e-Transit: Electronic Business Strategies for Public Transportation, Volume 4: Advanced Features of Transit Websites (2003)

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e-Transit: Electronic Business Strategies for Public Transportation Volume 4 Advanced Features of Transit Websites TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMTCRP REPORT 84 Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration

TCRP OVERSIGHT AND PROJECT SELECTION COMMITTEE (as of October 2002) CHAIR J. BARRY BARKER Transit Authority of River City MEMBERS DANNY ALVAREZ Miami-Dade Transit Agency KAREN ANTION Karen Antion Consulting GORDON AOYAGI Montgomery County Government JEAN PAUL BAILLY Union Internationale des Transports Publics RONALD L. BARNES Central Ohio Transit Authority LINDA J. BOHLINGER HNTB Corp. ANDREW BONDS, JR. Parsons Transportation Group, Inc. JENNIFER L. DORN FTA NATHANIEL P. FORD, SR. Metropolitan Atlanta RTA CONSTANCE GARBER York County Community Action Corp. FRED M. GILLIAM Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority KIM R. GREEN GFI GENFARE SHARON GREENE Sharon Greene & Associates KATHERINE M. HUNTER-ZAWORSKI Oregon State University ROBERT H. IRWIN British Columbia Transit CELIA G. KUPERSMITH Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District PAUL J. LARROUSSE National Transit Institute DAVID A. LEE Connecticut Transit CLARENCE W. MARSELLA Denver Regional Transportation District FAYE L. M. MOORE Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority STEPHANIE L. PINSON Gilbert Tweed Associates, Inc. ROBERT H. PRINCE, JR. DMJM+HARRIS JEFFERY M. ROSENBERG Amalgamated Transit Union RICHARD J. SIMONETTA pbConsult PAUL P. SKOUTELAS Port Authority of Allegheny County LINDA S. WATSON Corpus Christi RTA EX OFFICIO MEMBERS WILLIAM W. MILLAR APTA MARY E. PETERS FHWA JOHN C. HORSLEY AASHTO ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR. TRB TDC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LOUIS F. SANDERS APTA SECRETARY ROBERT J. REILLY TRB TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2003 (Membership as of March 2003) OFFICERS Chair: Genevieve Giuliano, Director and Prof., School of Policy, Planning, and Development, USC, Los Angeles Vice Chair: Michael S. Townes, Exec. Dir., Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads, Hampton, VA Executive Director: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board MEMBERS MICHAEL W. BEHRENS, Executive Director, Texas DOT JOSEPH H. BOARDMAN, Commissioner, New York State DOT SARAH C. CAMPBELL, President, TransManagement, Inc., Washington, DC E. DEAN CARLSON, Secretary of Transportation, Kansas DOT JOANNE F. CASEY, President, Intermodal Association of North America JAMES C. CODELL III, Secretary, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet JOHN L. CRAIG, Director, Nebraska Department of Roads BERNARD S. GROSECLOSE, JR., President and CEO, South Carolina State Ports Authority SUSAN HANSON, Landry University Prof. of Geography, Graduate School of Geography, Clark University LESTER A. HOEL, L. A. Lacy Distinguished Professor, Depart. of Civil Engineering, University of Virginia HENRY L. HUNGERBEELER, Director, Missouri DOT ADIB K. KANAFANI, Cahill Prof. and Chair, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California at Berkeley RONALD F. KIRBY, Director of Transportation Planning, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments HERBERT S. LEVINSON, Principal, Herbert S. Levinson Transportation Consultant, New Haven, CT MICHAEL D. MEYER, Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology JEFF P. MORALES, Director of Transportation, California DOT KAM MOVASSAGHI, Secretary of Transportation, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development CAROL A. MURRAY, Commissioner, New Hampshire DOT DAVID PLAVIN, President, Airports Council International, Washington, DC JOHN REBENSDORF, Vice Pres., Network and Service Planning, Union Pacific Railroad Co., Omaha, NE CATHERINE L. ROSS, Executive Director, Georgia Regional Transportation Agency JOHN M. SAMUELS, Sr. Vice Pres.-Operations Planning & Support, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Norfolk, VA PAUL P. SKOUTELAS, CEO, Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, PA MARTIN WACHS, Director, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California at Berkeley MICHAEL W. WICKHAM, Chairman and CEO, Roadway Express, Inc., Akron, OH EX OFFICIO MEMBERS MIKE ACOTT, President, National Asphalt Pavement Association MARION C. BLAKEY, Federal Aviation Administrator, U.S.DOT REBECCA M. BREWSTER, President and CEO, American Transportation Research Institute, Atlanta, GA THOMAS H. COLLINS (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard JENNIFER L. DORN, Federal Transit Administrator, U.S.DOT ELLEN G. ENGLEMAN, Research and Special Programs Administrator, U.S.DOT ROBERT B. FLOWERS (Lt. Gen., U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers HAROLD K. FORSEN, Foreign Secretary, National Academy of Engineering EDWARD R. HAMBERGER, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads JOHN C. HORSLEY, Exec. Dir., American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials MICHAEL P. JACKSON, Deputy Secretary of Transportation, U.S.DOT ROGER L. KING, Chief Applications Technologist, National Aeronautics and Space Administration ROBERT S. KIRK, Director, Office of Advanced Automotive Technologies, U.S. DOE RICK KOWALEWSKI, Acting Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S.DOT WILLIAM W. MILLAR, President, American Public Transportation Association MARY E. PETERS, Federal Highway Administrator, U.S.DOT SUZANNE RUDZINSKI, Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, U.S. EPA JEFFREY W. RUNGE, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT ALLAN RUTTER, Federal Railroad Administrator, U.S.DOT ANNETTE M. SANDBERG, Deputy Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S.DOT WILLIAM G. SCHUBERT, Maritime Administrator, U.S.DOT TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM Transportation Research Board Executive Committee Subcommittee for TCRP GENEVIEVE GIULIANO, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Chair) E. DEAN CARLSON, Kansas DOT JENNIFER L. DORN, Federal Transit Administration, U.S.DOT LESTER A. HOEL, University of Virginia WILLIAM W. MILLAR, American Public Transportation Association ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR., Transportation Research Board PAUL P. SKOUTELAS, Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, PA MICHAEL S. TOWNES, Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads, Hampton, VA i

T R A N S P O R T A T I O N R E S E A R C H B O A R D WASHINGTON, D.C. 2003 www.TRB.org T R A N S I T C O O P E R A T I V E R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M TCRP REPORT 84 Research Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration in Cooperation with the Transit Development Corporation SUBJECT AREAS Public Transit e-Transit: Electronic Business Strategies for Public Transportation Volume 4 Advanced Features of Transit Websites MULTISYSTEMS, INC. Cambridge, MA and MATTHEW A. COOGAN White River Junction, VT ii

COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS STAFF FOR TCRP REPORT 84 ROBERT J. REILLY, Director, Cooperative Research Programs CHRISTOPHER W. JENKS, TCRP Manager GWEN CHISHOLM, Senior Program Officer EILEEN P. DELANEY, Managing Editor ANDREA BRIERE, Associate Editor TCRP PROJECT J-09 PANEL Field of Special Projects PAUL A. TOLIVER, King County Metro, WA (Chair) GORDON AOYAGI, Montgomery County Government, MD RONALD L. BARNES, Central Ohio Transit Authority ROBIN CODY, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit RAYMOND H. ELLIS, AECOM Consulting Transportation Group, Inc., Fairfax, VA RICARDO ERNST, Georgetown University LAWRENCE J. HARMAN, Harman Consulting, Boston, MA EVA LERNER-LAM, Palisades Consulting Group, Inc., Tenafly, NJ SHAWN M. MARCELL, Gladwyne, PA PATRICIA S. NETTLESHIP, TNG, Inc., Santa Monica, CA DANIEL ROTH, Freightdesk.com, Bethesda, MD ROBIN STEVENS, New York, NY LINDA S. WATSON, Corpus Christi Regional Transit Authority, TX NIGEL H. M. WILSON, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ANTHONY M. KOUNESKI, APTA Liaison Representative THOMAS PALMERLEE, TRB Liaison Representative AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Task Order 4, “Advanced Features of Transit Web Sites,” of TCRP Project J-09 was performed by Multisystems, Inc., and Matthew Coogan. Multisystems served as the primary contractor for the study. Buck Marks of Multisystems served as Principal Investigator of the study and was thus responsible for the overall supervision of the research. Joana Conklin had primary responsibility for conducting the case study interviews and aided in preparation of the final report. Mike Bolton and Dan Fleishman served as Senior Advisors for this study. Rich Juster helped in editing the final report. Matthew Coogan provided input throughout the study process and aided in preparation of the final report. The project team would like to express special thanks to the 16 organizations that participated in the research and made the project possible. The guidance of Stephan Parker and Gwen Chisholm, the TCRP Program Officers for the project, and the J-09 Project Panel is also acknowledged and appreciated. iii

TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM The nation’s growth and the need to meet mobility, environmental, and energy objectives place demands on public transit systems. Current systems, some of which are old and in need of upgrading, must expand service area, increase service frequency, and improve efficiency to serve these demands. Research is necessary to solve operating problems, to adapt appropriate new technologies from other industries, and to introduce innovations into the transit industry. The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) serves as one of the principal means by which the transit industry can develop innovative near-term solutions to meet demands placed on it. The need for TCRP was originally identified in TRB Special Report 213—Research for Public Transit: New Directions, published in 1987 and based on a study sponsored by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration—now the Federal Transit Admin- istration (FTA). A report by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Transportation 2000, also recognized the need for local, problem-solving research. TCRP, modeled after the longstanding and successful National Cooperative Highway Research Program, undertakes research and other technical activities in response to the needs of transit service providers. The scope of TCRP includes a variety of transit research fields including plan- ning, service configuration, equipment, facilities, operations, human resources, maintenance, policy, and administrative practices. TCRP was established under FTA sponsorship in July 1992. Proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, TCRP was authorized as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). On May 13, 1992, a memorandum agreement outlining TCRP operating procedures was executed by the three cooperating organizations: FTA; the National Academies, acting through the Transportation Research Board (TRB); and the Transit Development Corporation, Inc. (TDC), a nonprofit educational and research organization established by APTA. TDC is responsible for forming the independent governing board, designated as the TCRP Oversight and Project Selection (TOPS) Committee. Research problem statements for TCRP are solicited periodically but may be submitted to TRB by anyone at any time. It is the responsibility of the TOPS Committee to formulate the research program by identifying the highest priority projects. As part of the evaluation, the TOPS Committee defines funding levels and expected products. Once selected, each project is assigned to an expert panel, appointed by the Transportation Research Board. The panels prepare project statements (requests for proposals), select contractors, and provide technical guidance and counsel throughout the life of the project. The process for developing research problem statements and selecting research agencies has been used by TRB in managing cooperative research programs since 1962. As in other TRB activ- ities, TCRP project panels serve voluntarily without compensation. Because research cannot have the desired impact if products fail to reach the intended audience, special emphasis is placed on disseminating TCRP results to the intended end users of the research: transit agencies, service providers, and suppliers. TRB provides a series of research reports, syntheses of transit practice, and other supporting material developed by TCRP research. APTA will arrange for workshops, training aids, field visits, and other activities to ensure that results are implemented by urban and rural transit industry practitioners. The TCRP provides a forum where transit agencies can cooperatively address common operational problems. The TCRP results support and complement other ongoing transit research and training programs. TCRP REPORT 84: Volume 4 Project J-09 FY’00 ISSN 1073-4872 ISBN 0-309-06766-9 Library of Congress Control Number 2002112858 © 2003 Transportation Research Board Price $15.00 NOTICE The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the Transit Cooperative Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing Board’s judgment that the project concerned is appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Research Council. The members of the technical advisory panel selected to monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with due consideration for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research, and while they have been accepted as appropriate by the technical panel, they are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the Transit Development Corporation, or the Federal Transit Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Each report is reviewed and accepted for publication by the technical panel according to procedures established and monitored by the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee and the Governing Board of the National Research Council. To save time and money in disseminating the research findings, the report is essentially the original text as submitted by the research agency. This report has not been edited by TRB. Special Notice The Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the Transit Development Corporation, and the Federal Transit Administration (sponsor of the Transit Cooperative Research Program) do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the clarity and completeness of the project reporting. Published reports of the TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet at http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore Printed in the United States of America iv

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished schol- ars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and techni- cal matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Acad- emy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achieve- ments of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Acad- emy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both the Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board is a division of the National Research Council, which serves the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. The Board’s mission is to promote innovation and progress in transportation by stimulating and conducting research, facilitating the dissemination of information, and encouraging the implementation of research results. The Board’s varied activities annually engage more than 4,000 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. www.TRB.org www.national-academies.org v

FOREWORD By Gwen Chisholm Staff Officer Transportation Research Board TCRP Report 84: e-Transit: Electronic Business Strategies for Public Transportation documents principles and techniques that are used in electronic business strategies for pub- lic transportation. TCRP Report 84 is being be published as multiple volumes. Volume 4: Advanced Features of Transit Websites explores the potential of the following advanced website features for the transit industry: automated itinerary planners, real-time customer information, e-mail notification systems, and customer relationship management. This report may be used by senior managers, website design managers, operations managers, and technical and other professional employees. The Internet and other new information and communication technologies are revolu- tionizing the way services are delivered and organizations are structured. Electronic busi- ness processes change the ways organizations operate and conduct business. Opportunities to lower transaction costs and improve efficiency have changed relationships between tran- sit agencies and their suppliers and customers, and electronic business processes are likely to change industry structures in the longer term. Portals for transactions in government-to- government and business-to-government marketplaces are offered through diverse organi- zations. Numerous transit agencies are preparing to offer customized itinerary planning and fare media purchasing over the Internet. The declining costs of communications, data storage, and data retrieval are accelerat- ing the opportunities spawned by the Internet and other information and communications technologies. Choosing and sequencing investments in technologies, processes, and people to reduce costs and increase productivity present challenges to the transit manager, who must weigh the costs, benefits, and risks of changing the ways services are delivered. To assist in meeting such challenges, TCRP Project J-09 is producing a multiple-volume series under TCRP Report 84. The research program will identify, develop, and provide flexible, ongoing, quick-response research designed to bring electronic business strategies to public transportation and mobility management. Volume 4: Advanced Features of Transit Websites is the fourth volume in the TCRP Report 84 series; the report is in portable document format (pdf) on CRP-CD-34. Multisys- tems, Inc., prepared the report with assistance from Matthew Coogan. The objective of this task was to identify and document lessons learned regarding the potential of incorporating advanced web features into the transit industry. The focus is on automated itinerary planning systems, real-time transit information, e-mail notification, and the application of customer relationship management concepts to theses services. The web features were reviewed in the context of cus- tomer relationship management. The report provides an overview of the implementation, tech- nology, value creation, lessons learned, and best practices associated with web-based advanced features. The study findings reveal that an investment in advanced website features offers the potential to provide significant benefits to the customer and the transit industry. Volumes issued under TCRP Report 84 may be found on the TRB website at national academies.org/trb. vi