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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. Developing an ITS Technology Web Portal for Transit System Leaders. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/23570.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work was sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in cooperation with the Transit Development Corporation (TDC). It was conducted through the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), which is administered by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FRA, FTA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, PHMSA, or TDC endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. DISCLAIMER The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this report are those of the researchers who performed the research. They are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; or the program sponsors. The information contained in this document was taken directly from the submission of the author(s). This material has not been edited by TRB.

The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress, signed by President Lincoln, as a private, non- governmental institution to advise the nation on issues related to science and technology. Members are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to bring the practices of engineering to advising the nation. Members are elected by their peers for extraordinary contributions to engineering. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president. The National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) was established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to advise the nation on medical and health issues. Members are elected by their peers for distinguished contributions to medicine and health. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president. The three Academies work together as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conduct other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The Academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, engineering, and medicine. Learn more about the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine at www.national-academies.org. The Transportation Research Board is one of seven major programs of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to increase the benefits that transportation contributes to society by providing leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary, and multimodal. The Board’s varied committees, task forces, and panels annually engage about 7,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. Learn more about the Transportation Research Board at www.TRB.org.

4TABLE OF CONTENTS  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 9  Chapter 1 : Background ................................................................................................................ 14  Chapter 2 : Research Approach .................................................................................................... 16  Systems Engineering Approach ................................................................................................ 16  Phase 1 Research Activities ...................................................................................................... 17  Phase 2 Research Activities ...................................................................................................... 19  Chapter 3 : Findings and Applications (Phase 1)......................................................................... 21  Concept of Operations .............................................................................................................. 21  Current Environment ............................................................................................................ 21  User Needs ............................................................................................................................ 22  Stakeholder Actor Roles & Responsibilities ......................................................................... 23  Operational Scenarios / Use Cases ....................................................................................... 24  System Requirements................................................................................................................ 32  General System Description ................................................................................................. 32  System Requirements............................................................................................................ 35  Technology Alternatives Analysis ............................................................................................ 47  Alternatives Analysis Methodology and Tools ..................................................................... 47  Alternatives Analysis Summary ........................................................................................... 48  Cost ....................................................................................................................................... 49  Risk ....................................................................................................................................... 49  High-Level Design .................................................................................................................... 53  Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 53  Portal Functions .................................................................................................................... 54  Information and Data Model ................................................................................................. 60  Navigation and Screen Drafts ............................................................................................... 68  Test Plan and Procedures .......................................................................................................... 72  Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 72  Test Conduct ......................................................................................................................... 72  Test Procedures ..................................................................................................................... 74  Chapter 4 : Findings and Applications (Phase 2)......................................................................... 77  Portal Development .................................................................................................................. 77  May 2016

5Portal Design ......................................................................................................................... 80  Verification Testing .................................................................................................................. 84  Validation Testing (Beta Tests) ................................................................................................ 84  Operations and Maintenance Documents ................................................................................. 86  Portal Implementation Plan................................................................................................... 86  One Year Marketing Plan ..................................................................................................... 88  Portal Sustainability Plan ...................................................................................................... 91  Chapter 5 : Conclusions, Recommendations, and Suggested Research ...................................... 98  REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 99  ABBREVIATIONS, ACRONYMS, INITIALISMS, AND SYMBOLS ................................... 100  APPENDIX A: Portal Governance Procedures ......................................................................... A-1  APPENDIX B: Portal Prototype Standard Operating Procedures ............................................. B-1  APPENDIX C: Portal Test Procedures ...................................................................................... C-1  May 2016

6List of Figures and Tables  Table of Figures Figure ES-1: High Level Architecture ........................................................................................ 11 Figure ES-2: Portal Prototype ...................................................................................................... 13 Figure 2-1. Systems Engineering Process .................................................................................... 16  Figure 3-1. Flow of Content.......................................................................................................... 25  Figure 3-2. High Level Portal Architecture .................................................................................. 54  Figure 3-3. Manage Access Functional Flow Diagram ................................................................ 55  Figure 3-4. Manage Storage Functional Flow Diagram ............................................................... 57  Figure 3-5. Manage Content Functional Flow Diagram ............................................................... 58  Figure 3-6. Manage Discovery Functional Flow Diagram ........................................................... 59  Figure 3-7. Portal Conceptual Information Model ....................................................................... 60  Figure 3-8. Portal Solution Information Model ............................................................................ 61  Figure 3-9. Content Status Designation ........................................................................................ 64  Figure 3-10. Site Map ................................................................................................................... 68  Figure 3-11. Manage Content Submittal ....................................................................................... 69  Figure 3-12. Manage Content Review .......................................................................................... 70  Figure 3-13. Manage Discovery Wireframe ................................................................................. 71  Figure 4-1. Portal Prototype ......................................................................................................... 80  Figure 4-2 Portal Library .............................................................................................................. 81  Figure 4-3 Content Submission Form ........................................................................................... 82  Figure 4-4 Landing Zone .............................................................................................................. 83  Figure 4-5 Content Review Committee Assignment .................................................................... 84  Table of Tables Table ES-1: Portal Functions ....................................................................................................... 12 Table 3-1. Current Stakeholder Category Descriptions ................................................................ 21  Table 3-2. ITS Tech Portal Actor Roles & Responsibilities ........................................................ 23  Table 3-3. Use Case Descriptions ................................................................................................. 24  Table 3-4. Scenario List: Content Submission ............................................................................ 25  Table 3-5. Scenario List: Content Review and Approval Process ............................................... 27  Table 3-6. Scenario List: Content Publication ............................................................................. 29  Table 3-7. Scenario List: Content Discovery ............................................................................... 30  Table 3-8. Scenario List: Content Administration ....................................................................... 31  Table 3-9. Portal Function Overview ............................................................................................ 32  Table 3-10. Portal User Roles ...................................................................................................... 34  Table 3-11. User Roles ................................................................................................................ 35  Table 3-12. Content Status Definitions ........................................................................................ 39  Table 3-13. Requirements, Priorities and Tools .......................................................................... 50  Table 3-14. Primary Portal Function Descriptions ....................................................................... 54  Table 3-15. Manage Access Function Descriptions ..................................................................... 56  Table 3-16. Manage Storage Function Descriptions ..................................................................... 57  Table 3-17. Manage Content Function Descriptions .................................................................... 58  Table 3-18. Manage Discovery Function Descriptions ................................................................ 59  Table 3-19. SharePoint Solutions Lists ......................................................................................... 61  May 2016

7Table 3-20. Content Keyword List ............................................................................................... 61  Table 3-21. Topic Type List ......................................................................................................... 62  Table 3-22. Content List ............................................................................................................... 62  Table 3-23. Content Status Designations ...................................................................................... 64  Table 3-24. Person List ................................................................................................................. 65  Table 3-25. Review Assignment List............................................................................................ 66  Table 3-26. Resource List ............................................................................................................. 67  Table 3-27. Keyword List ............................................................................................................. 67  Table 3-28. Test Case Summary ................................................................................................... 74  Table 4-1. Requirements Implemented in Prototype ................................................................... 78  Table 4-2. Comments Received from Beta Testing ..................................................................... 85  May 2016

8Author Acknowledgment  The research reported herein was performed under TCRP Project G-13 by Consensus Systems Technologies (ConSysTec) and Sharp & Company. Consensus Systems Technologies was the contractor for this project. Mr. Bruce Eisenhart of ConSysTec was the Project Principal Investigator. The other authors of this report are Scott Altman of ConSysTec, Paula Okunieff, formerly of ConSysTec and Susan Sharp and Paul Johnson of Sharp & Company. Abstract  TCRP Project G -13, Developing an ITS Technology Web Portal, creates a portal for Transit System Leaders that they can use to learn about new and emerging transit systems and technologies. The Portal, designed as a one-stop resource on the APTA website, provides information not only on the technologies but also their relationship to transit business practices, technology implementation issues, and adoption challenges. Portal content will be submitted by industry experts and reviewed by designated reviewers of the Tech Portal Subcommittee of APTA’s Research and Technology Committee. May 2016

9 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  The ITS Web Technology Portal for Transit System Leaders is intended to be a one-stop shop for transit agency leaders to learn about ITS technologies that can be applied to transit operations. When fully implemented, the ITS Technology Portal will reside on the APTA membership portal and be highly accessible to all members of APTA. The intent of the ITS Technology Portal is to create an environment where APTA members, including transit agency leaders, can quickly find a wide array of information regarding the various technologies that are increasingly relevant to the modern day public transportation industry. Content will be loaded to the ITS Technology Portal by subject matter experts, who have the ability to communicate the details about ITS Technologies used in transit agencies in a manner that does not require detailed technical knowledge to comprehend. TCRP Project G-13, Developing an ITS Technology Web Portal for Transit System Leaders, is intended to create a prototype of the ITS Technology Web Portal. This report provides the outputs of the project. Phase 1 included the definition of needs, requirements, and high-level design of the web portal. In Phase 2, an actual prototype of the portal was created, which will eventually be transitioned to APTA to manage as part of its membership portal. Additionally, documents that support operations of the portal were developed as part Phase 2. The overall objective of the project is to create a web-based repository of Technology information that can be accessed by a wide array of transit professionals, keeping the needs of Transit Executives in mind. Phase 1 of the project used a systems engineering process to define the following:  Who will use the web portal?  What stakeholder needs drive the development of the portal?  What are the actual requirements for the portal?  What are the design considerations for the creation of the portal and?  How will the portal prototype be tested? The activities of Phase 1 resulted in six outputs, which addressed the above objectives: 1. The Concept of Operations (ConOps) set the stage for the rest of the design of the system, and included system goals / objectives, stakeholder roles and responsibilities, and use cases. 2. The Systems Requirements (SysRqts) explicitly stated what the system must do, and included standards, templates, and procedures for content management. 3. The Technology Alternatives Analysis (TAA) provided guidance in the selection of tools to be used for the development of the portal. 4. The High-Level Design (HLD) laid out the details of system design, and included wireframes and workflows, data model for information cataloging and storage, and presentation methods. 5. The Test Plan and Procedures provided a methodology for ensuring that each requirement of the portal is met, once it is built and operational. May 2016

10 6. The Preliminary Transition Process laid the framework for transferring the portal prototype developed for this effort over to the APTA website, where it will reside when completed. A key output of the Concept of Operations task was to define the key stakeholders along with their roles and responsibilities in using and maintaining the web portal. The key stakeholders and their roles were defined as:  APTA Member: This is a person who is registered as an APTA member, and will have full access to review and provide content to the portal. This includes both transit upper management, for whom the portal is targeted, and subject matter experts, who may have content to provide.  APTA Research and Technology (R&T) Committee Member: The APTA R&T Committee serves as the champion for development of this web portal. Per its charter, “The committee’s objective is the advocacy of Research and Technology as a means of enhancing the performance of all aspects of the public transportation industry.”  APTA R&T Committee Tech Portal Subcommittee Member: The members of this subcommittee will be responsible for reviewing and moderating content that is posted to the portal.  APTA Information Technology (IT) Staff: Technical staff that are employed by APTA to manage its information technologies, including its web sites. This also includes any support staff outsourced by APTA to host its system. APTA IT Staff will be responsible for maintaining the portal after this project’s efforts have been completed and the portal has transitioned to APTA. To support the stakeholders, seven user needs were identified and included in the Concept of Operations, which drove the rest of the design process: 1. Provide a one-stop resource for APTA members to learn about new and emerging technologies applied to transit ITS. 2. Ensure that the resources stored in the System: o Are easily discoverable by users. o Are current. o Show their applicability to transit users, including transit system leaders and non- technical transit professionals. o Comply with APTA content policies. 3. Provide an interactive environment for industry discussion and exchange on new and emerging technologies. 4. Provide guidance tools for APTA members to post content on ITS technologies in a standard format to the System. The tools should: o Support standard multimedia formats for posting to the System o Ensure the proper attribution and identification of the posting o Follow APTA policies on submittals hosted on APTA web sites o Provide a template for submitters to post their content 5. Enable the content to be managed by APTA R&T Committee Tech Portal Subcommittee (hereafter called the Review Committee) o Implement tools for the Review Committee to review submitted content. May 2016

11 o Allow for the Review Committee to delegate posted content to industry experts. o Provide event alerts to the Review Committee. Alerts may include notification when new or revised content is posted, when stored content should be reviewed periodically, and messages from users and reviewers. o Ensure that new Review Committee members can be assigned or removed from the Review Committee access privileges. 6. Develop a System that minimizes operations and maintenance costs and resources. 7. Ensure compliance with APTA Tech Portal Governance Processes (as described in Appendix A). A set of requirements for the portal was developed. The functional requirements were defined for the areas of:  Manage Access  Manage Storage  Manage Content  Manage Discovery Additional requirements areas included Information Management, covering user interface requirements and System Performance and Life Cycle. A Technology Alternatives Analysis (TAA) was then performed which considered several options for the underlying portal tool. The recommendation of the TAA effort was that SharePoint 2010 was the best choice for the underlying portal technology. At this point, work on the project was halted to allow APTA to upgrade its IT system. Following that upgrade the project restarted with the development of a High-Level Design (HLD) for the Portal. The output of the HLD was the high-level architecture shown below: Figure ES-1: High-Level Architecture The primary functions of each architectural component of the portal are as follows: May 2016

12 Table ES-1: Portal Functions Function Name Description APTA Portal The APTA portal is controlled and underpinned by the features inherent in Microsoft SharePoint which provides capabilities as an overarching capability for portal management. Manage Access Functions for managing access to the portal enable control, roles and privileges for downloading and interacting with the content and users of the system. Manage Storage The Storage function stores all the resources, artifacts, documents, and event lists that are used by the System. It stores provisional and approved content, resource status, resource identification, catalog services, user lists, and other key information needed to manage and categorize resources. The Storage features also contain functionality for Content Submitters to post resources and multimedia. Manage Content Content Management functions enable the Review Committee to implement the content review processes. The processes include collecting, alerting, posting reviews, and changing the status of content submitted. Manage Discovery Discovery Management provides features that enable portal users to browse or search for information-specific topics. The functions also include context for categorizing and tagging the resources so that they are more easily retrievable. The documentation developed in Phase 1 was used to build the actual portal prototype during Phase 2. During the development of the portal prototype the team considered several approaches to the detailed implementation of the portal and settled on a simple structure, much like the popular internet search engines. This structure, shown in Figure ES-2 has the material on the portal organized by a type parameter, much like a library is organized by subject. The initial set of types defined for the portal were:  Application- content primarily relates to a specific transit application (e.g. Transit Signal Priority)  Benefit- content primarily relates to a discussion of benefits of some transit system  Information- content primarily relates to transit data or information  Solution- content primarily relates to a particular transit solution (e.g. Transit Enterprise Architecture)  Standard – content primarily relates to an ITS standard  Technology- content primarily relates to a specific technology applied to transit (e.g. automatic vehicle location) In addition the page has a search box, allowing the portal to be search by a number of means. May 2016

13 Figure ES-2: Portal Prototype The prototype was hosted externally in a test location. Once software development was created, the portal was tested in accordance with the Test Plans and Procedures defined in Phase 1. Finally a Beta test was held to determine whether or not the user needs of portal users were met. Three additional plans were also developed as part of Phase 2 to aid the operators of the portal once it has transitioned to MyAPTA. A marketing plan was developed to provide an approach to informing potential users of the portal. A sustainability plan was created to describe the ongoing operations and maintenance requirements of the portal. Finally, an implementation plan was created to describe the integration of the portal into MyAPTA. May 2016

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TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Web-Only Document 68: Developing an ITS Technology Web Portal for Transit System Leaders documents the creation of a prototype portal that assists transit agency leaders with learning about technologies that can be applied to transit operations. When fully implemented, the ITS Technology Portal will reside on the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) membership portal.

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