Project Scope

Background:

Over the past several years a number of State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and a few Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) have taken on the role of developing statewide / regionwide transit information systems that are intended to collect comprehensive information about the availability of transit services and their attributes. This has largely taken place in the wake of the development of common data standards, such as  General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) which includes comprehensive information on the service attributes including routes, stop locations, and schedule information for fixed-route, fixed-schedule transit services. 

The development of additional data standards, such as GTFS-Flex as a way of adding demand-response services (serving rural areas), along with intercity bus service information has led some states and regions to take on the role of supporting the development of this data, its maintenance, and the development of platforms to allow its access by planners, policy-makers, and potential transit users. By bringing together this information states may be able to present statewide transit services as a connected network and enable potential users to discover all the available services and how they connect. 

The goals, intended uses, mechanisms, organizational support structure, and user access mechanisms can vary considerably, depending on the resources of the DOT or MPO, types of agencies in the state, and priorities of project leaders and stakeholders.  An initial step for any state or region contemplating the development of such an information platform is a review of what other states and regions are doing similar projects, their goals, the process they are using to collect data, their organizational structure, the intended users, and their progress to date. 

Synthesis Objective:

This synthesis will document the current practice of the creation of statewide  / regionwide transportation information systems. A review of states doing similar projects, their goals, the process they are using to collect data, their organizational structure, the intended users, and their progress to date shall be included.

Information To Be Gathered (Not an exhaustive list):

•       Identification of existing projects;

•       Goals—intended uses/user groups, anticipated benefits Responsible agencies and organizational structure, staffing;

•       Funding;

•       Data requirements, sources;

•       Support for data collection and maintenance;

•       User interfaces available to participating agencies;

•       Process for updating and maintaining data.

TRB Staff
Mariela Garcia-Colberg
Phone: 202-334-2361
Email: mgarciacolberg@nas.edu

Meeting Dates
First Panel: September 28, 2022
Teleconference with Consultant: November 2022
Second Panel: June 2023

Topic Panel 

Rollin Baker, Metro Los Angeles 

Thomas Craig, Washington State Department of Transportation 

Ian Graham Detamore, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation 

Roderick Diaz, Southern California Regional Rail Authority 

Frederic Dean Fravel, KFH Group, Inc. 

Sabrina Jenkins, Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority 

Israel Maldonado, San Diego Metropolitan Transit System 

Darrell Washington, Minnesota Department of Transportation 

Nancy Doherty, National Rural Transit Assistance Program (RTAP)