This session will present the experiences of the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) on the deployment and use of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in the management of information. Topics covered will include management reporting and data archiving associated with on-board ITS technologies that include automated vehicle location (AVL) systems, next-stop automated announcement systems, automatic passenger counting systems, and automated fare collection systems.
Additional topics of discussion include planning applications using AVL data, CAD/AVL project implementation, and Peer-to-Peer lessons learned.
Some more specific discussion points include:
Data collection and analysis techniques and examples
Challenges associated with large scale ITS project deployments
Operating departments involvement with project deployments and information sharing
Use of service standards with data analysis and measurement
Partnerships with internal and external departments for enterprise wide solutions
Data challenges between large and small agencies and the use of ITS
Intended Audience
Regional and local transit managers, service planners, ITS program managers, data analysts, IT project managers; Federal, State and local transportation managers, planners, ITS coordinators; IT personnel; college and university faculty and students; and consultants.
Host:
Charlene Wilder, Federal Transit Administration, US DOT
Ms. Charlene Wilder has served as Transportation Program Specialist for the Federal Transit Administration in Washington, D.C. since 1996. She manages Intelligent Transportation Systems Programs for the Office of Mobility Innovation. Her areas of expertise include traveler information systems; bus rapid transit; ITS deployment tracking; ferry systems, Value Pricing, Advanced Vehicle Locator Systems, parking management systems, and advanced technologies for the transportation disadvantaged.
On Capitol Hill, Ms. Wilder served as a Congressional Fellow on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Ms. Wilder received the Secretary of Transportation's award for developing communities of best practices. She also received special recognition from the Department of Transportation and the Transportation Research Board for her expertise in older Americans' transportation issues.
Ms. Wilder earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Troy State University, majoring in Business Management and a Master of Arts Degree from Central Michigan University, majoring in Human Resources Management and Supervision.
Presenters:
Michael Haynes, Project Manager in the Transit Systems Support group of the Technology Management Division at the Chicago Transit Authority
Currently, Michael Haynes is a Project Manager in the Transit Systems Support group of the Technology Management Division at the Chicago Transit Authority. He transitioned to the TSS group after three-and-a-half years in the Planning Division. He is now chiefly responsible for the support of transit automated data systems, including bus and rail data. He is heading up the data development of bus performance metrics and is studying both travel times and bus interval times. He has also worked on developing real-time travel time reports for rail data from the automated train tracking system.
Michael began his career with the CTA in 2002, at the start of the deployment of their automated voice annunciation system (AVAS), as the Project Coordinator of the Automatic Passenger Counter (APC) System. During the first two years he assisted with the technical implementation of the automated system, working with vendors and various departments at the CTA to build the first large-scale APC implementation at the Authority. The project now represents one of the largest fully automated AVL data collection systems in the country.
The primary focus of his efforts are on managing the flow of data from the schedule output through to collection and analysis of AVL/APC data from a fleet of over 2,000 buses. The CTA is now processing over 3.5 million records each day and is actively turning these data into Web-based reports used by staff across the Authority.
Prior to joining the CTA, Michael worked at Mitretek Systems (now Noblis) in Washington DC as a Senior Transportation Analyst, working on Federal ITS oversight. He holds an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from Lafayette College in Easton, PA, where he has also taught. He has a master's degree in Transportation Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, where his focus was on Automatic Vehicle Identification Systems for traveler information.
David Gehrs, Transportation Planner/Data Analyst, Capital District Transportation Authority
David has worked in public transit at the Capital District Transportation Authority for the past four years as a transportation planner/data analyst. His career began with collecting service data (passenger, miles and hours) for State and Federal reporting as well as service planning. During his first year at CDTA, the fare collection database was a DOS-based system, with each report running from DOS commands. This was quickly followed by the deployment of a major upgrade to improve the application and allow for much quicker and more accurate ridership reporting. While working with the new GFI database David was able to create a more comprehensive and detailed passengers reports.
David also has extensive experience working with the data collection activities associated with a mobile data communications system that includes many components including CAD/AVL, real-time passenger information, automatic passenger counting (APC), and statistical reporting.
David has an Associate of Science degree in Communications from Champlain College and a bachelor's degree in Urban Planning from the University at Albany in Albany, NY.
Thomas Guggisberg, Director of Information Technology for the Capital District Transportation Authority
Thomas has worked in the public transit industry for over 12 years and has extensive experience in many aspects of Information Technology management and services, including ITS technologies. His knowledge and experience in IT management and ITS come from his tenure as Director of Information Technology for the Capital District Transportation Authority in Albany, New York, where he began his career in 1994.
At present, he has primary responsibility for special high technology projects and all information technology management services for the agency. Past projects include the implementation of a mobile data communications system (MDCS) that includes RF voice/data communications, CAD/AVL, automatic passenger counters, an automated stop announcement system, mobile data terminals, traffic signal priority, real-time information displays, and interfaces to scheduling, financial, and maintenance information systems. Currently, Thomas is working on the deployment of a Web-based trip planner; an integrated fare collection, scheduling and CAD/AVL web portal; and an enterprise Web portal for sharing financial and operating data throughout the agency.
He has also worked extensively with the New York State Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Planning Organization in the region (the Capital District Transportation Committee) in developing a Geographic Information System for planning, marketing and operations applications. This system interfaces with a number of ITS applications, including electronic fare boxes, automatic passenger counting systems, automated scheduling systems, and automated customer information systems. As a National Transit Institute fellow in 1998, Thomas provided free NTI seminars on how to implement GIS in medium-sized transit agencies. Thomas has also participated on numerous panels with the Transportation Research Board and the Transit Cooperative Research Program, and has served on the production of a synthesis of two transit practice handbooks, Using Geographic Information Systems for Welfare to Work Transportation Planning and Service Delivery and Information Technology Update for Transit.
He holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Hofstra University in Hempstead, L.I., and graduate degrees in Geography and Regional Planning from the University at Albany in Albany, New York.
