4. Lessons Learned

This section presents lessons that can be learned from the experiences of SMART, R.Y.D.E., and NDinfo.org in implementing ITS to improve coordination in their area. Most of the lessons described are related to both ITS and coordination. Some however, are not. They are included due to their pragmatic value and uniqueness. Those interested in guidelines for success in improving coordination in general are referred to TCRP 100: Toolkit for Rural Community Coordinated Transportation Services (6). TCRP Report 76: Guidebook for Selecting Appropriate Technology Systems for Small Urban and Rural Public Operators (7) provides a non-technical guide to ITS design and implementation.

Topics discussed in this section relate to the importance of understanding and educating the community, identifying, tailoring, and adopting the right technology, and making the most of available resources. A general description of the primary concept involved is presented for each topic. This general description is followed by a discussion of the particular case from which the concept was drawn.

4.1 Understanding and Educating the Community

Every community and its transportation needs are unique. The same is true for the barriers to coordination that they face. Without intimate knowledge of the institutions, individuals, and relationships that exist among them, improving a community's transportation system is difficult. Providing solutions to nonexistent or relatively unimportant issues can result in continued inefficiency and the misuse of public funds. At the same time, the solutions that ITS can bring to a local community must be accepted and used for them to be successful.

In this section the importance of understanding the community transportation system, identifying actual needs, promoting adoption, and educating employees and the community are illustrated with examples from the three cases cited earlier.

4.1.1 Understanding the Community Transportation System

Individuals who have worked to provide public transportation to a community for a number of years are a valuable and irreplaceable resource when it comes to improving residents' mobility. Knowledge of ridership behavior, especially on demand-response systems in small communities, can become quite intimate. An understanding of the capabilities, strengths, and shortcomings of their system is needed when transportation service managers work with others in their community to increase system efficiency with coordination.

Improved coordination may result in significant changes in service for community transportation providers. Being able to predict with some degree of certainty the response of riders and other shareholders in the community to a change in service is both difficult and important. Though complex quantitative models could be constructed to estimate community reactions, in most small urban and rural areas the costs and the inaccuracy of such estimates would diminish their pragmatic value.

For coordination to be successful, especially those parts that rely on ITS, it is necessary to formally define the challenges that stand in the way of improved mobility, the relationships between individuals and organizations, and the processes that exist. Efforts to do so should occur early on in the ITS/coordination planning process. The absence of such efforts may result in overlooked challenges not being addressed and potential resources not being put to their best use.

Describing these aspects of a community transportation system allows consideration of big-picture concepts that are often ignored because of the demands of managing and operating the existing system. Doing so rigorously provides outside parties, including those with more technical backgrounds, with the ability to quickly understand the challenges the community faces, what resources it has to draw from, and which solutions might work best.

R.Y.D.E. and its Introduction to Systems Engineering

Early in the ITS planning process, R.Y.D.E. Transportation Director Jeff Rumery participated in an introductory systems engineering course. The course was designed to be accessible to a broad audience of transportation professionals, not just engineers and other technicians. The course proved to be an invaluable asset by helping Rumery better understand the broader transportation system of which his agency is a part.

The framework provided by systems engineering courses is designed to induce transportation providers to think about the entire community transportation system and the relationships between the many parts and people of which it is composed. It is not necessary to have a technical background or to master jargon from the field to take full advantage of such training. In fact, individuals from a non-technical background may be more likely than others to experience a paradigm shift as a result of the course. This may further stimulate the creativity necessary for coordination to be innovative and successful.

4.1.2 Identifying Actual Needs

A thorough understanding of the actual needs of the local community is necessary early in the planning stages for ITS and coordination. These efforts and the resulting changes in service are likely to be less successful when individual or organizational needs assessments are incomplete or incorrect.

Coordination efforts require the involvement of all stakeholders in the region. The absence of participation by any organization or individual with an interest in community transportation is likely to lessen its practical value. With the focus on ITS, the need for coordination with external agencies moves beyond those groups and individuals directly involved with transportation. For example, local police and fire departments, and other emergency management agencies may also play a role in ITS development. An exhaustive list of the organizations with a stake in ITS deployment in community transportation systems could include dozens of agencies for even the smallest of communities.

Identifying the Needs of North Dakotans

During the early stages of the development of NDinfo.org, public forums were held in Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck and Minot. At each of the meetings it became immediately evident that many attendees had little knowledge of the transportation options available in their local community.

Despite their lack of knowledge of existing service, attendees expressed strong interest in a number of functions they felt their transportation system should provide. Among these functions was a single source of information, including fixed-route schedules and other transportation alternatives. It was also acknowledged that an understanding of the service design of transportation for group homes in each local community was necessary to ensure program success.

For a novel project such as NDinfo.org, public participation was necessary to identify the concerns and needs of the people of the state. The absence of such activity would have likely hindered the success of the project as it seems unlikely that a board could have recognized and properly emphasized those issues raised during the public forums.

4.1.3 Promoting Adoption

In many cases, ITS solutions designed and implemented at the regional or state level may be available to community agencies at a lower cost than if they had been developed and deployed locally. In spite of this, many of the agencies that would benefit from technology adoption remain hesitant. For regional or state entities to spend the large sums of money that is needed to design and implement high-tech intelligent transportation systems only to see them go unused is unfortunate.

The aversion to or absence of technology adoption may be due to one of a number of reasons. In many cases, the benefits resulting from adoption are unknown or are expected to outweigh the perceived costs. In others, a fear of technology or change may also result in agencies forgoing adoption.

For those organizations that expect long-term benefits to outweigh the costs, high upfront costs may still prevent adoption. This can also be true where regional or statewide ITS solutions are available. The resources required for educating the operators of ITS are not negligible, especially in smaller systems where resources for such activities are usually scarce. This is often compounded with the costs of the technology that must be implemented at the local level to make use of the regional or statewide capabilities.

The uneven adoption among agencies or their clientele may damage the region-wide value of ITS. This is especially true if one of the primary goals for adoption is coordination because gaps in intended service may arise and many of the planned efficiencies evaporate. This may also have the effect of eroding community support for the changes. Given the need for local funding to cover some portion of the operating expense of most community transportation system, uneven adoption could have devastating consequences.

Unaccepted ITS Solutions

Despite the development of a system that would readily and relatively easily meet the technology needs of SMART's partners at a low cost, there has been resistance by many agencies to adopt the technology. Causes include a misunderstanding or fear of technology, inability to afford initial training, software and hardware fees, and complacency. Of course, some of these agencies may already be making use of the optimal level of technology and would not benefit from further adoption.

This situation is not particularly unique. What is different is that SMART has developed a high-quality system that can be operated at minimal cost, both financially and in terms of required expertise. Unfortunately, it has been adopted by relatively few of the community transportation providers that it was intended to serve.

4.1.4 Educating Employees and the Community

Much of the decision making involved with ITS planning and implementation occurs at an executive level. However, to be successful, employees and the community must learn to appreciate and use the system. Acceptance, both internal and external, is often limited because of an absence of knowledge of the expected positive impacts.

Following the implementation of ITS, employees will often need to be retrained and may see a significant change in job descriptions. It is important that employees understand the benefits that result from ITS and improved coordination, especially when the only immediately noticeable result is an increase in work load. In some coordinated systems, these concerns may be magnified by an appearance that the burdens and benefits associated with the new system are not evenly shared among agencies or clients.

Members of the community, both riders and non-riders alike, may have similar difficulty in being able to see the benefits that result from technology adoption. Efforts are needed to educate the public on the changes in service, operation, and the expected positive impacts. This should begin before the actual implementation of ITS to provide time for the community to adjust to the changes being made.

Understanding the Impacts of Change in Kearney

After the adoption of computer-aided scheduling and dispatch software by R.Y.D.E., a dispute between drivers and dispatchers arose because of dramatic changes that occurred with the adoption of the new technology. Drivers resisted following the schedule produced by the software and often improvised their own schedules based on their experience before the technology was adopted. To address the situation, drivers were informally educated on the technology used by dispatchers and how it helped R.Y.D.E. provide a higher level of service to its riders.

4.2 Identifying, Tailoring, and Adopting the Proper Technology

The number of ITS technologies available to community transportation systems is large and growing. The number of combinations that these technologies can take is extensive. Effectively planning for the implementation of such technology to best serve the needs of a particular community can be quite demanding and often requires the expertise of outside individuals. At the same time, the task of developing and implementing ITS should not be simply delegated to consultants.

In this section, the value of ITS architecture, staying focused on outcomes, and the user friendliness of systems are presented. Centralization, scalability, and the concept of redundancy and backup are also covered.

4.2.1 Importance of Developing and Adhering to an ITS Architecture

As of April 2005, a regional ITS architecture is required to be in place wherever Highway Trust Fund or Mass Transit Account dollars are used to fund ITS projects. Though ITS architecture is mandated, an understanding and appreciation of it should be acquired by those implementing ITS. This is especially true in smaller systems where the upfront cost of complying with the existing architecture or designing and deploying new ITS architecture, including the development of an understanding of its underlying concepts, is high.

Improved coordination of transportation services is a strong selling point for ITS architecture. Though many of the technical aspects may be better left to consultants, there is much to be gained from understanding the process and its merits. The basis for the development of ITS architecture is that it allows transportation systems to communicate and coordinate with one another while remaining flexible enough to adapt to changes in technology.

In locations where a regional ITS architecture for advanced public transportation systems have not yet been designed, the development process provides an opportunity for involved parties, including those not directly involved in human service transportation, to come to the table to present their wants and needs and to list their assets and liabilities. The process is quite similar to those typically used to improve coordination in general and may result in better coordination among transportation providers even if it was not the primary reason for ITS implementation.

R.Y.D.E. Builds its Foundation

The merits of developing, implementing, and maintaining ITS architecture were reinforced by the experiences and sentiments of those at R.Y.D.E. It is viewed by the agency as both the "first and best" thing to do when planning for ITS projects. Instead of being valued on its technical merits, the sentiment at R.Y.D.E. is that the architecture design process served as a good instrument to initiate communication among organizations concerning available assets, existing relationships, and desired outcomes. R.Y.D.E. revisits its architecture every few months as it evaluates what has, can, and will be done with ITS to better serve Kearney's mobility needs.

Despite the merits of ITS architecture, R.Y.D.E. felt that the initial presentation of ITS architecture usually makes it difficult for many to grasp initially. This is especially true as few managers of small transit systems are educated or have experience as engineers or technocrats. It is perceived as being too technical too fast.

4.2.2 Staying Focused on Outcomes

The application of ITS technologies to the challenges faced by public transportation providers can be quite exciting. However, those implementing ITS should focus on the effects ITS has on system-wide performance, including customer service. They should avoid becoming enamored with the process or the technology and should instead think about the positive impacts they will make. Unfortunately, a culture of implementing ITS just to implement ITS, regardless of its impact on riders and other members of the community, does occasionally arise.

Coordination may help reduce the likelihood of such a culture from evolving. As more parties are involved in the planning process, pressure increases to use the funds to meet the needs of the entire community. The adoption of high-cost, cutting-edge technologies that do not provide a cost-effective method of improving coordination are less likely to be adopted when there are more needs to be addressed. There is also a greater likelihood that someone will object to the inefficient use of ITS or coordination funds.

R.Y.D.E. and its Focus on Performance

R.Y.D.E. felt that it was paramount to stay focused on outcomes when designing and implementing its intelligent transportation system in Kearney. Despite having significant ITS funds at its disposal, R.Y.D.E. remained focused on the positive impacts that would result. The intelligent transportation system in place at R.Y.D.E. appears to be on track to achieving its goal of better serving the transportation needs of its community without having adopted unsuitable technologies.

4.2.3 User Friendliness

User friendliness is closely related to the just-discussed concept of staying focused on event outcomes. Any change in transportation service design needs to keep its focus on riders as well as other members of the community. Maintaining or increasing the user friendliness of a system will encourage continued or increased use of the service.

In the context of ITS, there will be a broad range of users as nearly all individuals and organizations that interact with public transportation may be affected. These parties can be classified into two groups: external and internal. External users of ITS could include riders, trip planners, funding agencies, those with oversight authority, fire, police, and emergency response, to name just a few.

Internally, schedulers and dispatchers may see their job processes change significantly. In smaller systems this may include the move from paper to electronic management systems. Drivers may need to learn to continue to deliver safe, timely transportation while making use of new technologies like mobile data terminals.

Many ITS technologies demand little from the individuals who use them. Managers planning on using ITS to improve coordination should keep the abilities of their employees in mind. In some cases, technologically adverse employees may not desire to maintain employment following ITS introduction, often because of initially negative experiences with the technology. This issue and its impacts on the system need to be considered during the initial planning stages.

Retraining employees, be they schedulers, dispatchers, drivers, or others is usually necessary following the implementation of ITS. However, during the planning process, the impacts and demands placed on these individuals should be considered. The higher the degree of user friendliness, the easier the initial training and subsequent operation of the system will be.

The User Friendliness of NDinfo.org

The importance of user friendliness is critical to the success of NDinfo.org. As a web-deployed service the site is expected to be easy to use with no special skills required. Of course, individuals who are unable to use NDinfo.org themselves should still benefit from the system by being assisted by an individual who can navigate the site.

4.2.4 Centralization

Many ITS technologies provide the opportunity for improved efficiency via centralization. The ability of many organizations to use a single shared resource and avoid the costs of duplication can provide immediate benefits.

Centralization embodies one of the major benefits of ITS with regard to coordination. A single expert can develop an expertise in managing the more technologically advanced components of the coordinating agencies. Similarly, a single server can manage the operational data or radio tower can handle signals used by more than one agency.

SMART's Tech Hub

SMART's Oakland Terminal serves as a telecommunications and computational hub for the entire system, including its community partners. SMART also provides technical assistance to its partners including record generation, maintenance support, service analysis, and training resources. This allows SMART's community partners to focus on the demanding task of managing their respective organizations, thereby improving the efficiency of the regional transportation system as a whole.

4.2.5 Scalable Technology

In addition to centralization, certain ITS technologies readily allow scalability. Scalability exists when the incremental cost of increasing the capacity of a system is small. It allows for the ability to increase capacity or functionality without replacing the system. The low marginal cost of additional computational storage is one example. Often technology provides excess capacity that will be utilized some time in the future.

Room for SMART Growth

SMART's system, including its telephone, bandwidth, and computational capabilities, is capable of serving the needs of a clientele many times larger than its present level. If needed, it is also readily scalable to further expand at a minimal cost. A significant increase in ridership on SMART or community partner vehicles that use the system can be easily accommodated. Adoption of the technology solutions hosted by SMART by additional transportation agencies in southeast Michigan could also be handled by the system in its current form.

4.2.6 Redundancy & Backup

Coordination relies on an increased sense of trust among organizations as the actions taken by one may have an increased impact on those with which it coordinates. Likewise, instead of having only a local impact as might have been the case before, uncontrollable events may have system-wide ramifications following an increase in coordination of transportation services. Related concerns about dependence upon the technology used to provide transportation alternatives are an additional concern that gain greater importance in coordinated systems.

The failure of an intelligent transportation system due to an event such as a power failure or a computer glitch could have serious impacts on its users' wellbeing. Additionally, coordination and ITS may add an increased level of complexity to a transportation system, making it much more difficult to operate when certain unforeseen events occur.

The answer to concerns regarding uncertainty is to introduce redundancy and backup into the system. This may involve duplication or alternative methods of achieving a function. For example, the loss of power can be mitigated with an on-site generator, electronic files can be stored in more than one location, and communications between drivers made possible through radio or cellular phone. Though the cost of redundancy may not be small, increasing the reliability of service may be worthwhile.

Backup in Southeast Michigan

With the centralization of technology in a single location and the large area and population relying on its service, the effects of system failure could have devastating effects on SMART and its customers. To address this, SMART has many built-in redundancies with regard to its computer, power, and telecommunications systems that ensure the reliability of the system for all but the rarest of events.

4.3 Making the Most of Available Resources

The resources available to transportation agencies are always limited. The same is true for monies to implement and operate intelligent transportation systems. Making the most of available resources through diligent planning and management is of paramount importance.

Just as transportation needs vary by community so do the resources available to improve the efficiency of its transportation system through ITS and coordination. High costs are often placed on innovators; a technologically adept manager at a single agency may provide significant assistance during the implementation of ITS, and in many cases outside help may be necessary. By adopting generic technology, considering long-term costs, and ensuring that the new system can be managed once it is in place the probability of success increases. These issues are discussed in this section.

4.3.1 The High Cost of Being the First Mover

The cost of being an innovator is high in any field and the same is true for those who are pioneers in designing, implementing, and managing intelligent transportation systems. Cutting-edge technology is usually more expensive and provides less functionality than its successors. Processes and techniques for making the most of the available resources often begin as theories and may take years to refine. In the case of community transportation, the parties who gain most are those who adopt later generations of technology and use tested management methods.

Though ITS is far from being universally present in transportation systems and the evolution and improvement of technologies that aid in its operation continues, much of the costly innovation has already occurred. For many small urban and rural transportation providers, the relative complexity of the transportation system and its challenges may be addressed sufficiently with tested and refined technology at a low cost. By following tested processes paired with the assistance of external parties that have experienced ITS implementation, the cost of developing a successful system falls while the probability of it having its desired effect increases.

SMART Innovation

Being one of the first movers in the field, not only in regard to adopting technology, but also in developing internal processes to manage the system, SMART was required to dedicate a great deal of resources to reach the point where it is today. Many of the technologies employed were much more expensive than present-day successors.

There were also missteps along the way, especially because SMART was an innovator in the pre-ITS architecture period. However, it appears that SMART has not only benefited, but flourished, because of the challenges it faced. A secondary benefit to the innovation that occurred at SMART is that it is now home to many tech-savvy individuals and an organizational culture that embraces technology and the solutions it offers to public transportation.

4.3.2 Attracting Technologically Adept Managers

Managers of agencies that provide community transportation come from a variety of backgrounds; few, however, are college-educated engineers. The absence of this formal education or equivalent technical experience does not preclude an individual from being able to manage the planning, implementation, or operation of intelligent transportation systems. At the same time, a basic understanding of certain technological fundamentals, curiosity, and the ambition to improve upon the status quo are helpful.

Often, all that is needed is a single individual with these traits among the many people that are involved in coordinating a community's transportation. These qualities combined with the ability to communicate with other transportation managers about ITS increases the likelihood of success.

Managing ITS in Kearney

R.Y.D.E. was fortunate to have a manager who was willing to dedicate the time and resources to develop an understanding of the technologies and processes they were considering. Having such a resource in Kearney has been an asset during both the development and operation of its intelligent transportation system.

4.3.3 Making Use of Consultants

Few, if any, transit agencies serving small urban or rural communities possess the expertise necessary to independently handle the design and implementation of ITS. On the other hand, having adequate knowledge available to oversee the work that is being done by consultants is needed to ensure the proper stewardship of public funds. Identifying what can and cannot be done in-house should be done early in the planning stages. This issue is also present following implementation because it is difficult to manage a system that its manager does not understand.

Consultants should be able to explain, and transportation managers understand, what is going on. Though some of the individuals involved in coordination efforts may have a deeper understanding of what is occurring, managers who are having difficulty should not defer technological issues to others but should request that a clearer explanation be given.

Using Low Cost Resources First

While few, if any, rural and small urban transit agencies have the technological background necessary to independently manage the implementation of ITS, it was the sentiment of R.Y.D.E. that in many cases consultants are not used correctly. It was their view that agencies should begin by using state and federal resources and previous innovators' expertise to educate themselves. Consultants should be contacted only after the agency has identified what it can and cannot do on its own. This approach led to the more effective use of resources while also developing in-house expertise that could be utilized by the agency and by other entities.

4.3.4 Staying Generic

There are a great number of alternatives to choose from when deciding upon what ITS technologies best meet the needs of a community. There is also usually a strong correlation between the cost and functionality of a product. Low cost products may, however, provide all the functionality that a small community needs to meet its transportation needs.

Being able to identify off-the-shelf and other low-cost technology alternatives may not be easy. In some cases, adopting these technologies requires onsite customization that may offset the initial savings. This is especially true in smaller communities where the skills needed to provide such customization may not be readily available.

SMART Does it Off-the-Shelf and In-house

With the exception of the software used to manage the demand-response fleet, the software used to manage SMART's system is available off-the-shelf. Though a degree of technical expertise, which SMART has located in-house, was necessary to connect the components in the desired fashion, a large of amount of money was saved by avoiding the use of specialized software.

4.3.5 Accounting for Long-Term Viability

The design and implementation of ITS in public transportation usually requires significant upfront costs to cover items such new capital, training, and initial data entry. Fortunately, external funds are often available to cover such costs while regular operating costs typically rely more on local support.

Being able to cover the operating expenses of ITS in a coordinated system is paramount to its long-term viability. As these costs may be shared among users in coordinated systems, identifying where and how funds will be generated and how much burden each organization will bear should occur during the planning stages. Lowered costs or increased fare revenue may provide the needed source of local funds.

The Development of NDinfo.org

The initial grant that funded NDinfo.org came from the US Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration. While the USDOT does not object to funding development projects, it is not interested in providing long-term funding to sustain them. During a quarterly meeting with the USDOT and the Community Access Program, the NDinfo.org system was identified as self-sustaining because the project involved multiple services that can assist many different service delivery agencies and businesses. This was thought to provide for collaborative efforts and a greater opportunity to bring in more partners to help support and sustain the long-term needs of the project.

4.3.6 Managing ITS Independently

Though few community transportation systems regularly employ individuals who can develop and deploy ITS technologies without outside help, the ability to manage a system with minimal external assistance is usually necessary to ensure that the costs of its operation remain in check. One benefit of the use of ITS by a number of agencies is that in many cases, there may only be need for a single expert to manage these components. In many cases, transportation providers may want continuing technical or maintenance support for the technology they adopt, which may be provided for in the original contract or via an additional service contract.

Maintaining NDinfo.org

It was important to have internal management tools built into the NDinfo.org system. The ability to make changes to the database and other modifications to the website without the need for programmers or website developers was a functionality desired by the project directors. For example, within the transportation module, transportation authorities have the ability to access and change their own transportation information as they see fit. This can include updating fare increases or decreases for certain rides offered by that authority, or altering their mission statement. Also, if a transit authority develops its own website, it can be added as a link to its NDinfo.org informational page.