mode in the United States. The deployment status of auto-
Figure 3 shows the status of AVL system deployment in mated operations software by mode is shown in Figure 6.
the United States. Figure 4 shows the status of MDT system
deployment. Maintenance management systems. Maintenance man-
agement systems (MMS) perform "health checks" of on-board
Service planning support. Service planning support sys- vehicle components and report exceptions. These systems pro-
tems include tools and applications that facilitate managing vide the real-time status of propulsion, braking, oil pressure,
the data that flow to and from other fleet management systems and other on-board vehicle functions automatically. The
(e.g., systems assisting in transit operations). Examples of these status is tagged with time and location information. Vehi-
tools include the following: cle health and alarm information is analyzed by the MMS
to identify exceptions. Then, maintenance staff is notified of
· APCs that can determine ridership by location and time the problem before the vehicle pulls into the garage. Work
of day, orders and a list of spare parts are generated automatically for
· Automatic download and running time analysis using corrective maintenance. A list of recurring failures can be
AVL data, created and provided to the management staff.
· Route and pattern tracing tools that assist in generating and MMS technologies include fluid management systems, in-
modifying GIS inventory of routes and patterns needed by ventory management systems, vehicle component monitoring,
on-board ITS systems, maintenance records management systems, warranty moni-
· Passenger-facility planning tools that facilitate managing a toring and management, and electronic component tagging.
bus stop inventory, Figure 7 shows the status of deployment of vehicle compo-
nent monitoring systems by mode.
11 Radin, Advanced Public Transportation Systems Deployment in the United Transit signal priority (TSP). TSP systems use sensors
States. to provide priority treatment to transit vehicles approaching
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160
140
120
Number of Agencies
Ferry
100
Commuter
Demand Response
80
Light Rail
Heavy Rail
60
Fixed Route
40
20
0
78 Largest Metropolitan Areas Remainder of the United States
Agency Categories
Note: A total of 516 transit agencies were surveyed.
Figure 3. Deployment status of AVL systems.
an intersection. As TSP systems require modifications to signal controllers; and communication systems for center-
traffic signal operations and do have some impacts on to-center and center-to-field data flows. A TSP system min-
other traffic, TSP implementation depends upon coopera- imizes the amount of time spent at an intersection by transit
tion and coordination with traffic signal operators. TSP sys- vehicles by using strategies such as extended green phase,
tems technologies include vehicle-to-wayside communica- queue jumping, "buses-only" signals, or use of "bus-only"
tion technologies (e.g., optical tag readers, radio, and Wi-Fi); lanes. Priority algorithms consider various traffic and transit
160
140
120
Number of Agencies
Ferry
100
Commuter
Demand Response
80
Light Rail
Heavy Rail
60
Fixed Route
40
20
0
78 Largest Metropolitan Areas Remainder of the United States
Agency Categories
Note: A total of 516 transit agencies were surveyed.
Figure 4. Deployment status of MDTs.
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60
50
Number of Agencies
40
Commuter
Demand
30
Light Rail
Fixed Route
20
10
0
78 Largest Metropolitan Areas Remainder of the United States
Agency Category
Note: A total of 516 transit agencies were surveyed.
Figure 5. Deployment status of APC systems.
parameters (e.g., traffic volumes, queue lengths, time since 2.1.1.3 Electronic Fare Payment Systems
last priority, headway, and schedule adherence status) before
Electronic fare payment (EFP) systems provide automated
giving signal priority to transit vehicles.
vending, collection, and processing of transit fares. The fol-
Transit signal priority can be requested at both inter-
lowing subsections describe specific components of an elec-
section ("distributed approach") and system levels ("central-
tronic payment system (EPS), which include fare systems,
ized approach"). In the distributed approach, vehicles request
fare media, and clearinghouse (CH).
priority at upcoming intersections. In the centralized ap-
proach, transit management centers request priority from a Fare systems. EFP includes hardware and software de-
center that manages the signal system (e.g., a traffic manage- ployed by transit agencies to facilitate fare payment and col-
ment center). lection and revenue reconciliation. EFP can be described
160
140
120
Number of Agencies
Ferry
100
Commuter
Demand Response
80
Light Rail
Heavy Rail
60
Fixed Route
40
20
0
78 Largest Metropolitan Areas Remainder of the United States
Agency category
Notes: A total of 516 transit agencies were surveyed. The ferry level was greater than zero, but it was a low number.
Figure 6. Deployment status of automated operations software.
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80
70
60
Number of Agencies
Ferry
50
Commuter
Demand Response
40
Light Rail
Heavy Rail
30
Fixed Route
20
10
00
78 Largest Metropolitan Areas Remainder of the United States
Agency Categories
Note: A total of 516 transit agencies were surveyed.
Figure 7. Deployment status of vehicle component monitoring.
as functioning at four levels. Level 1 includes technologies EFP systems include ticket vending machines, point-of-sale
that are deployed on board vehicles, in stations, and at terminals, fare gates/turnstiles, card readers and validators.
other fare payment or sale points. These systems include Additionally, there are systems that provide settlement func-
card reading/writing and ticket vending. Level 2 includes tions for revenue reconciliation and assist in fare data analyses.
IT systems at a depot level that collect data from Level 1 Figure 8 shows the number of EPS systems deployed across
devices and forward the data to a central location. Level 3 the country by mode.
includes the central IT infrastructure. Level 4 includes a
CH and regional service center (RSC) that provides trans- Fare media. EFP utilizes either a magnetic-stripe or smart
action clearance and multimodal and multiorganization card (contact or contactless). Further, credit/debit cards can
fare reconciliation. be used to purchase fare media at fare vending machines.
140
120
100
Number of Agencies
Ferry
Commuter Rail
80
Demand Response
Light Rail
60
Heavy Rail
Fixed Route
40
20
0
78 Largest Metropolitan Areas Remainder of the United States
Agency Categories
Notes: A total of 516 transit agencies were surveyed. The ferry level was greater than zero, but it was a low number.
Figure 8. Deployment status of EFP systems.
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Traditionally, EFP in the United States has used magnetic- seminate automated transit information. Agencies can pro-
stripe cards. Recently, smart cards have begun to be used for vide integrated traveler information using technologies such as
faster boarding and customer convenience. Contact smart CAD/AVL. Further, the use of these technologies can improve
cards have an embedded microchip that makes contact with the accuracy and reliability of transit information (e.g., infor-
an electrical connector when the card is inserted into a reader. mation on the arrival/departure time of the next bus).
Contactless cards have an embedded antenna, which along with
an embedded microcontroller, provides "tap-and-go" func- Transit traveler information. Transit traveler informa-
tionality using radio frequency identification (RFID) technol- tion has improved a lot in recent years with the deployment
ogy. There are also hybrid cards (also called combi-cards) that of technologies such as IVR, interactive web-based mapping
allow one chip to be accessed by both contact and contactless systems, and short message service (SMS) (text messaging) for
readers. Also, there are cards with emerging technology that can mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Transit
support both magnetic-stripe and smart card functionalities. agencies have taken advantage of the emergence and popu-
larity of personal information systems such as wireless appli-
CH. Typically, a CH assists in clearing and settling fares cation protocol (WAP) enabled mobile phones, PDAs, MP3
and generates financial and management information. RSCs players (e.g., Apple iPods), and laptop computers, to make
assist in other activities, such as fare policy management, transit information accessible. Personal information systems
branding/marketing, and fare settlement and management can provide pre-trip and enroute information.
functions. Transit traveler information disseminated via these media
CH/RSC systems help in establishing seamless and con- is in three categories: pre-trip, wayside/in terminal, and in
venient travel across the region using a single fare product. vehicle. The deployment status of these traveler information
The CH/RSC systems act as secured back office data centers technologies is shown in Figure 10.
and include communication networks, servers, backup stor-
age, and software systems. Pre-trip information. Pre-trip information can be pro-
Figure 9 shows the status of operational integration of elec- vided to transit travelers for the purpose of trip planning.
tronic payment of a transit agency with other transit agencies, Such information can be static (e.g., bus schedules) and real
of a transit agency participating in a regional toll, and of a time (e.g., next bus arriving in x minutes). Pre-trip informa-
transit agency partnering with a social service program. tion can be accessed via a variety of channels that include tele-
phone, websites, IVR, and personal media (e.g., PDAs and
2.1.1.4 Automated Traveler Information cellular phones).
Transit agencies use various technology-based media, in- Wayside/in-terminal information. In-terminal systems
cluding websites, IVR, and television/cable networks, to dis- provide real-time and static information on the arrival/
200
180
160
140
Number of Agencies
120
With social service agencies
100 With toll collection operators
With other transit agencies
80
60
40
20
0
78 Largest Metropolitan Areas Remainder of the United States
Agency Categories
Note: A total of 516 transit agencies were surveyed.
Figure 9. Status of operational integration of electronic payment among multiple entities.
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20
600
500
Number of Agencies
400
In-Vehicle
300 Wayside
Pre-Trip
200
100
0
78 Largest Metropolitan Areas Remainder of the United States
Agency Categories
Note: A total of 516 transit agencies were surveyed.
Figure 10. Deployment status of various types of transit information.
departure of transit vehicles at transit stops, terminals, with traveler information and trip planning for multiple-mode
stations, and platforms. These systems also provide facility journeys (e.g., bus, train, automobile, and air) provided
status information (e.g., elevator/escalator outages). Some by multiple agencies. Transport Direct integrates separate
systems also provide infrared signage (e.g., Talking Signs®) databases--consisting of information such as flight schedules,
allowing vision-impaired customers to orient themselves and bus and train routes/schedules, ferry routes/schedules, and
receive information. street networks--that are available from several agencies. Sim-
Typically, in-station information is provided through ilarly, service planning databases (e.g., routes and stops) and
dynamic message signs (DMSs)/video monitors, electronic scheduling systems need to be integrated for itinerary planning.
kiosks, and platform annunciation systems. Data-driven architectures can facilitate building applica-
tions that are modular, flexible, and scalable in nature. Auto-
In-vehicle information. In-vehicle information systems mated transit information systems follow "three-tiered"
provide automatic visual and/or audio announcements for architectures to separate databases, business logic, and user
passengers on board transit vehicles. Typically, automatic interfaces. Transit information applications use open systems
announcements are made for the next stop, major street and standards such as extensible markup language (XML) and
intersections, transfer points, and landmarks. Additionally, other web-based standards to ensure interoperability with
these systems can be used for public service announcements other system components, especially in case of regional expan-
and advertisements. In-vehicle information can be announced sion of transit information systems.
both on-board and outside the vehicle. Transit information systems can collect data from vari-
Figure 11 shows the number of agencies in the United ous agency partners, requiring a significant level of coordi-
States in which advanced transit information systems have nation. Another aspect of transit information infrastruc-
been deployed. ture is the quality of the underlying data that are used to
generate customer information, such as real-time arrival/
Transit traveler information infrastructure. Transit departure information.
traveler information is supported by extensive data integration Figure 12 shows the number of agencies that have deployed
and management systems along with information dissemina- traveler information systems across modes (e.g., rail, bus,
tion media such as websites and PDAs. Transit databases that private vehicle, and other travel modes).
are to be accessed by traveler information systems need to be in-
tegrated at the transit agency level or at the regional level de-
2.1.1.5 Transit Safety and Security
pending on the needs of the information system. For example,
the Transport Direct system, developed by the United Kingdom Transit systems deploy ITS technologies to enhance secu-
(UK) Department of Transport, assists travelers in the UK rity and safety in and around the transit environment. While
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21
250
200
Number of Agencies
Ferry
150 Commuter Rail
Demand Response
Light Rail
100 Heavy Rail
Fixed Route
50
0
78 Largest Metropolitan Areas Remainder of the United States
Agency Categories
Note: A total of 516 transit agencies were surveyed.
Figure 11. Deployment status of transit information systems by transit mode.
agencies benefit from technologies such as AVL, installation nication technologies to inform dispatchers about incidents
of specific safety and security technologies, such as surveil- such as security events and schedule delays.
lance systems, increases an agency's ability to monitor and Additionally, transit vehicles can be equipped with video
control facilities, vehicles, and other transit entities. The fol- cameras and analog or digital video recorders (DVRs) to
lowing types of security and safety technologies have been capture images of on-board activities. These recorded im-
deployed in the United States. ages can be uploaded and archived to a central database once
the vehicle returns to the garage. Modern surveillance systems
On-board security. On-board safety and security systems have advanced camera features such as pan-tilt-zoom and
include voice and data communication systems and video sur- night vision. Several transit agencies are currently experiment-
veillance systems. Vehicle operators use mobile voice commu- ing with real-time streaming of on-board video.
35
30
25
Number of Agencies
20 Transit & Highway
Highway only
15 Transit only
10
5
0
78 Largest Metropolitan Areas Remainder of the United States
Agency Categories
Note: A total of 516 transit agencies were surveyed.
Figure 12. Deployment status of multimodal information.
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tions of vehicles serving connections and universal fare media) Similarly, on-board rail integration can provide interoper-
for riders using multiple routes (of one agency or multiple ability among various on-board devices. In this case, on-board
agencies) to make their trips. integration links various subsystems across different railcars
Automated service coordination systems use AVL, electronic and locomotives. Rail integration uses "trainline," a multi-
fare collection, MDTs, decision support systems, and commu- conductor cable that runs the entire length of the train and is
nication systems to identify the opportunities and need for supported by a high-speed digital network. The most com-
service coordination, to monitor coordination, and to provide monly used rail integration technology is built on the IEEE
real-time information to passengers. Also, these systems assist 1473 standard.
in protecting connections.
Advanced vehicle safety systems. Advanced vehicle safety
Multimodal transportation management centers. Multi- systems consist of warning devices installed on board to alert
modal transportation management centers (TMCs) help in drivers and other operations personnel to exceptions in on-
optimizing traffic and public transportation flow in a trans- board hardware. These technologies include road departure
portation network with the help of ITS technologies. These and lane departure warning systems, rollover warning sys-
centers also help in emergency planning and management tems, collision warning systems, collision avoidance systems,
(e.g., TranStar in the greater Houston, Texas, region helps and in-vehicle vision enhancement systems. Most of these
coordinate traffic, transit, and emergency management from systems are still under development and are expected to be
one centralized location). deployed in the near future. These systems use a combination
Multimodal transportation management utilizes ITS tech- of sensors (e.g., in-vehicle crash sensors for collision avoid-
nologies such as wireless communications, DMSs, transit sig- ance and steering sensors for driver alert), wireless technolo-
nal priority, interagency data exchange, 511, Internet, deci- gies, and AVL technologies based on a global positioning
sion support systems, electronic toll collection, and machine system (GPS).
vision. Typical functions of a multimodal TMC include the
following: Vehicle guidance/automation. Vehicle guidance systems
reduce the workload of vehicle operators by automating
· Automatic speed detection and confirmation of incidents, various routine tasks. Such systems include navigation sys-
· Emergency response to transportation incidents in the tems; precision docking systems that use machine vision
region served by a TMC, technologies to detect painted strips; adaptive cruise control
· Real-time parking information for directing drivers to systems that assist in maintaining a safe following distance
where spaces are available, between vehicles and in coupling and decoupling (where
· Conditional priority for delayed transit vehicles, and vehicles follow one another at extremely close distances, also
· Notification of adverse weather conditions. called close-coupled, usually in an exclusive lane); and lane-
keeping assistance.
2.1.1.7 IVS
IVS can provide advance warning of an electrical failure, 2.1.1.8 Transit Core Suite of Technologies Project12
management of on-board ITS systems, and adaptive vehicle There has been an ongoing need in the transit industry for
control. The technologies that have been tested to date include basic information about technology beyond the aforemen-
lane keeping, vision enhancement, and driver impairment tioned Advanced Public Transportation Systems: The State of
detection. the Art--Update 2006 and Advanced Public Transportation
IVS technologies fall into the following three categories: Systems Deployment in the United States--Year 2004 Update.13
on-board integration, advanced vehicle safety systems, and In early 2006, the Volpe Center was tasked to identify a "tran-
vehicle guidance/automation. sit core suite of technologies" and develop fact sheets for each
transit technology included in the suite. The impetus for this
On-board integration. On-board integration technolo-
project was to provide any agency with information that would
gies include bus- and rail-specific technologies.
assist its staff in determining which technologies would be
Intelligent on-board bus integration technologies are meant
to ensure the interoperability, usability, efficiency, and relia-
bility of on-board systems while minimizing life-cycle costs.
These technologies include digital networks, standard inter- 12 C. L., Schweiger, "Cost/Benefit Analysis of Public Transport ITS in the U.S.:
Successes and Continuing Challenges," 13th World Congress on Intelligent
face profiles (e.g., Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
Transport Systems (London, UK, October 9, 2006), p. 2.
J1708/J1587 and J1939 standards), and computer software 13 Hwang et al., Advanced Public Transportation Systems; Radin, Advanced Pub-
drivers for data exchange among various on-board devices. lic Transportation Systems Deployment in the United States.
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24
most beneficial for them, depending on the services they pro- technologies should be considered to gain the maximum
vide and their size. benefit from that technology.
The suite includes a list of the most basic and useful tech- There are two types of fact sheets: (1) technology fact sheets
nologies for transit agencies based on mode and agency size. that provide an overview of the technology and the applica-
Six modes are covered, as follows: tion of that technology by mode and (2) modal fact sheets that
provide an overview of the suite of core technologies for that
· Fixed-route bus, mode, the technology application by mode, and core tech-
· Demand response, nologies by agency size. Example questions that technology
· Rural transit (covers 5311-funded agencies), fact sheets may answer are as follows:
· Human service transit (covers 5310-funded agencies),
· Ferry boat, and · Why are traveler information systems good for transit?
· Rail transit. · What should I know about maintenance tracking systems
for human service transit operations?
The core suite of technologies that were defined by mode
Example questions that modal fact sheets may answer are
is shown in Table 3. Please note that secondary technologies
as follows:
are those non-core technologies that warrant consideration
by agencies that have deployed the basic technologies. Some · Rural transit agencies can benefit from the applications of
of the core technologies were considered secondary for spe-
which systems?
cific modes. · What should I know about maintenance tracking systems
As of November 2006, the Volpe Center is developing fact for human service transit operations?
sheets for each of the core technologies. These fact sheets are · What technologies should I consider deploying if I run a
two- to four-page summaries that describe a specific core mid-size fixed-route bus agency?
technology, its benefits and costs, where it has been de-
ployed, and other relevant information. The fact sheets are The specific contents of each fact sheet are expected to be
intended to enable an informed decision on the applicabil- as follows:
ity of a particular technology to a specific public transit
provider and should assist the decision maker in determin- · Reasons to use the technology,
ing if this technology should be deployed in their agency. · Explanations of how the technology addresses transit
Further, the fact sheet should assist in determining if other problems,
Table 3. Core technologies by mode.
Demand Response
Fixed-Route Bus
Human Service
Rural Transit
Rail Transit
Ferry Boat
Core Technology
Automatic Vehicle Location
Communications
Traveler Information
Data Management GIS X
Electronic Fare Payment X X
Computer-aided Dispatch and Scheduling
Security Cameras/System X
Maintenance Tracking
Automatic Passenger Counters X
Traffic Signal Priority X
Weather Information System
Note. X = Secondary technology for the mode.
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25
· Common technology combinations, The limited and often dated published information on the
· Factors to consider, observed benefits of transit technologies is a significant imped-
· Benefits and costs, iment to more, and more successful, technology deployments.
· Transit agency deployments and contacts, and Such information is vital to the FTA in making funding and
· Additional resources. research decisions and to individual agencies in making in-
vestment decisions. One way to address this data shortage is
for the FTA to be more aggressive in requiring agency tech-
2.1.2 Expected and Reported Value
nology grant recipients to conduct formal, quantitative, post-
of Technology
deployment evaluations. Mechanisms like the FHWA Joint
Three major findings related to the value of current tech- Program Office's IPAS (ITS Program Assessment Support)
nologies were revealed as a result of the literature review, the Program are another method for conducting impact assess-
interviews, and the experience of the project team. As elabo- ments of transit technology investments. In addition to gen-
rated below, these findings include limited documentation erating much-needed data, evaluations provide transit agen-
of quantitative benefits, limited analysis of real "after" ben- cies a valuable opportunity to increase the learning value of
efits, and, despite qualitative evidence that technologies have their technology deployments, including taking stock of their
been useful, many deployments that have fallen far short of motivations, methods, and next steps.
their full potential. These findings are described in more de-
tail below. There is little to no assessment of the "real" benefits after
the technology is deployed. The small number of post-
There is a limited documentation of observed (as opposed deployment ("after") analyses that are done are conducted,
to estimated), quantified benefits of technology to transit for the most part, by the IPAS program. Post-deployment
agencies. While great strides have been made in the last analyses are very rarely conducted by transit authorities
several years to disseminate information regarding benefits, themselves.
many of the reported benefits are anecdotal in nature and are It has been noted that there are many "challenges associ-
somewhat dated. This has led to a basic lack of understanding ated with obtaining accurate cost and benefit data for an
of the benefits and the lack of an adequate baseline for agencies `after' analysis, including the fact that data that is needed to
to use in formalizing their expectation of benefits or to trans- calculate `after' costs and benefits may not have been col-
fer the reported benefits to their particular operation. lected after the deployment of the ITS. For example, if an
Benefits information is available through channels such automatic vehicle location (AVL) system has been deployed,
as the "ITS Benefits, Costs and Lessons Learned Databases" there may be an interest in evaluating the before and after
and the series of reports providing a snapshot of the infor- number of non-revenue miles. If this information is not rou-
mation collected by the U.S. DOT ITS Joint Program Of- tinely collected, an evaluation using this measure cannot be
fice (JPO) on the impact that ITS projects have on the op- performed."16
eration of the surface transportation network.14 There are Even though there is a lack of comprehensive, quantitative,
also two reports available that were prepared by the Volpe post-deployment data, there is strong evidence that there
Center on the benefits of technology in transit.15 Several of have been many benefits to deploying technology. Further, as
the benefits reported in these documents are presented in expected given the interviewee pool for this study (composed
Section 2.1.2.1. of successful technology adopters) there was a great deal of
support for advanced technologies. Although most inter-
views did not focus on specific benefits of technology, inter-
14
viewees demonstrated strong, implicit support for utilization
The "ITS Benefits, Costs and Lessons Learned Databases" is available on
www.benefitcost.its.dot.gov/. The most recent report in the JPO ITS series is of advanced technologies.
Mitretek Systems, Inc., Intelligent Transportation Systems Benefits, Costs, and Nonetheless, the value of advanced technologies must be
Lessons Learned: 2005 Update, FHWA-OP-05-002, prepared for the ITS JPO actively "extracted." That is, the value is only realized when
(Washington, D.C.: FHWA, U.S. DOT, May 2005).
15 D. Goeddel, Benefits Assessment of Advanced Public Transportation Systems technology investments are tied directly to specific agency and
(APTS), DOT-VNTSC-FTA-96-7, prepared by John A. Volpe Transportation customer needs and applied within an explicit operational
Systems Center Research and Special Programs Administration, U.S. DOT strategy. Simply "plugging in" the technologies does not gen-
(Washington D.C.: Office of Mobility Innovation, FTA, U.S. DOT, July 1996),
www.itsdocs.fhwa.dot.gov/JPODOCS/REPTS_TE/414.pdf; D. Goeddel, Benefits
erate benefits; the technologies must be applied within an
Assessment of Advanced Public Transportation System Technologies, Update 2000, explicit operational strategy.
FTA-MA-26-7007-00-4, prepared by John A. Volpe Transportation Systems
Center Research and Special Programs Administration, U.S. DOT (Washing-
ton D.C.: Office of Mobility Innovation, FTA, U.S. DOT, November 2000),
www.itsdocs.fhwa.dot.gov/jpodocs/EDLBrow/@101!.pdf. 16 Schweiger, "Cost/Benefit Analysis," p. 2.
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Although many agencies have derived some important tained from the fleet management components assist in
benefits from their technology deployments, many imple- vehicle component monitoring.
mentations are providing far less than their full potential · Electronic fare payment systems. Electronic fare payment
benefits. There are three reasons for this performance. First, systems facilitate revenue collection, which reduces man-
the processes that have been used to deploy technology have ual processes and also provides important data for analysis
often not effectively addressed institutional issues (i.e., no of new fare policies.
formal and robust change management processes were em- · Automated traveler information. Automated traveler
ployed) and/or not addressed technical issues with sufficient information provides travelers with information needed
rigor (i.e., have not utilized a systems engineering process). to make decisions regarding mode(s), route(s), and time
Second, agencies have not taken full advantage of technology. of travel. Benefits include reduction in call volume at agency
For example, while many agencies have deployed CAD/AVL customer service centers, reduction in pollution, and in-
systems, very few agencies have used the data generated from creased customer satisfaction. Relevant and accurate infor-
these systems to restructure their services. Finally, agencies have mation can help agencies win customers' confidence and
not fully integrated the technologies that they have deployed. achieve higher customer satisfaction.
The sections that follow present various findings related · Transit safety and security. Transit safety and security
to the value of current technologies, including those findings assists transit agencies in providing safe and secure envi-
related to the preceding three major conclusions. ronments for customers and agency employees and assists
with law enforcement and emergency management to mon-
itor and manage incidents.
2.1.2.1 Documented Benefits
· TDM. TDM promotes and increases the use of high-
of Deploying Technologies
occupancy vehicles, including transit, by providing mul-
While the benefits of technology deployment can be quan- tiple options for modes, routes, and times of travel.
tified, the benefits of many system deployments are available · IVS. IVS can improve operational safety, reduces property
only in qualitative terms. This subsection discusses the docu- losses and congestion, and reduces fuel consumption.
mented (reported) benefits for current technologies--first, the
qualitative, general reported benefits and then the specific Reported quantitative benefits of transit technologies are
quantitative benefits. Current technologies considered include summarized below.18
those discussed in Section 2.1.1. Reported general benefits of A marginal benefit analysis that was conducted by the Fort
these technologies, by category, are as follows: Worth Transportation Authority as part of a technology needs
assessment and selection process showed a potential benefit of
· System integration. System integration, "when imple- approximately $210,000 to $430,000 for the deployment of
mented from an enterprise-wide perspective and a regional fleet management and traveler information systems.19
perspective when appropriate, improves the overall usabil- The GPS-based CAD/AVL system deployed at the Denver
ity of a technology environment made up of products from Regional Transportation District (RTD) on its 1,355-vehicle
many different vendors on multiple platforms and data fleet included system software; dispatch center hardware;
from many different systems. Integration is also valuable in-vehicle hardware; field communication equipment; and
to transit ITS in that it facilitates a `system' of intercon- initial training, planning, and implementation services. This
nected ITS applications that collectively produce services system is highly rated by RTD dispatchers. Results show that
and advantages far greater than the ITS applications could operators and dispatchers were able to communicate more
achieve independently."17 quickly and efficiently with the new system. Approximately
· Fleet management. Fleet management provides opera- 80 percent of the dispatchers and 50 percent of the opera-
tions and planning benefits for transit organizations, and tors found the system "easy" or "very easy" to use. The system
forms the backbone for many other transit technologies. succeeded in improving bus service by decreasing the num-
AVL systems provide several operational benefits, includ- ber of late arrivals by 21 percent.20
ing improved incident response time, improved schedule
adherence, improved dispatcher efficiency, reduction in
fleet requirements, increased transfer convenience through 18 C. L. Schweiger and J. B. Marks, "Final Memorandum: Task-3 Conduct
connection protection, reduced emissions, and reduced Cost/Benefit Analysis," Fort Worth Transportation Authority and North Cen-
non-revenue vehicle miles/hours. Maintenance data ob- tral Texas Council of Government (1998); TranSystems, Development of a Con-
tinuing Process; ITS Cost Database (Washington, D.C.: ITS JPO, U.S. DOT,
2005), www.benefitcost.its.dot.gov/ITS/benecost.nsf/ByLInk/CostHome.
19 Schweiger and Marks, "Final Memorandum."
17 Hwang et al., Advanced Public Transportation Systems, p. 38. 20 TranSystems, Development of a Continuing Process.
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The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority helps agencies monitor fare evasion. The Metropolitan Trans-
(MARTA) in Atlanta, Georgia, estimates that they save portation Authority (MTA) in New York reported a 50-percent
approximately $1.5 million per year through schedule ad- reduction in fare evasion after the implementation of the New
justments using APC and AVL data. The AVL system helped York City Transit (NYCT) MetroCard system. MetroCard
Prince William County, Virginia, save approximately $869,000 helped MTA realize additional revenues of $43 million in 1993
annually. TriMet in Portland, Oregon, reported an annual and $54 million in 1994. Most of the additional revenue was
operating cost savings of $1.9 million as a result of their due to the reduction of fare evasion, but other factors included
CAD/AVL system implementation. An AVL system helped the convenience of fare payment and availability of free trans-
the London Transit Commission in London, Ontario, save fers using MetroCard.25
$40,000 to $50,000, which would have been spent on conduct- The smart card electronic payment system in Ventura,
ing a schedule adherence survey.21 California (called GoVentura) resulted in savings of $9.5 mil-
APC systems provide several operational benefits by pro- lion per year in reduced fare evasion, $5 million in reduced data
viding key data for schedule adjustments. APCs also reduce collection costs, and $990,000 in transfer slip elimination.26
manual data collection costs and improve the accuracy of Technology deployments have helped to improve the safety
ridership figures. London Transit Commission reported a and security of transit vehicles, stops, stations, personnel, and
savings of $50,000 on manual methods for rider counts. riders. Improvements in safety and security have also helped
MARTA also reported a reduction in traffic-checking staff from a financial perspective through a reduction in insurance
from 19 to 9 due to the use of APCs.22 claims. For example, data from the Southeastern Pennsylvania
Technology deployments have helped paratransit systems Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in Philadelphia and other
improve their productivity, reduce operating costs, decrease transit systems indicate a reduction of 10 to 20 percent in the
dispatcher time, and reduce the number of vehicles. The avail- total dollar amount of insurance claims due to the installation
ability of paratransit software helps in dispatching vehicles of video cameras and recorders on board transit vehicles.27
according to real-time demand and increases productivity. The examples mentioned above show reductions in the cost
OUTREACH, a paratransit agency in Santa Clara, California, of transit operation due to the installation of advanced tech-
reported an annual savings of $488,000 by installing AVL/ nologies. Although these examples identify significant bene-
CAD software. The Winston-Salem Transit Authority (North fits, some of the information is several years old. Information
Carolina) reported several operational improvements after obtained from the ITS matrix is based on data from the 1990
CAD/AVL deployments. Operating cost per vehicle-mile to 2000 timeframe.28 Information obtained from the ITS
decreased by 8.5 percent to $1.93 per vehicle-mile, operating Cost-Benefit Database is somewhat more current, providing
cost per passenger decreased by 2.4 percent to $5.64 per pas- information through 2003.29
senger trip, and operating cost per vehicle-hour decreased by Examples have been cited mainly for fleet management
8.6 percent to $24.70 per vehicle-hour.23 systems, including CAD/AVL and APC systems and EFP sys-
Transit signal priority (TSP) system deployments have tems. Monetary benefits related to providing ATIS have not
resulted in cost savings by reducing dwell time and unnec- been mentioned because such information is not documented
essary idling at signals. The Los Angeles Department of Trans- in the national literature. However, earlier in this section, sev-
portation (LADOT) and Los Angeles County Metropolitan eral qualitative benefits attributed to ATIS were mentioned--
Transportation Authority (LACMTA) estimated a savings these benefits were reported as part of customer surveys and
of $6.67 per vehicle-hour due to the deployment of TSP. workshops.
Helsinki City Transport in Helsinki, Finland, reported a fuel
savings of 3.6 percent after the deployment of a pilot TSP pro-
2.1.2.2 Anecdotal Evidence of the Value
gram on one route. King County Metro in Seattle, Washington,
of Technologies for Transit
experienced a reduction of 57 percent in average delay at inter-
sections. Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) in Charlotte, Although there are limitations with the reported data on de-
North Carolina, experienced an average reduction of 4 min- ployed technologies, it is clear that many important benefits
utes in total travel time of buses using TSP.24 have been realized. Even the interviewed agencies who feel that
Electronic fare payment (EFP) deployment often results in
increased revenue and reduced fare handling costs. EFP also
25 Ibid.
26 Ibid.
21 27 Ibid.
Ibid.
22 28 The ITS Matrix was on the Mitretek website at http://web.mitretek.org/its/
Ibid.
23 Ibid. aptsmatrix.nsf. However, this link is no longer active.
24 Ibid. 29 The ITS Cost-Benefits Database is no longer available on the Internet.
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they have not been able to take full advantage of technolo- curred in their organization over the last 15 years. A key aspect
gies feel that technologies have provided important benefits. of that transformation emphasized the application of tech-
As one interviewee put it, "I can't imagine trying to manage nology capabilities to specific problems--moving IT personnel
a transit agency without these technologies." Another inter- from "isolated `technical wizard' to involved `problem-solving
viewee, a representative of a large U.S. public transportation partner.' " Another key aspect of the UPS transformation was
agency, who described himself as "not a `technology guy' per the move toward making technology funding decisions based
se" and "not an early adopter," indicated that advanced tech- on the business value they will generate. For example, "projects
nologies were of great value to his organization. are prioritized based on the strength of their business cases
The technology focus of nearly all of the transit operators (e.g., service to UPS customers) and financial metrics (return
interviewed, especially the U.S. agencies, is on implementing, on investment, net present value)."
replacing, or expanding technologies that have been success-
fully applied in the public transportation environment for
2.1.2.3 Technology Performance
several years, including the following:
As noted earlier, it is a generally accepted conclusion that
· AVL, U.S. transit agencies have been very challenged with regard to
· Electronic payment systems (including integrated regional technologies and that many implementations have failed or
smart cards), under-performed relative to expectations and technical po-
· Passenger information displays (including estimated arrival tential. The three primary reasons for this underperformance
time signs, Internet trip-planning systems, kiosks, and on- are as follows:
board displays),
· Vehicle-component (health) monitoring, · Agencies have not focused on what are known to be the
· On-board and facilities surveillance cameras, most critical aspects of technology deployment. Specifi-
· TSP, and cally, systems engineering and change management (both
· Management information systems (including maintenance discussed in Section 2.2.2) have not yet been embraced
and inventory management software). throughout the industry.
· While many agencies have deployed technology, very few
Current technologies cited as particularly valuable by the have taken full advantage of the technologies deployed. For
international interviewees include automated train operation; example, while many agencies have deployed CAD/AVL
widespread surveillance camera monitoring, in some cases systems, very few have used the data generated from these
coupled with automated image detection; training simulators systems to restructure and improve their services.
(for drivers and dispatchers); MDTs; and smart cards. · Agencies have not fully integrated the technologies that they
Although the interviewees indicated that advanced tech- have deployed.
nologies are very valuable, many of them strongly emphasized
that the value of the technologies lies in their ability to address The interviews yielded a great deal of information related
specific needs, that is, they are not believers in "technology for to this last issue--the limited integration of technologies. In
its own sake." Also, even if a technology theoretically helps addition to upgrading or replacing aging current-technology
address a problem, simply acquiring the technology and "plug- systems like AVL, a number of the agencies interviewed are
ging it in" is not effective. Rather, the organization must ar- increasingly focusing on (1) integrating deployed systems that
ticulate, and then follow through on, a specific strategy for use have been operated separately and (2) integrating data gen-
of the technology. For example, installing AVL equipment erated by technology systems like AVL more fully into their
provides little benefit if location data are not actively utilized planning and analysis processes. For example, Ride-On is now
by dispatchers in managing real-time operations and by other working to integrate their AVL system with other on-board
business units in planning and analysis. systems, including APCs and security cameras. As part of their
The importance of linking technology investments with AVL system replacement project, Portland's TriMet is inves-
specific, identified organizational needs and strategies was em- tigating an on-board vehicle area network--an integrated com-
phasized by many of the interviewees. This point was made puter network for on-board components--and an integrated
especially strongly by the UPS representative, who explained communications infrastructure for rail and bus. WMATA
that "business driving technology decisions" and an "IT is investigating integration of on-board systems and is cur-
(Information Technologies) organization consistently aligned rently implementing a regionally integrated EFP system that
with the company's core business strategy" are cornerstones features a single "back office" financial processing center.
of UPS' successful approach. UPS attributes much of its suc- A good example of the overall trend toward increased inte-
cess adopting technology to the transformation that has oc- gration and sophistication in the treatment of current technol-
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29
ogy applications is the WMATA "Customer Communications most of the basic technologies needed to support the next
Center" project now in development. Concerned that many major advances in passenger information are in place (such as
different entities within the organization were communi- GPS-equipped cell phones and cell phone/PDA hybrids). These
cating with customers in an uncoordinated and occasionally agencies point to interagency coordination as the greatest cur-
contradictory fashion, WMATA has recognized the need to rent challenge, especially in utilizing multiple providers to serve
develop a dedicated center through which all of their customer a single trip.
communications will be channeled. Although it will probably The international interviewees generally expressed less in-
not initially feature use of any entirely new technologies, the terest in discussing the value of individual technologies per
center represents a very important evolution in passenger se. Instead, they were more interested in talking about how
information and customer communications, specifically, a the technologies could be useful within the context of overall
recognition of the importance of these functions and the need regional mobility and asset management strategies, including
for integration. those that explicitly recognize and seek to impact develop-
A common theme from the interviews was that although ment patterns.
most agencies remain focused on current technologies, they Figure 14 graphically illustrates a continuum of perspec-
are still "breaking new ground" in the increasingly sophis- tives on advanced technologies, indicating the general differ-
ticated ways they are planning, implementing, and operating ences among types of agencies apparent from the interviews.
the technologies. The emphasis on maximizing the utility of The relative emphasis on current versus future technolo-
existing systems is reflected in a comment by the WMATA in- gies is somewhat different at commercial shippers, such as
terviewee: "We're at the stage where we're looking to get all of UPS, than at the U.S. and international transit agencies. The
the data out of the systems." The increasing focus on integra- transit agencies focused almost exclusively on current transit
tion and optimization of technologies on the part of the more industryspecific technologies, in particular, upgrading and
progressive transit agencies suggests that there is a relatively integrating their existing applications and taking small, incre-
long "digestion" process for advanced technologies. Although mental steps toward technologies like Wi-Fi that are not yet
these technologies may be implemented within a few years, it common in transit, but are not truly "future" technologies.
takes many more years to take full advantage of them. So, Like the transit agencies, UPS takes a very pragmatic approach
rather than moving on to the next generation of technologies, to technology investment that often manifests itself as incre-
many agencies are focusing to a large extent on getting the mental additions to existing applications and approaches.
full value out of current technologies. However, UPS definitely devotes greater attention to antic-
The international interviewees evidenced the focus on in- ipating and investigating future technologies than do the tran-
tegration and application of technologies (as opposed to imple- sit agencies. Whereas existing technologies seem to exhaust
mentation of "new" technologies per se) even more than the the resources that even technology-savvy, progressive public
U.S. agencies. For example, several of the interviewees feel that agencies can devote to technology, UPS appears able to commit
Technology
Integration
Advanced
International
Level Agencies
of Advanced
Integration U.S.
Agencies
Most U.S.
Stand-Alone Agencies
Technology
Deployments
Agency- or Business Broader
Unit-Specific Mobility
Objectives Context
Focus of Technology Application
Figure 14. Evolution of approaches to advanced technologies.
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30
resources to looking beyond current technologies. Their ap- of-the-art technology implementation approach. Two other
proaches to doing so are discussed in the next section. agency examples are described that featured similar overall
implementation approaches, but with less emphasis on ROI
analysis.
2.1.2.4 Quantifying Technology Benefits
The analysis of each of these agencies' processes yielded one
Is Challenging
major conclusion. Although not common, ROI analyses are
There are several challenges that are inherent in con- very important, not just in supporting the right investment
ducting cost/benefit and ROI analyses for public transport decision and cultivating support, but in guiding the overall
ITS. The challenges include the need for high-quality cost implementation. An ROI analysis facilitates a "before" and
and benefit data for hardware, software, and services that "after" evaluation by establishing the "before" case and estab-
have not yet been procured (by the agency conducting the lishing the basis for judging the "after" results. A thorough ROI
analysis); the need for operations and customer service analysis also forces an agency to fully articulate what the spe-
data describing the situation "before" and "after" technol- cific and measurable benefits will be, which in turn encour-
ogy is deployed; and the difficulty associated with intro- ages consideration of how the technology must be utilized to
ducing subjective factors into specific quantitative analysis derive those benefits.
methods. While the examples presented in the following subsections
If pure quantitative methods are used to perform a cost- describe technology investment for three larger U.S. tran-
benefit analysis (CBA), the cost and benefit data must be pre- sit agencies, the techniques and processes these agencies used
cise in order to minimize error. In a "before" analysis, there are can be applied by smaller agencies. For example, no matter
challenges associated with obtaining precise cost and benefit how large or small an agency is, their approach to deploying
information for the following reasons: technology should be structured and must consider agency
needs, change management, and use of metrics to identify
· Unique features of transit systems lead to variable costs and implementation outcomes.
benefits for the same components/services.
· There is often a lack of detailed data available, and the avail-
2.1.3.1 San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit
able data may not be reliable or applicable.
District (BART)
· There can be reluctance and restrictions on the part of
vendors to release cost information outside of responding In 2001, BART began the process of re-engineering their
to a formal invitation for bids or request for proposals business into a more "mission-driven and results-oriented"
(RFPs). environment.30 This business advancement program (BAP)
· The life cycle of ITS components is not well known. was "intended to be a fundamental rethinking and radical re-
· A risk assessment may not have been performed (which can design of business core processes to bring about dramatic im-
be applied to costs and benefits). provements in performance under conditions characteristic
· Many benefits (and some costs) may be challenging to of the public sector environment."31 At the time that BART
quantify and monetize. began this project to promote a cultural change in the orga-
· Even when quantified, monetizing benefits can be nization and staff, many of their systems were 20 years old. In
challenging. addition, the old processes that were still being used were de-
scribed as "manually intensive, time consuming, prone to data
entryerrors and corrections, [not] easily allow[ing] for the
2.1.3 Examples of Successful Agency
automation of tasks, and provid[ing] restricted capabilities."32
Approaches for Maximizing
The impetus for the BAP was not only to begin replacing
Technology Value
old systems and processes, but also to address the organiza-
One of the objectives of this portion of the study (the tional and process changes needed to effectively pursue tech-
value of current technology) was to describe how agencies nology projects. BART's IT department manager under-
have successfully developed business cases for technology stood and educated management and staff about key issues
investments. The overall finding in this area is that few agen- associated with technology deployment, including why tech-
cies perform rigorous, quantitative ROI analyses. Although
often successful in justifying investments, most agencies'
rationales for investment rest on qualitative analyses of the 30 Fact sheet on Business Advancement Plan, provided by R. Cody, Department
need for and expected benefits of the technologies. This sec- Manager, Information Technology, BART (n. d.).
31 Ibid.
tion describes one relatively rare example of a rigorous ROI 32 IBM, "Business Advancement Plan," presentation provided by R. Cody, De-
analysis within the context of the agency's overall, state- partment Manager, Information Technology, BART (n. d.).
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nology projects fail; common pitfalls; components of suc- ternal rate of return, and the number of years needed for a
cessful organizational change, project management, and im- payback.
plementation; and risk mitigation.33 Imparting this informa- The first phase of the BAP concluded with the develop-
tion to management and staff was a critical step in initiating ment of a going-forward plan. The second phase, software
the BAP. selection (also performed by a consultant) was conducted in
The BAP process was divided into three phases: analysis, 2003 and based on two approaches to improve administrative
selection, and implementation. The analysis phase, conducted processes (ERP and supply chain management).34 This phase
by an outside consultant in 2001 and 2002, consisted of four consisted of seven tasks:
tasks: current state assessment, analysis of BAP options, invest-
ment analysis, and tactical plan development. Current state · Assemble a core team of resources for the project,
assessment consisted of conducting interviews with business, · Develop business requirements for ERP and supply chain
union, and information technology staff across BART, con- management,
ducting surveys regarding staff perceptions of the need for and · Develop an RFP for selecting the most compatible packaged
willingness to change within BART, and reviewing existing software to meet these requirements,
documentation. Results of this assessment determined how · Evaluate and select the software package that will best meet
BART's current processes compared to industry best prac- the requirements,
tices and how ready BART was to change. This assessment of · Evaluate the future IT infrastructure requirements,
business processes, cultural readiness, and information tech- · Provide a high-level analysis of the gap between the selected
nology is a step in conducting technology projects that has packaged software and BART's requirements,
been adopted by other transit agencies that have successfully · Provide a high-level implementation strategy for the iden-
deployed technology (see Section 2.1.3.3). tified packaged software solution.
The assessment led into identifying BAP options, which
were enterprise resource planning (ERP) for administra- The final phase, implementation, began in 2004 and is sched-
tive functions, such as human resources, payroll, timekeep- uled to be completed in 2008. This phase is the key part of
ing and finance, and supply chain management for materials effecting the cultural change and organizational transforma-
management and procurement. tion. The tasks in the phase are as follows:35
The investment analysis consisted of developing a pre-
liminary investment estimate, preliminary "Total Cost of · Design/redesign:
Ownership" model, and preliminary CBA for the five sys- Implementation plan
tems that were being considered: human resources, payroll Detailed fit/gap
and timekeeping, integrated financial management, integrated Future process design
maintenance management, and integrated procurement and Organizational impact assessment
inventory management. The potential benefits of the project · Configuration:
were identified as well in order to conduct the CBA. Configuration baseline
The cost side of the CBA used two different approaches Interface development plan
to identifying costs: investment costs and total cost of own- Test scenarios
ership. The total cost of ownership included the same cate- Extract legacy data
gories of costs (hardware, software, implementation, and Deployment plan
training), and added two more: one-time internal staffing Acceptance yes
and recurring hardware and software maintenance costs. A Post Go-Live support
consolidated statement was developed for costs of the tech- Training plan
nologies and for projected benefits. Both statements used a Organizational transition plan
2-year implementation period and a 5-year "steady-state" IT test plan
period. Then, profit statements were developed for both the · Deployment:
investment costs and the total cost of ownership, showing Production plan
by year the costs, benefits, net benefit, and cumulative ben- Post-production implementation
efits. Finally, for each approach, an ROI was calculated, System change management plan
along with the net present value (NPV) of the benefits, in-
34 IBM, "Business Advancement Plan (BAP)," slides presented at project execu-
33
" Exploring Technology Implementations," presentation provided by R. Cody, tive workshop, (San Francisco, CA: March 21, 2002).
Department Manager, Information Technology, BART (April 26, 2006). 35 R. Cody, "Exploring Technology Implementations" (April 26, 2006).
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An analysis of the process that BART is taking to ensure business process re-engineering (BPR)/business process im-
successful technology implementation shows that there are provement (BPI); establishment of an agency-wide technol-
six critical aspects: ogy investment process; and use of contracted services and
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions. A strategic IT
· Educating stakeholders about the details of the BAP project. investment program was identified as part of the program,
· Discussing the risks associated with the organizational including the following:
change process and mitigating the risks by adopting specific
change management and project management strategies. · The prioritization of 55 IT projects by the TAC,
· Recognizing that key knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) · Implementation of projects using a systems integrator
needed to effect technology deployment may not reside concept,
within the organization and should be sought by hiring an · Identification of funding needs for the whole program and
outside consultant. individual projects,
· Establishing performance measures not only to quantify · Identification of the resource implications of the program,
project success, but also to better understand the business and
they are in. · Identified monitoring and reporting requirements.
· Recognizing that it is changing staff behavior (not changing
technology) that is probably the most important element Subsequent to the Strategic Information Technology Invest-
in organizational change. ment Program being announced, WMATA's Information
· Recognizing that successful technology deployment cannot Technology Strategic Plan was developed. The goals of the
be achieved without organizational and cultural change. Information Technology Strategic Plan are the following:
· Establish management control over the IT resources of
2.1.3.2 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit WMATA;
Authority (WMATA) · Provide cost-effective, efficient, manageable, and maintain-
In 2000, WMATA developed a Strategic Information Tech- able support; and
· Upgrade WMATA's IT infrastructure.
nology Investment Program as part of "a necessary trans-
formation to change the culture and bring in the reNEWed
WMATA by aggressively transform[ing] WMATA from an The Information Technology Strategic Plan "identif[ies] the
overly hierarchical, inflexible, bureaucratic organization into methods and resources that IT will need to employ to accom-
an entrepreneurial, customer and business focused, empow- plish its goals and those of WMATA."37 Further, the Informa-
tion Technology Strategic Plan identifies 20 strategic principles
ered team." In this program, WMATA recognized that "IT
that are governing the development and deployment of tech-
is an essential ingredient of changing WMATA by providing
nology throughout WMATA. The Information Technology
the appropriate technology infrastructure for the new busi-
Strategic Plan also establishes an implementation strategy
ness environment. The WMATA's core business of providing
that includes specific projects, including those in the areas of
transportation is increasingly driven by technology, and the
technical/infrastructure, application systems, and ITS.
ability of the WMATA to take advantage of the technological
The technical/infrastructure projects of note include those
advances is a key to our long-term success."36
related to enterprise architecture--specifically the enterprise
Generally, the Strategic Information Technology Invest-
hardware, enterprise management system, and enterprise-wide
ment Program established a new definition for IT, developed
IT disaster/recovery program.
a technology investment process, and established clear goals In November 2002, WMATA published its 10-Year Capital
and objectives for IT. An IT diagnostics review (commis- Improvement Plan (CIP), which includes an Infrastructure
sioned by WMATA's GM) prompted the development of an Renewal Program (IRP), covering information technology
IT strategic plan (described below). Further, WMATA reor- improvements in addition to several physical improvements.
ganized the original IT group into the Office of IT and Services The CIP articulates a new vision for improving mobility in
(ITSV), created the new position of Chief Technology Officer the region, which "employs technological innovation and
(CTO), and established a technology advisory committee demand management strategies to provide seamless service
(TAC). WMATA's Strategic Information Technology Invest- and travel choices."38 The IT component of the IRP identifies
ment Program recommends the following IT strategies: use of
37
"Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Information Technology
36
WMATA General Manager and Board, "Strategic Information Technology Strategic Plan," (n. d.).
38
Investment Program," WMATA's Office of Information Technology and "Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) 10-Year Capi-
Services (n. d.). tal Improvement Plan," (November 2002).
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33
the need for a long-term approach to address the technological a detailed review of business needs and processes across the
needs of WMATA and to ensure that a systematic replace- entire agency in order to determine what is needed from a
ment of systems is achieved. Enterprise architecture develop- technology perspective to support the needs.
ment is mentioned in the CIP. ITS is specifically mentioned As a result of this study, Capital Metro issued an RFP for
as part of the System Access and Capacity Program (SAP) in ITS Consulting Services in February 2004. The scope of
terms of signal priority (under the "Running-Way Corridor work in the RFP included an organized approach to accom-
Improvements" section of the SAP), real-time service infor- plishing the recommended actions identified in the "Opera-
mation, and real-time and ITS-driven kiosk information tions Technology Assessment." The overall purpose of the ITS
(under the Customer Facilities section of the SAP). Consulting Services effort was to assist Capital Metro in these
One of the strategic directions established in the Information four primary tasks:
Technology Strategic Plan is using technology to generate
revenues. A recent and innovative initiative that directly ad- · Conducting an assessment of Capital Metro business
dresses this strategy, Technology Public-Private Partnership processes and technology systems and preparing a formal
(P3) Initiative, is in the process of developing a new integrated document reflecting needs, requirements, impact, and
customer communications system as its first project. This ini- recommendations as it relates to our ITS objectives.
tiative was a follow-on to an earlier initiative (Strategic Alliance · Develop[ing] a Scope of Services for the acquisition and
and Risk Assessment) and was announced in a Request for implementation of selected ITS technologies.
Information dated January 31, 2006 (and revised on June 19, · Assisting in the evaluation of vendor responses from the
2006). According to the Request for Information, "the goal of RFP.
this Technology P3 Initiative is to improve customer service · [Implementing] the ITS technologies selected.42
and system reliability by taking advantage of WMATA's mar-
quee value and in-place technology infrastructure."39 WMATA Capital Metro established specific business and technical
expects that a P3 solution would not only provide technol- objectives for the implementation of ITS, and these were used
ogy, but also would generate revenue and/or reduce expenses and are still being used to govern the work accomplished
or staffing, require minimal up-front costs to WMATA, and by the consultant. The ITS services also had to recognize the
conform to available transit and technology standards. agency's overall business goals, as well as those that were
WMATA conducted two technology symposiums for the directly related to technology. Further, in the RFP, Capital
P3 initiative on February 16 and July 28, 2006. As of August Metro stated not only the consultant's responsibilities, but
2006, 26 companies and teams proposed to provide WMATA also those of Capital Metro staff.
with hardware and services related to the integrated customer Capital Metro developed a structured consultant scope of
communications system. work that consisted of a "best practice" process for accom-
plishing the four primary tasks mentioned earlier. The first
2.1.3.3 Capital Metropolitan Transportation element of the scope of work was for a comprehensive assess-
Authority (Capital Metro)--Austin, Texas ment of needs and requirements. This effort focused on a
"review of current technologies and operations in order to
At the end of 2003, Capital Metro completed their "Oper- determine specific ITS technologies that should be imple-
ations Technology Assessment," which reviewed and evalu- mented at Capital Metro."43 The specific tasks with this first
ated Capital Metro's "existing systems within the operational element included the following:
areas of Fixed Route Services, Maintenance, Special Tran-
sit Services, Purchased Transportation and Planning."40 This · Conducting a current business process/technology review,
"assessment addresses the functionality and usability of the · Conducting interviews and obtaining executive manage-
information systems, both from the perspective of users and ment input,
from what is generally experienced and expected in the transit · Assessing current technology in the transit industry,
industry."41 The results of this assessment were summarized · Identifying and prioritizing business needs,
in six major recommendations, one of which was to conduct · Recommending specific technologies to address these needs,
· Defining functional requirements of the recommended
39
"Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives: Technology," presented to the
technologies, and
WMATA Board of Directors Planning and Development Committee by Plan- · Developing an action plan and an implementation plan.
ning & Information Technology (June 2, 2005).
40
PB Consult Inc., Karen Antion Consulting, LLC, and RCC Consultants, Inc.,
42
"Operations Technology Assessment," prepared for Capital Metro (December Capital Metro, "Request for Proposals No. 101671, Intelligent Transportation
31, 2003), p 1. Systems (ITS) Consulting Services" (February 10, 2004), Exhibit F, p 1.
41 43
Ibid, p 1. Ibid, Exhibit F, p. 3.
