U.S. Department of Transportation Offers Webinar on the Smart Columbus Program's Common Payment System Requirements

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) will host a free webinar on the Smart Columbus Program's Common Payment System (CPS) Project. This webinar will focus on the system requirements for the CPS and is scheduled for Wednesday, November 28, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm ET.

Background

Through the USDOT's Smart City Challenge, in 2016, the Department selected Columbus, OH, to define what it means to be a "smart city" and serve as a model for other cities wishing to fully integrate innovative technologies--such as automated vehicles, connected vehicles, and applications--into the transportation network. The goal of the Smart Columbus program is to connect people by creating opportunity for city residents to better access jobs and services while improving the overall safety and efficiency of the city's transportation network. The Smart Columbus program is comprised of nine individual projects covering three themes--enabling technologies, emerging technologies, and enhanced human services.

The CPS is one of nine Smart Columbus projects. Together with the Multimodal Trip Planning application and the Event Parking Management application, the CPS will be used throughout Columbus and outlying communities that are serviced by shared-use transportation. The CPS will be fully integrated with the Central Ohio Transit Agency through a shared account providing access to existing fare products and fare payment equipment.

Travelers will use the CPS to pay for multimodal trips and parking options from a single account, which will link to various payment media and user preferences. The CPS will provide a single, common platform that integrates end-to-end trip-planning, booking, electronic ticketing, and payment services across all modes of transportation, both public and private.

The benefits of providing travelers with a centralized, account-based payment system are increased convenience and customer satisfaction, as well as improved access to mobility options through integration with transportation providers. Travelers will be able to fund accounts using a variety of payment methods such as credit and debit cards and cash.

Webinar Details

This webinar will focus on the System Requirements Specification (SyRS) developed by the City of Columbus for the CPS project. The SyRS is intended to communicate the requirements of the CPS to the technical community interested in building and deploying a common payment platform. The SyRS is a "black-box" description of what the CPS must do, but not how it will do it. It also contains descriptions of inputs, outputs, and the required relationships between the two. The City of Columbus will accept comments on the SyRS for the CPS project from November 21 to December 5, 2018. The SyRS will be available on the Smart Columbus website one week in advance of the webinar.

This webinar is the fourth in a series of webinars on SyRS presented in a walkthrough format. To be notified about upcoming webinars, sign up for the Smart Columbus newsletter.

Summary

Title: Smart Columbus Program: Common Payment System Requirements
Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Time: 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm ET
Registration: https://goo.gl/forms/sBOm8rXQ7NhupEm53