Harvard Design and Mapping (HDM) is seeking small urban and rural transit systems to share their experiences in Transit ITS implementation. This information will be used to develop an interactive Web site, called the Rural ITS Transit Success Electronic Story Booklet, for the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Office of Research, Demonstration and Innovation and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO).
The Rural ITS Transit Success Electronic Story Booklet will be an online collection of rural Transit ITS experiences. Current and potential users of Transit ITS will be able to post information, and review the experiences of other systems. This site will serve as an Internet-based information exchange system to help identify best practices and lessons learned in rural Transit ITS implementation.
This site is an extension of a study and report that HDM recently completed for the FTA entitled Technology in Rural Transit: Linking People with Their Community. The report provides rural transit system managers with a synopsis of contemporary knowledge to help plan and implement Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies. An online version of the report can be found at www.hdm.com/content.php?content=projects/it_rural_transit.xml.
To help make the Rural ITS Transit Success Electronic Story Booklet a living document, small urban and rural transit systems, at any stage of implementation, are encouraged to share their experiences in implementing any type of Transit ITS applications.
To learn more about this project or submit your experiences, visit www.hdm.com/its.
In related news, the FTA is actively seeking to enhance transportation services in rural areas by promoting coordination among departmental agencies and the integration of different information technology systems with existing ITS technologies. A request for grant proposals (RFP) has been issued for an operational test to demonstrate and to evaluate innovative approaches to integrating Transit ITS. More information can be found at www.fta.dot.gov/research/fleet/its/otrfp.html.
With extensive experience in transportation analysis and systems design, HDM has provided innovative technology solutions for transportation professionals, and delivered national-level transportation strategies and policy documents with advanced thinking and new ideas. For more information about Harvard Design and Mapping, visit www.hdm.com or contact Marina Melchiorre, HDM Transportation Task Manager at (703) 224-1414 ext. 238 or mmelchiorre@hdm.com.
