Mobility Services for All Americans (MSAA)

Transit and the Evolving Intelligent Transportation System: Federal Transit Administration Perspective

Slide 1. Transit and the Evolving Intelligent Transportation System: Federal Transit Administration Perspective

Walter Kulyk, P.E.
Director, Office of Mobility Innovation
Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT)

2004 APTA Annual Meeting
Atlanta, Georgia
October 13, 2004

Slide 2. Overview of Presentation

• Mobility Services for All Americans
• Integrated Corridor Management Systems

Slide 3. Mobility Services for All Americans

• Issues
  • 62 Federal programs fund human services transportation totaling billions of dollars
  • Human services transportation is often uncoordinated and inefficient
  • Presidential Executive Order directs coordination of human services transportation

Notes

• This is a Tier I Mobility initiative, in which the FTA is the lead agency.
• Initiative budget = $8 million over 4 years
• Issues/Background:
  • A 2003 General Accounting Office (GAO) report (GAO-030698T) states that 62 federal programs fund transportation services for the transportation disadvantaged; 52 of the 62 federal programs are administered by 4 agencies – DOT, DHHS, DOL, and Dept. of Education; available information on 29 of the 62 programs shows that federal agencies spent at least $2.4 billion on these services in FY 2001.
  • Currently, human services transportation is often uncoordinated and inefficient. In many locations, human services transportation is fragmented, resulting in service area gaps, or trip distances (and thus service area boundaries) are limited due to an absence in trip transfers between transportation providers. Also, human services transportation is challenging for the provider and recipient, given the multiple funding programs and often conflicting regulations, multiple case workers to contact for different types of trips, inconvenient trip times, long pick-up wait times, and long travel times.
  • A Presidential Executive Order on Human Service Transportation Coordination (2/24/04) established an Interagency Transportation Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility to promote and improve human services transportation coordination. The Coordinating Council consists of the Secretaries (or a representative) of the following federal agencies: DOT, DHHS, Dept. of Education, DOL, Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Dept. of Agriculture, HUD, and Dept. of the Interior. The Attorney General (DOJ) and the Commissioner of Social Security (Social Security Administration) are also represented.

Slide 4. Mobility Services for All Americans (continued)

• Solutions
  • Utilize ITS technologies to:
    • Improve coordination and increase efficiency
    • Increase mobility and transit accessibility
    • Improve customer service
  • Demonstrate a replicable Traveler Management Coordination Center

Notes

• Solutions:
  • Utilize ITS technologies to:
    • Improve human services transportation coordination and thus achieve more efficient use of federal transportation funding resources (reduce or eliminate duplication of transportation services)
    • Increase mobility and accessibility for the transportation disadvantaged and the general public
    • Improve customer service, including more passenger trips for customers and more flexible service (i.e., increased frequency and hours of operation), new service, and increased service area.
  • The end product of this initiative will be the development, demonstration, and evaluation of a replicable, scaleable traveler management coordination center that provides:
    • One-stop customer information and trip planning services
    • Coordination of human services transportation management and operations
  • The initiative is being coordinated with the United We Ride program and activities of the Interagency Transportation Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (established from the Presidential Executive Order on Human Service Transportation Coordination).

Slide 5. Mobility Services for All Americans (continued)

Image Details

Notes

• Major Activities:
  • Create Program Steering Groups:
    • Core U.S. DOT management team that includes representatives from FTA, JPO, and FMSCA
    • Federal interagency oversight/advisory coalition to bridge the communication and information gaps between the 62 human service programs with respect to transportation provision, and to provide insight and advice in shaping/guiding the program
    • Public/private stakeholders advisory group; may include representative from transit agencies, human service transportation providers, transportation disadvantaged advocates, etc.
  • Conduct Foundation Research:
    • Identify and assess human services transportation needs and gaps, institutional/service barriers, and technologies that may address these needs, gaps, and barriers
    • Provide recommendations
  • Conduct technology integration field tests and evaluations of different combinations of ITS transit technologies in different environments and on different transportation disadvantaged populations
  • Demonstrate and evaluate a replicable and scalable traveler management coordination center demonstration and evaluation
  • Deliver final program reports and outreach materials
• Activities completed to date:
  • Created core U.S. DOT management team, which includes representatives from FTA (William, Brian, Bryna), JPO (Yehuda), and FMSCA (Phil Hanley).
  • Created Federal interagency oversight/ advisory coalition. Currently consists of representatives from DOT, DOL, DHHS, and DOE. May be expanded to include representatives from all 10 agencies, with the addition of the Departments of Agriculture, HUD, Interior, Veterans Affairs, and Justice, and the Social Security Administration.
  • Establishing public/private stakeholders advisory group. APTA will take the lead, through a cooperative agreement, in forming, operating, and managing the group.
  • Initiated foundation research. SAIC was selected as the contractor.

Slide 6. Integrated Corridor Management Systems

• Issues
  • Traffic congestion in corridors is a serious problem
  • Management of modal networks is uncoordinated
  • Unused corridor capacity often exists on parallel routes and networks

Notes

• This is a Tier I Mobility initiative, in which the FHWA is the lead. FTA is playing a major role in the initiative.
• Initiative budget = $38 million over 6 years
• Issues:
  • Traffic congestion is a serious and growing problem, particularly in major metropolitan areas. Much of the congestion is concentrated in critical corridors that link activity centers and carry high volumes of people and goods. The Integrated Corridor Management Systems initiative is the only one of nine Tier I Initiatives that directly addresses congestion.
  • Efforts to "reduce congestion" have focused on optimizing individual networks (e.g., freeways, arterials, bus routes, rail transit) – management of these modal networks is typically uncoordinated.
  • Significant unused corridor capacity often exists on parallel routes and networks, in the non-peak direction on freeways and arterials, within single occupant vehicles, and on transit services.

Slide 7. Integrated Corridor Management Systems (continued)

• Solutions
  • Build upon proven ITS technologies & strategies
  • Integrate operations of individual networks in three areas:
    • Organizational
    • Operational
    • Technical
  • Demonstrate Integrated Corridor Management tools and strategies

Notes

• Solutions:
  • Build upon proven and promising, yet disaggregated, ITS technologies and strategies, such as:
    • Transit: transit management centers; routing, scheduling, and dispatching software; decision support tools; transit signal priority; electronic fare payment; traveler information; BRT-ITS; etc.
    • Traffic: traffic management systems; analytical tools; adaptive signal control and signal timing practices; pricing strategies (high occupancy tolls); ramp metering; electronic toll collection; traveler information; incident management programs; etc.
  • Integrate the operations of individual networks (e.g., freeways, arterials, bus routes, passenger rail lines) in three areas:
    • Organizational Integration: Develop cross network management systems that support distribution of responsibilities and sharing of control.
    • Operational Integration: Develop cross network operational strategies and analysis tools.
    • Technical Integration: Develop interfaces and integrated procedures to facilitate operational strategies (i.e., device-to-device integration).
  • The end product of this initiative will be the development, demonstration, and evaluation of a suite of ITS tools and strategies in a model deployment to support integrated, proactive corridor management.
• Examples of integrated corridor management strategies:
  • Adaptive bus prioritization that responds to increased bus traffic during special events.
  • Transit station parking and transit vehicle arrival information on highway dynamic message signs that direct drivers to adjacent transit stations during major highway traffic congestion.
  • Integrated multimodal electronic payment systems.
  • Traffic signal systems that respond to large diversions of traffic from clogged freeways
  • Demand responsive ramp metering systems integrated with local traffic signals

Slide 8. Integrated Corridor Management Systems (continued)

Image Details

Notes

• Major Activities:
  • Phase 1:
    • Create a core U.S. DOT management team that includes representatives from JPO, FHWA, FTA, and partners from the other related Tier I initiatives. FTA is working with the FHWA in the management of this initiative.
    • Develop and engage a multimodal stakeholder working group to provide input and feedback (e.g., review and comment on deliverables) during the initiative. The work group will consist of representatives from TRB, APTA, AASHTO, ITE, etc. The U.S. DOT will be working through ITS America to form the multimodal stakeholder working group.
    • Conduct the following foundation research: Define a corridor management concept of operations, document successful local integration efforts, identify corridor types, identify operational strategies and analysis tools, and identify functional requirements
  • Phase 2: Complete the research and analysis needed to have an effective model deployment, including limited tests of specific interfaces, tools, and operational strategies.
  • Phase 3: Demonstrate the integration of corridor management technologies and strategies in a model deployment. Specific activities include the selection of candidate sites for a model deployment, establishment of a candidate sites working group (representatives from the candidate sites) to examine the specific issues and problems of corridor management and to identify the model deployment characteristics and requirements, and perform and evaluate the model deployment.
  • Phase 4: Conduct knowledge and technology transfer activities to provide guidance and tools needed for widespread effective deployment of integrated corridor management systems.
• Activities completed to date:
  • Created a core U.S. DOT management team
  • Developed a work-in-progress program plan
  • Creating a plan for establishing a multimodal stakeholder working group
  • Developing a strawman concept of operations

Slide 9. Thank You

Walter Kulyk, P.E.
Director, Office of Mobility Innovation
Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
walter.kulyk@fta.dot.gov