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14 Chapter 1 : Background Many transit managers, faced with increasing customer expectations, demands by oversight organizations such as boards and authorities, and diminishing resources (people and funding), are looking for strategies to increase their employee productivity and improve their operational services in the ITS arena. Some resources may be available online or at conferences where managers can talk to peers; but objective online resources related to transit are scarce, and travel to conferences is often viewed as an extravagance that cannot be supported in these austere times. As a result, for many transit managers knowledge of ITS and emerging technologies is acquired through vendors or web sites that donât connect the benefits to transit business objectives or discuss the challenges to implement, operate, and maintain the system. An ITS Technology Portal can serve as a one-stop site where transit managers can look up targeted information about new and emerging technologies, clearly see the relationship of these technologies to their business practices as well as the challenges to implementation, and easily find contacts in the industry who are dealing with similar issues. At face value, a transit technology portal might appear unnecessary. The internet has become a comprehensive source of information for nearly any topic, including transit information. . However, the accessibility of information on the internet has a downside --there is no formal vetting process to place material online. This can lead to problems, as material might be biased by vendors, out of date, or simply incorrect. Even material that is reliable also might be highly technical and have prerequisite knowledge to understand the concepts being communicated. Additionally, finding information that is fully reliable can be a time consuming process. Transit managers have many responsibilities that require them to be familiar with every aspect of their agencyâs operations. Experienced and novice transit managers alike must have a breadth of knowledge to do their jobs. However, public transit agencies operate in a constantly changing environment. This may be most evident with the variety of technology options available to transit agencies. New developments in technology are frequent, and transit managers need a way to keep up to date with these developments, without expending excess time or compromising the reliability or neutrality of the information they receive. The portal can play a key role of providing a one-stop resource for information that has been vetted by a group of transit technology experts. While the portal concept may hold high appeal to transit managers, there are many barriers to implementation that must be addressed prior to implementation. The key challenge in developing this portal is to ensure that the material provided is appropriate, up to date, and accurate. Determining the appropriateness of content submitted is particularly important, as content which is not useful or impartial to the audience undermines the purpose of the portal. Likewise, ensuring that content is up to date is necessary to maximize the benefit to the target audience of the content. Finally, content that is inaccurate is not useful if it does not properly reflect the topic it is intended to describe. Since the portal is intended to be a primary resource for transit managers, it is necessary to ensure that it is developed properly. When developing a system, a systems engineering process May 2016
15 is suggested to ensure that all user needs are met. Such a process maximizes value while minimizing risk. A systems engineering process was used to develop this portal to ensure that the funds allocated to this effort are used as efficiently as possible. The American Public Transportation Association, also known as APTA, is the national organization that serves public transit associations throughout the United States. APTA is a resource for transit employees of all levels, including managers. APTA already contains a comprehensive web portal and knowledge base, known as MyAPTA. As such, the web portal described by this research effort is intended to be integrated with MyAPTA after the conclusion of this project, as this is already a prominent resource for transit managers. May 2016
