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TABLE 14 Interaction among data users, impacts on staffing levels
Development of Data Processing and Reporting and needs, and cost are all considered here. It should be
Software noted, however, that costs reported by transit agencies var-
ied depending on methods and assumptions used. In par-
Agencies Responding ticular, it was difficult for agencies that purchased APCs as
Source No. % part of a broader ITS procurement to separate out the costs
involved. The reader is cautioned that cost data are neither
Hardware vendor 26 55.3 uniform nor complete.
In-house, by end users of data 16 34.0
Table 16 summarizes departmental involvement in man-
In-house, by information sys- agement, purchasing, and use of APC systems. The planning
tems or computer services 13 27.7
department department is the most common location for management of
the APC system, followed by the operations department. The
Another outside vendor 12 25.5 "other" responses related to management represent agen-
Other 3 6.3 cies where this responsibility is split among departments:
planning and maintenance; maintenance and information
Total responding 47 100.0 technology (IT); operations, maintenance, and IT; planning
and IT. Table 16 also shows widespread involvement across
departments in procurement of the APC system and use of
Anyone who has been through the process of implement- the APC data. Only one agency reported no downstream
ing a new technology knows that there is a "debugging" users of APC data.
period, during which start-up problems are resolved. The
debugging period for APCs averages 17 months, identi- In terms of data users, more than 80% of responding
cal to the finding of the 1998 synthesis, with a median of agencies reported electronic access to APC data through
18 months. There was a wide variation in responses to the standard reports. Half of agencies indicated that hard copies
debugging question, from 1 month to 5 years. Table 15 of APC reports were available to data users, and 41% noted
groups the responses by time frame. There were no signifi- that data users could query the database directly.
cant differences by system size. Respondents involved on a
day-to-day basis with APCs may have been more aware of
problems and issues than others. TABLE 16
Departments Involved in Agency Purchase,
TABLE 15 Management, and Use of APC Systems
Length of "Debugging" Period for APC % Primary
Implementation Ownership
% Involved of APC
Agencies Responding in APC Management
Purchasing and % User of
Time Frame No. % Department Decision Operation APC Data
Less than 6 months 3 9.7 Planning 90 42 91
6 to 11 months 4 12.9 Operations 62 20 73
12 to 23 months 8 25.8 Information ser-
vices/computer 67 16 14
24 months or more 6 19.4 services
Ongoing 10 32.3 Scheduling 57 7 82
Budget/finance 52 2 34
Total responding 31 100.0
Maintenance 43 2 14
ORGANIZATION AND RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS Marketing/market
24 0 59
research
Organizational issues can affect the success of new tech- Senior management N/A N/A 52
nologies. Implementation of APCs and other ITS technolo-
Other 7 9 9
gies fosters or requires integration and cooperation among
departments that may have previously managed their data Total responding/
42/100 44/100 44/100
in isolation. This section explores organizational aspects percentage
of the purchase, management, and use of APC systems. N/A = not available.
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Implementation of APCs necessarily involves multiple The most frequently mentioned challenges to successful
departments within the transit agency. Table 17 reports on implementation and operation included problems ensur-
the impacts of APC use on the transit agency. The most ing that bus assignments were completed, new demands
positive aspects of APC implementation included improved for reports, priority for APC equipment in the maintenance
communication among departments, greater value placed department, and unrealistic expectations regarding turn-
on ridership data, improved decision-making ability, greater around time and data quality. One respondent characterized
responsiveness, and the ability to provide the needed data maintenance personnel's attitude as very negative: APCs
to end users. Among other positive effects were better rela- drain power from the bus batteries and take technicians'
tions with external agencies and management's reaction to time away from important work.
better reporting.
Among other negative effects were concerns from opera-
TABLE 17 tors and the union, tensions regarding data accuracy and pro-
Effects of Interaction Among Multiple APC Users cesses for addressing missing data, frustrations regarding
Agencies start-up problems, APC system vulnerability to communi-
Responding cations problems, lack of commitment from all departments
Effects No. %
regarding maintenance of the data collection process, and
unmet training needs.
POSITIVE
Improved communications between Staffing levels for the passenger counting program
7 20.6
departments are summarized in Table 18. Smaller systems were more
Greater value placed on ridership data 7 20.6 likely to assign fewer people in each category. The survey
also asked about changes in staffing associated with an
Better data leading to improved deci-
5 14.7 APC program. More than 70% of all agencies reported no
sion-making ability
changes or decreases in staff levels in each of the catego-
Greater responsiveness to public/others 3 8.8 ries in Table 18, with notable decreases in the size of traffic
Ability to provide data to end users 3 8.8
checking units. About one-quarter of respondents, none
from small systems, indicated a minor increase (defined
NEGATIVE as one or two full-time positions) in maintenance staff,
and 22% (consistent across systems of all sizes) reported
Difficulty with bus assignments 7 20.6
a minor increase in professional staff.
Constant/increased demands for new or
5 14.7
reformatted reports Implementation of APCs does create a need for training.
APC maintenance has low priority 4 11.8 A majority of respondents noted increased training needs
in the areas of software/computer, analytical, and hardware
Unrealistic expectations re: turnaround
4 11.8 maintenance skills (Table 19). Only 24% of responding
time and data quality (i.e., not perfect)
agencies reported no additional training needs.
Total responding 34 100.0
TABLE 18
Staff Positions (Full-Time Equivalents) Assigned to Carry out Passenger Counting Program
Total No.
Category Less than 1 1 to 1.9 2 to 3.9 4 or more Don't Know Responding
Managers/professionals 47.7% 29.5% 20.5% 2.3% -- 44
Support (e.g., equipment
54.1% 27.0% 13.5% 5.4% -- 37
maintenance
Clerical 72.0% 20.0% -- -- 8.0% 25
Traffic checkers 44.4% 11.1% 7.4% 29.6% 7.4% 27
Other 42.9% -- 14.3% 42.9% -- 7
NOTE: "Other" includes data retrieval, data editing/analysis/report writing, and ad hoc traffic checking personnel.
