Standardizing Data for Mobility Management (2013)

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GLOSSARY The lack of common definitions in this field hampers the conversation about standardizing data. At present there exist different definitions for common terms. This glossary identifies the most commonly used definitions and the definitions used in this report. Application Programming Interface – API. A protocol intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other. An API is a library that may include specification for routines, data structures, object classes, and variables. (Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/API) Coordination. This term is often used interchangeably with the term “mobility management” and usage of these terms vary in different parts of the country. In the context of this report, “coordination” will serve as an umbrella term meaning all of the activities various transportation providers and human service agencies engage in to use resources wisely and to refer to the specific activities transportation providers and human service agencies engage in to enable the desired outcome. This might be an exchange of data, development of a cost-sharing agreement, or development of common driver or service quality standards. In this sense, the term coordination is focused on agency activities. (see Mobility Management) Demand Response Transportation. This term includes all types of demand response transportation services, including route deviation, flexible route services, taxi, and jitney services. Demand response transportation may be referred to as “call-and-ride” or “specialized transportation”. It may be for the general population or for persons with specialized transportation needs; rides are generally shared, but in the case of taxi services only one passenger or party is carried at a time (unless it is identified as a shared ride service). ADA Complementary Paratransit services are a particular type of demand response services. General Transit Feed Specifications. Known by the acronym GTFS, these are the data specifications, originally developed and known as Google Transit Feed Specifications. They are used in all Google Transit applications, from the trip planner to Google mapping functions. Transportation providers agree to provide their route data in this format in order to be included in Google Transit applications. Information and Referral Service (I & R). Information and referral services provide information to callers about available services. These include 2-1-1 or 5-1-1 services, local Area Agencies on Aging, or transportation call centers. There are standards in place for how such entities organize, update, and deliver information, developed under the auspices of the Alliance of Information and Referral Services (AIRS). AIRS (www.airs.org) is an international professional society for groups involved in community information and referral services. Within the aging community, the phrase “information, referral, and assistance” is often used to denote the effort that is often needed to make sure individuals are able to use the available services. 52

Mobility Management. This term is often used interchangeably with the term “coordination” and usage of these terms vary in different parts of the country. In the context of this report, “mobility management” will primarily mean the activities in various regions or communities geared toward identifying the mobility options available for individuals and matching individuals to the lowest cost mobility options that best suit their abilities and travel needs. Mobility management may occur in a “One-call, One-click” center or other information and referral agency, through an Aging and Disability Resource Center, through a broker of demand response transportation services, or through a regional or county agency that provides mobility and/or transportation services. Many mobility management activities are focused on making it easier for customers to access available transportation services. Typical activities include information and referral, streamlined eligibility or a single eligibility system, trip planners, or providing access to a wide range of options including gas vouchers, ridesharing, or emergency car repairs. In this report, the term mobility management has a customer focus. (See Coordination) National ITS Architecture. A common, established framework for developing integrated transportation systems. The National ITS Architecture is comprised of the logical architecture and the physical architecture, which satisfy a defined set of user service requirements. The National ITS Architecture is maintained by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). (Source: http://www.iteris.com/itsarch/ ) One Call/One Click Center. A location where customers can obtain information on all relevant transportation options via a single phone call or web site. These centers may be limited to information and referral or may also schedule trips. (See Information and Referral) Open Source Software (OSS). Computer software with its source code made available and licensed with an open-source license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change and distribute the software for free to anyone and for any purpose. Open-source software is very often developed in a public, collaborative manner. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software#The_Open_Source_Definition) Passenger Name Record (PNR) - A standard format for an electronic record of an airline ticket that allows multiple airlines to exchange information when a passenger travels on 2 or more airlines in the course of an itinerary. This enables each airline to extract the information relevant to its portion of the itinerary—including how much of the total fare it should receive. Private Software Vendors. Companies that develop and sell software are generically referred to as private software vendors. In this document, this phrase specifically refers to those companies that develop and sell software for scheduling transportation services. Developers of open source software are not included in this definition as the structure of their enterprise is quite different. Transit Communications Interface Profiles (TCIP). The TCIP standards are a major initiative organized by APTA in partnership with the US Department of Transportation’s Research and 53

Innovative Technology Administration ITS Joint Program Office to implement the U.S. ITS program within the transit industry. As stated by the key TCIP document: “TCIP is an interface standard. Its primary purpose is to define standardized mechanisms for the exchange of information in the form of data among transit business systems, subsystems, components and devices. The standardization of these interfaces is intended to reduce the cost of future procurements of transit computer based systems, and to facilitate a greater degree of automation and integration of those systems.” Transportation Brokers. A transportation broker is an entity that brokers trips between multiple providers. Generally these organizations are either publicly funded or private non-profit entities. A transportation provider (see below) may also broker some or many trips. Transportation Providers or Transportation Agencies. These are the organizations that deliver transportation services, whether demand response or fixed route. They may be publicly funded, private for-profit, or private non-profit organizations. They may be a single purpose agency or part of a multi-purpose agency that provides transportation as one aspect of their services. A taxi company is a private for-profit transportation provider. A Regional Transportation Authority is a public transportation provider, and may commonly be referred to as a transportation agency or a public transit agency. Web Portal. A web portal presents the user with a single web page that brings together or aggregates content from a number of other systems or servers. Most often it is a specially- designed Web page bringing information together from diverse sources in a uniform way. A portal may use a search engine API to permit users to search intranet content by defining which domains may be searched. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_portal) 54