staying relevant in the gis world

Staying Relevant in the GIS World

A Broad Look at GCRTA Mapping Applications and Challenges

Samantha Erickson

Background The RTA is Ohio’s largest transit property. It is made up of

− 64 fixed-bus routes− 1 heavy rail line− 2.5 light rail lines− 1 bus rapid transit line− Paratransit

48.2 million passenger trips in 2012 Service area 457 square miles,

1.4 million people

Funding - Operating Receive $0 from the State of Ohio

− Required to apply for Federal grants every year

− Only rural transit properties receive state operating assistance

1% of the county sales tax makes up about 70% of our operating budget

Passenger fares hover around 23%, bringing in $49.2 million in 2012

Funding - Capital Capital funding budget in 2012 was

$47.6 million Ohio’s state funding for public

transit equates to $0.92 per person. − Only 13 states rank lower

Of those, 10 have state populations under 5 million

Ohio population was 11.5 million in 2010.

Staying Relevant with Less

But authority-wide, TransitStat has saved us $48 million over five years. − Projects that make us more efficient− reduce costs− Only one project uses mapping as part of its

analysis

9 Divistions, 2 of which have ArcGIS− Two staff members with 10.1 licenses− Two staff members with 9.3 licenses− All four have job duties outside of mapping

Mapping Applications Bus Stop Inventory Bus Stop Reduction Google Transit New Bus Stop Signage Computer Aided Dispatch/Records

Management System (CAD/RMS)

Challenges Culture:

− Departments as their own silos Projects, skills, staffing, budget

Staff:− Many job duties beyond mapping

Funding:− Change costs money

Bus Stop Inventory

Bus Stop Reduction

Map and analysis by Heather Bates, Planner III at GCRTA

Google TransitChallenges:

- Datum & Projection- Software Compatibility

HASTUS – NAD 27 Google Map

Inventoried stop (green arrow) using WGS84

New Signage

Changing Signage Systemwide Requires coordination from multiple

departments Staffing to keep bus stop database

current with what’s happening on the street

Haven’t figured this process out yet New signs are coming to the streets

whether we’re ready on the back end or not.

CAD/RMS Example

Source: www. 911dispatch.com

Standardization Challenges With two or even ten planners, it’s

relatively easy to set naming standards

With hundreds of police officers, and multiple departments harder to enforce, especially over time

Example:− E. 79th St− E 79th

− East 79th Street− E. 79

Now What?!

Goals Continued and increased communication

between departments Google Transit: Update base map for the

scheduling software Keep up with bus-stop changes happening

on the street − Ideally in a sustainable way

Making time: Developing a game plan to tackle geodatabases

Future Projects Addressing safety of bus stops Better real-time information

− On signs− Online

Real technical support, or for GIS services to fall under an ITS umbrella

Increased use of mapping for analyses outside of the planning department

Contact Information

Samantha EricksonPlanner 3GCRTA

(216) 781-4767

serickson@gcrta.org

www.riderta.org