Transit News Fall 2009

Tindale-Oliver & Associates, Inc. 1000 N. Ashley Drive Suite 100 Tampa, FL 33602-3059

PRSRT STD U S POSTAGE PAID TAMPA FL PERMIT NO 778

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FALL 2009

TransitNews APTA, NCTR, and URISA Announce the 5th National GIS in Transit Conference Not so long ago, a Geographic Information System (GIS) was a technology reserved for scientists, researchers, and mapmakers. Today, GIS is a part of our daily lives and in many ways has become a common term in our everyday vernacular. Whether a research paper, a web-based map, or a television commercial describing new applications on our cell phones, GIS technology has evolved through multiple parallels in many industries and is now a daily part of life.

New TOA Transit Projects Hillsborough Transit Authority (sub-consultant to PB Americas)  HART Alternatives Analysis Study Collier County  Transit Development Plan St. Lucie TPO  Premium Transit Feasibility Study

If you would like to be added to or removed from our newsletter mailing list, please send an email to TOAresources@tindaleoliver.com TOA is an equal opportunity employer.

Maryland Transit Administration (MTA)  Route and Stop Announcement Monitoring (RASA) Lake County MPO  ADA Bus Stop Compliance Assessment Hillsborough County MPO  Transit Level of Service

Locations TAMPA: 1000 N. Ashley Dr., Suite 100 Tampa, FL 33602 (813) 224-8862 Bill Ball, AICP Chief Operating Officer bball@tindaleoliver.com Joel Rey, P.E., AICP Associate Principal jrey@tindaleoliver.com ORLANDO: 1595 S. Semoran Blvd., Suite 1540 Winter Park, FL 32792 (407) 657-9210 Bob Wallace, P.E., AICP Vice President bwallace@tindaleoliver.com BARTOW: 545 N. Broadway Bartow, FL 33830 (863) 533-8454 Richard Dreyer, AICP Senior Project Manager rdreyer@tindaleoliver.com

GIS systems are designed to allow users to collect, manage, and analyze large volumes of spatially-referenced data and associated attributes. GIS has become a valuable tool to the transportation industry. This is especially true for transit agencies as they recognize and use GIS as a key instrument for managing, planning, evaluating, and maintaining their transit services.

This year, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the University of South Florida’s National Center for Transit Research (NCTR) will collaborate with the Urban and Regional Information System Association (URISA) to present the GIS in Transit Conference on November 16-18, 2009, at the Hilton Bayfront in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“This conference will offer GIS and transit professionals a unique opportunity to learn about new and relevant issues associated with GIS as it relates to transit,” said Amber Reep, a Senior Research Associate at NCTR. “This conference is the only one of its kind that is specifically designed for both GIS and transit professionals.”

Conference topics will include design, operations, maintenance, safety and security, fleet management, mapping, planning, and Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). Participants will learn from transit experts in the GIS industry, interact with creative minds, network, and be introduced to vendors. The conference will allow continued on page 3

www.tindaleoliver.com

Page 4

Inside This Issue HART Surveys and Database Applications

2

New EPA Air Quality Standards

3

Need AICP Credits?

3

New TOA Transit Projects

4

TransitNews is a newsletter of Tindale-Oliver & Associates, Inc.

FALL 2009

HART Surveys and Database Applications In its effort to improve transit services in the Tampa area, Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) recently conducted an on-board survey of bus passengers. In addition to traditional customer satisfaction and demographic questions, the survey asked bus riders a number of travel characteristics questions. Transit officials from HART and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) have placed a considerable amount of emphasis on the results of the survey since information from the survey will be used to model transit travel flows throughout the county.

Consequently, great care was taken to develop a survey instrument that meets FTA standards and ensures that the weighting and expansion process produces survey results that are representative of the transit-using public.

New EPA Air Quality Standards

stop. This was a substantial task since stops needed to be uniquely identified first by bus route and then by bus trip. Generally, bus stops are shared by multiple routes that access the same stop multiple times throughout the course of the day. Each stop “instance” was recorded and tracked in the database, and the corresponding ridecheck boarding count was linked via the relational database developed for the project.

To facilitate the data weighting and expansion process, a relational database was developed that integrated ridecheck, vehicle trip, and average daily ridership information. To improve the quality of the weighting factors, it was determined at the onset of the project to conduct a concurrent ridecheck. Boarding counts were used to develop a response factor for each completed survey by

In addition to serving as a survey database tool, the relational database also can be used as an effective data management tool where users can quickly organize and track stops by vehicle trip, time of day, run, and route. Using the base data structure and some simple query tools affords HART the command of complex data management tasks in one simple and easy-to-use application.

_Routes RouteKey FK_RunKey RouteNumber AverageDailyRidership

_Ridership

_Run

_Trip

RunName

TripKey FK_RunKey FK_RouteKey TripDirection TripTime

ADR_ID RouteName ADR

StopKey FK_TripKey StopNumber

The use of a relational database facilitated the expansion of survey records by stop and by vehicle trip.

www.tindaleoliver.com

_Stop

Page 2

_Survey SurveyNumber FK_StopKey Name Language

In response to upcoming changes by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Central Office has contracted with TOA to develop a toolbox to assist non-attainment areas in meeting the NAAQS. Depending upon the standard ultimately set by EPA, as many as 20 counties in Florida may be determined to be in non-attainment.

The toolbox is focused on the use of transit as a possible means to reduce ozone levels around the state.

Under the Clean Air Act, transportation-related strategies used to reduce pollution levels to meet NAAQS are referred to as transportation control measures (TCM). TOA has been tasked with the development of a toolbox to assist transit agencies and metropolitan planning organizations in determining what transit-related TCMs can be implemented to assist in reducing ozone levels.

The toolbox will provide information on each TCM, such as its relative effectiveness, relative cost, time required to implement, agencies currently implementing the TCM, and ways to increase the effectiveness of the TCM. While TCMs have been around for some time, the new ozone NAAQS offers the opportunity to explore new and innovative TCMs. It is FDOT’s goal to assist non-attainment areas in identifying these new TCMs and to explore their effectiveness.

continued from page 1 participants to gain knowledge from their peers who have experience with and understand the challenges faced in transit. Industry experts and representatives from local, state, and federal government agencies will discuss the state of GIS as it is used throughout the world today, and dynamic speakers will provide insights into the opportunities that GIS can offer the transit industry.

As was the case in previous years, GIS transit professionals from throughout the U.S. and across the world will attend the GIS in Transit Conference. The conference offers great networking and educational opportunities for GIS transit professionals.

Numerous vendors will display their technologies during the conference and will be available to discuss their products and services. Participants can learn what the GIS industry has to benefit transit.

Don’t miss this valuable opportunity to see new and innovative GIS for transit products and services. For more information regarding the conference or to register to attend the conference, visit

www2.transitgis.org You may also contact Amber Reep or Molly Buffington at NCTR at (813) 974-3120, buffington@cutr.usf.edu.

Need American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) Credits?

If you still working toward your 32-credit requirement under the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) program, there are a number of free credit opportunities out there. For more information, visit

www.tindaleoliver.com/AICP credits.html

Page 3

www.tindaleoliver.com

TransitNews is a newsletter of Tindale-Oliver & Associates, Inc.

FALL 2009

HART Surveys and Database Applications In its effort to improve transit services in the Tampa area, Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) recently conducted an on-board survey of bus passengers. In addition to traditional customer satisfaction and demographic questions, the survey asked bus riders a number of travel characteristics questions. Transit officials from HART and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) have placed a considerable amount of emphasis on the results of the survey since information from the survey will be used to model transit travel flows throughout the county.

Consequently, great care was taken to develop a survey instrument that meets FTA standards and ensures that the weighting and expansion process produces survey results that are representative of the transit-using public.

New EPA Air Quality Standards

stop. This was a substantial task since stops needed to be uniquely identified first by bus route and then by bus trip. Generally, bus stops are shared by multiple routes that access the same stop multiple times throughout the course of the day. Each stop “instance” was recorded and tracked in the database, and the corresponding ridecheck boarding count was linked via the relational database developed for the project.

To facilitate the data weighting and expansion process, a relational database was developed that integrated ridecheck, vehicle trip, and average daily ridership information. To improve the quality of the weighting factors, it was determined at the onset of the project to conduct a concurrent ridecheck. Boarding counts were used to develop a response factor for each completed survey by

In addition to serving as a survey database tool, the relational database also can be used as an effective data management tool where users can quickly organize and track stops by vehicle trip, time of day, run, and route. Using the base data structure and some simple query tools affords HART the command of complex data management tasks in one simple and easy-to-use application.

_Routes RouteKey FK_RunKey RouteNumber AverageDailyRidership

_Ridership

_Run

_Trip

RunName

TripKey FK_RunKey FK_RouteKey TripDirection TripTime

ADR_ID RouteName ADR

StopKey FK_TripKey StopNumber

The use of a relational database facilitated the expansion of survey records by stop and by vehicle trip.

www.tindaleoliver.com

_Stop

Page 2

_Survey SurveyNumber FK_StopKey Name Language

In response to upcoming changes by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Central Office has contracted with TOA to develop a toolbox to assist non-attainment areas in meeting the NAAQS. Depending upon the standard ultimately set by EPA, as many as 20 counties in Florida may be determined to be in non-attainment.

The toolbox is focused on the use of transit as a possible means to reduce ozone levels around the state.

Under the Clean Air Act, transportation-related strategies used to reduce pollution levels to meet NAAQS are referred to as transportation control measures (TCM). TOA has been tasked with the development of a toolbox to assist transit agencies and metropolitan planning organizations in determining what transit-related TCMs can be implemented to assist in reducing ozone levels.

The toolbox will provide information on each TCM, such as its relative effectiveness, relative cost, time required to implement, agencies currently implementing the TCM, and ways to increase the effectiveness of the TCM. While TCMs have been around for some time, the new ozone NAAQS offers the opportunity to explore new and innovative TCMs. It is FDOT’s goal to assist non-attainment areas in identifying these new TCMs and to explore their effectiveness.

continued from page 1 participants to gain knowledge from their peers who have experience with and understand the challenges faced in transit. Industry experts and representatives from local, state, and federal government agencies will discuss the state of GIS as it is used throughout the world today, and dynamic speakers will provide insights into the opportunities that GIS can offer the transit industry.

As was the case in previous years, GIS transit professionals from throughout the U.S. and across the world will attend the GIS in Transit Conference. The conference offers great networking and educational opportunities for GIS transit professionals.

Numerous vendors will display their technologies during the conference and will be available to discuss their products and services. Participants can learn what the GIS industry has to benefit transit.

Don’t miss this valuable opportunity to see new and innovative GIS for transit products and services. For more information regarding the conference or to register to attend the conference, visit

www2.transitgis.org You may also contact Amber Reep or Molly Buffington at NCTR at (813) 974-3120, buffington@cutr.usf.edu.

Need American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) Credits?

If you still working toward your 32-credit requirement under the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) program, there are a number of free credit opportunities out there. For more information, visit

www.tindaleoliver.com/AICP credits.html

Page 3

www.tindaleoliver.com

Tindale-Oliver & Associates, Inc. 1000 N. Ashley Drive Suite 100 Tampa, FL 33602-3059

PRSRT STD U S POSTAGE PAID TAMPA FL PERMIT NO 778

Return Service Requested

FALL 2009

TransitNews APTA, NCTR, and URISA Announce the 5th National GIS in Transit Conference Not so long ago, a Geographic Information System (GIS) was a technology reserved for scientists, researchers, and mapmakers. Today, GIS is a part of our daily lives and in many ways has become a common term in our everyday vernacular. Whether a research paper, a web-based map, or a television commercial describing new applications on our cell phones, GIS technology has evolved through multiple parallels in many industries and is now a daily part of life.

New TOA Transit Projects Hillsborough Transit Authority (sub-consultant to PB Americas)  HART Alternatives Analysis Study Collier County  Transit Development Plan St. Lucie TPO  Premium Transit Feasibility Study

If you would like to be added to or removed from our newsletter mailing list, please send an email to TOAresources@tindaleoliver.com TOA is an equal opportunity employer.

Maryland Transit Administration (MTA)  Route and Stop Announcement Monitoring (RASA) Lake County MPO  ADA Bus Stop Compliance Assessment Hillsborough County MPO  Transit Level of Service

Locations TAMPA: 1000 N. Ashley Dr., Suite 100 Tampa, FL 33602 (813) 224-8862 Bill Ball, AICP Chief Operating Officer bball@tindaleoliver.com Joel Rey, P.E., AICP Associate Principal jrey@tindaleoliver.com ORLANDO: 1595 S. Semoran Blvd., Suite 1540 Winter Park, FL 32792 (407) 657-9210 Bob Wallace, P.E., AICP Vice President bwallace@tindaleoliver.com BARTOW: 545 N. Broadway Bartow, FL 33830 (863) 533-8454 Richard Dreyer, AICP Senior Project Manager rdreyer@tindaleoliver.com

GIS systems are designed to allow users to collect, manage, and analyze large volumes of spatially-referenced data and associated attributes. GIS has become a valuable tool to the transportation industry. This is especially true for transit agencies as they recognize and use GIS as a key instrument for managing, planning, evaluating, and maintaining their transit services.

This year, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the University of South Florida’s National Center for Transit Research (NCTR) will collaborate with the Urban and Regional Information System Association (URISA) to present the GIS in Transit Conference on November 16-18, 2009, at the Hilton Bayfront in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“This conference will offer GIS and transit professionals a unique opportunity to learn about new and relevant issues associated with GIS as it relates to transit,” said Amber Reep, a Senior Research Associate at NCTR. “This conference is the only one of its kind that is specifically designed for both GIS and transit professionals.”

Conference topics will include design, operations, maintenance, safety and security, fleet management, mapping, planning, and Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). Participants will learn from transit experts in the GIS industry, interact with creative minds, network, and be introduced to vendors. The conference will allow continued on page 3

www.tindaleoliver.com

Page 4

Inside This Issue HART Surveys and Database Applications

2

New EPA Air Quality Standards

3

Need AICP Credits?

3

New TOA Transit Projects

4