2. Coordination, Mobility Management, and ITS
For those unfamiliar with coordination, mobility management, and ITS, a brief review may be beneficial before proceeding to the case studies. Reframing the challenge of providing transportation to managing mobility often improves both the design and delivery of service. ITS provides both the tools and the framework for improving coordination among transportation providers. In addition, the development and deployment of an ITS architecture, a tool described later in the section, requires that everyone in the region impacted by the implementation and operation of an intelligent transportation system be involved to some degree during its design.
2.1 Mobility Management
Each of the three agencies that are the subject of this report have been innovators in mobility management, a management approach that is different than that currently used by most community transportation agencies. The unique aspects of mobility management elaborated on by Birnie are the basis for this section (2). TCRP Report 21 presents strategies for local agencies that supply transportation to behave as mobility managers (3).
The mobility management approach has impacts on service design and management as well as the relationships and interactions between the many transportation providers in a particular community. Mobility management relies on coordinated service to improve customer service and increase system-wide efficiency.
Mobility management differs from traditional approaches as it focuses on individuals. Transportation solutions are tailored to meet these individual needs. As a result, few, if any, communities will be best served with a single, uniform transportation alternative. Instead, a number of diverse services will likely need to be provided.
Similarly, though the many services needed by a community's residents could be delivered by a single provider that will usually not be the case. In fact, agencies that provide transportation will serve as brokers guiding riders to the most efficient and effective service in the community that meets their needs. This will require that agencies act not only as service providers but as mobility advocates.
The ability to succeed using the mobility management approach is enhanced with ITS. This is because of the increased complexity introduced when managing a system focused on the individual. ITS provides the tools and procedures that allow for the collection, storage, and use of the large amounts of information needed to properly manage a community's mobility.
The degree of mobility management can vary greatly. At a minimum, mobility management involves a change in the approach of designing and delivering service at the agency level. At the other end of the spectrum, mobility management includes becoming involved in the development and management of all aspects of the transportation infrastructure to improve the efficiency of the system.
2.2 Coordination
Providers of community transportation are limited by financial and legal constraints. One of the greatest opportunities for improving the service delivered by any one agency is to work with others in the community. Despite the potential benefits, few efforts at coordination have been successful. However, there are signs that things may be changing.
Coordination has been defined as the sharing of transportation resources, responsibilities, and activities of various agencies with each other for the overall benefit of their community. This coordination can and has taken a number of forms based on the needs of the particular community. The primary idea is that by working together, agencies that provide transportation services in an area can increase system-wide efficiency.
The benefits associated with coordinating transportation in a community have long been acknowledged. However, related costs, financial and otherwise, have often inhibited local coordination efforts. Recent developments have, however, brought coordination to the forefront of important issues facing transportation providers.
Executive Order 13330, signed by President Bush in February 2004, established the Interagency Transportation Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility which is intended to increase coordination among 62 federal programs that provide funding for human service transportation. It complements the United We Ride program, a federal interagency program led by the Federal Transit Administration and aimed at addressing these same coordination issues. United We Ride efforts include providing a framework and technical assistance designed to aid local efforts to address coordination, state grants to fund innovative coordination programs, and awards to recognize leaders in the application of coordination principles.
The benefits to coordinating efforts among agencies that deliver transportation services in a community include increased access to funds, a more cost-effective use of resources, improved efficiency, and centralized management of resources. Barriers to coordination include concerns about remaining in compliance with regulations, perceived incompatibility of goals and needs, and uncertainty of the benefits and costs that accrue to each agency.
2.3 ITS in Public Transportation Systems
Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) refer to the technology, data, people, and processes used to provide mobility, enhance productivity, and increase safety. In the context of public transportation, ITS is synonymous with advanced public transportation systems (APTS), though the acronym ITS is more prevalent and will be used in this report. The term ITS is also used to describe the technologies that are used to improve the delivery and quality of service of transportation. For example, computer-aided dispatch and scheduling software is often referred to as ITS, though according to another definition it would be thought of as being a part of it. In this report, the definitions will be used interchangeably and the precise meaning will be able to be drawn from the context.
A number of ITS technologies may help a community better meet its mobility needs. More advanced ITS technologies in small urban and rural areas include computer-aided dispatch and scheduling software, automated billing and reporting software, smartcard technology, mobile data terminal (MDT) technology, and automatic vehicle location technology. Less advanced ITS technologies include customized spreadsheets, cb radios, and Internet websites. Determining what technologies to use and how to integrate them into a single system is the difficult task addressed by this report.
An important, though technical, concept that aids in the understanding ITS is an ITS architecture. An ITS architecture is a framework that describes agreements among agencies, defines the functions of technologies they use and how the technologies interact, and identifies the data that will be shared between ITS subsystems. R.Y.D.E., one of the agencies that is the subject of the case studies that follow, designed, implemented and maintains a regional ITS architecture.
As of April 2005, a regional architecture is required to be in place whenever funds from the federal Highway Trust Fund or Mass Transit Account are used to fund ITS projects. In the future, most transportation agencies that adopt ITS technologies will not have to go through the process of developing an ITS architecture from scratch, but will instead rely upon the work of their predecessors. However, in some cases, the existing architecture may need to be modified to accommodate the plans of transit agencies, particularly those who plan on more elaborate or cutting-edge ITS projects that were not considered when the architecture was first designed.