Eastgate Regional ITS Architecture Update

Interfaces:

Transit Center Information Services

• The center shall provide travelers using public transportation with traffic and advisory information upon request. Such information may include transit routes, schedules, transfer options, fares, real-time schedule adherence, current incidents, weather conditions, and special events.
• The center shall provide transit information to the media including details of deviations from schedule of regular transit services.
• The center shall exchange transit schedules, real-time arrival information, fare schedules, and general transit service information with other transit organizations to support transit traveler information systems.
• The center shall provide transit service information to traveler information service providers including routes, schedules, schedule adherence, and fare information as well as transit service information during evacuation.
• The center shall enable yellow pages (including non-motorized transportation) information to be output to the traveler.
• The center shall broadcast transit advisory data, including alerts and advisories pertaining to major emergencies, or man made disasters.

Transit Center Multi-Modal Coordination

• The center shall coordinate schedules and services between transit agencies, traffic management, maintenance and construction operations, parking management, and other surface or air transportation modes.
• The center shall share transfer cluster and transfer point information with multimodal transportation service providers, other transit agencies, and traveler information service providers. A transfer cluster is a collection of stop points, stations, or terminals where transfers can be made conveniently.
• The center shall accept requests from traffic management to change routes and schedules as part of the implementation of demand management strategies.
• The center shall coordinate transit services for special events, planning services for the event and managing transit services on the day of the event.
• The center shall provide transit operations personnel with the capability to control and monitor transit service coordination activities.

Transit Center Paratransit Operations

• The center shall process trip requests for demand responsive transit services, i.e. paratransit. Sources of the requests may include traveler information service providers.
• The center shall monitor the operational status of the demand response vehicles including status of passenger pick-up and drop-off.
• The center shall generate demand response transit (including paratransit) routes and schedules based on such factors as parameters input by the system operator, what other demand responsive transit schedules have been planned, the availability and location of vehicles, the relevance of any fixed transit routes and schedules, road network information, and incident information.
• The center shall dispatch demand response (paratransit) transit vehicles.
• The center shall exchange information with Maintenance and Construction Operations concerning work zones, roadway conditions, asset restrictions, work plans, etc.
• The center shall disseminate up-to-date schedules and route information to other centers for demand responsive transit services (paratransit).
• The center shall collect the log of passenger boardings and alightings from the paratransit vehicles.

Transit Center Security

• The center shall monitor transit vehicle operational data to determine if the transit vehicle is off-route and assess whether a security incident is occurring.
• The center shall receive reports of emergencies on-board transit vehicles entered directly be the transit vehicle operator or from a traveler through interfaces such as panic buttons or alarm switches.
• The center shall support the back-office portion of functionality to authenticate transit vehicle operators.
• The center shall exchange transit incident information along with other service data with other transit agencies.
• The center shall receive information pertaining to a wide-area alert such as weather alerts, disaster situations, or child abductions. This information may come from Emergency Management or from other Alerting and Advisory Systems.
• The center shall send wide-area alert information to travelers (on-board transit vehicles or at stations/stops) and transit vehicle operators.
• The center shall coordinate the response to security incidents involving transit with other agencies including Emergency Management, other transit agencies, media, traffic management, and traveler information service providers.
• The center shall receive threat information and status on the integrity of the transit infrastructure.
• The center shall provide support to remotely disable (or reset the disabling of) a transit vehicle in service.

Transit Center Vehicle Tracking

• The center shall support an interface with a map update provider, or other appropriate data sources, through which updates of digitized map data can be obtained and used as a background for transit tracking and dispatch.
• The center shall provide transit operational data to traveler information service providers.
• The center shall provide collected transit probe data to traffic management centers and traveler information service providers for use in measuring current traffic conditions.
• The center shall monitor the locations of all transit vehicles within its network.
• The center shall determine adherence of transit vehicles to their assigned schedule.

Transit Vehicle Operator Assignment

• The center shall maintain records of a transit vehicle operator's performance. This may be done utilizing standardized performance evaluation criteria set forth by governmental regulations and transit operating company policies, assessing the transit vehicle operator's driving history, and assessing comments from the transit vehicle operator's supervisor(s) as well as noting any moving violations or accidents, supervisor comments, government regulations, and company policies.
• The center shall assess the transit vehicle operator's availability based on previous work assignments, accumulated hours, plus health and vacation commitments.
• The center shall assign transit vehicle operators to transit schedules based on their eligibility, route preferences, seniority, and transit vehicle availability.
• The center shall provide an interface through which the transit vehicle operator information can be maintained - either from the transit vehicle operator, center personnel, or other functions.
• The center shall generate supplemental vehicle operator assignments as required due to change events that occur during the operating day.

Center Secure Area Surveillance

• The center shall remotely monitor video images and audio surveillance data collected in secure areas including facilities (e.g. transit yards) and transportation infrastructure (e.g. bridges, tunnels, interchanges, roadway infrastructure, and transit railways or guideways). The data may be raw or pre-processed in the field.
• The center shall remotely monitor video images and audio surveillance data collected in traveler secure areas, which include transit stations, transit stops, rest areas, park and ride lots, and other fixed sites along travel routes (e.g., emergency pull-off areas and travel information centers). The data may be raw or pre-processed in the field.
• The center shall remotely monitor video images and audio surveillance data collected on-board transit vehicles. The data may be raw or pre-processed in the field.
• The center shall exchange surveillance data with other emergency centers.
• The center shall identify potential security threats based on collected security surveillance data.
• The center shall verify potential security threats by correlating security surveillance data from multiple sources.
• The center shall remotely control security surveillance devices in secure areas including facilities (e.g. transit yards) and transportation infrastructure (e.g. bridges, tunnels, interchanges, roadway infrastructure, and transit railways or guideways).
• The center shall remotely control security surveillance devices in traveler secure areas, which include transit stations, transit stops, rest areas, park and ride lots, and other fixed sites along travel routes (e.g., emergency pull-off areas and travel information centers).
• The center shall remotely control security surveillance devices on-board transit vehicles.
• The center shall match traveler video images against a database from the Alerting and Advisory Systems of known images that may represent criminals and terrorists.
• The center shall exchange traveler images with other emergency management centers to support traveler image matching.
• The center shall respond to control data from center personnel regarding security surveillance data collection, processing, threat detection, and image matching.
• The center shall monitor maintenance status of the security sensor field equipment.

Emergency Evacuation Support

• The center shall manage inter-agency coordination of evacuation operations, from initial planning through the evacuation process and reentry.
• The center shall develop and exchange evacuation plans with allied agencies prior to the occurrence of a disaster.
• The center shall provide an interface to the emergency system operator to enter evacuation plans and procedures and present the operator with other agencies’ plans.
• The center shall coordinate evacuation destinations and shelter needs with shelter providers (e.g., the American Red Cross) in the region.
• The center shall provide evacuation information to traffic, transit, maintenance and construction, rail operations, and other emergency management centers as needed.
• The center shall request resources from transit agencies as needed to support the evacuation.
• The center shall request traffic management agencies to implement special traffic control strategies and to control evacuation traffic, including traffic on local streets and arterials as well as the major evacuation routes.
• The center shall provide traveler information systems with evacuation guidance including basic information to assist potential evacuees in determining whether evacuation is necessary and when it is safe to return.
• The center shall monitor the progress or status of the evacuation once it begins and exchange tactical plans, prepared during the incident, with allied agencies.
• The center shall monitor the progress of the reentry process.
• The center shall submit evacuation information to toll administration centers along with requests for changes in the toll services or fee collection during an evacuation.
• The center shall retrieve information from public health systems to plan for and implement evacuations or in-place sheltering for biological, chemical, radiation, and other public health emergencies.

Transit Evacuation Support

• The center shall manage the use of transit resources to support evacuation and subsequent reentry of a population in the vicinity of a disaster or other emergency.
• The center shall coordinate regional evacuation plans with Emergency Management - identifying the transit role in an evacuation and the transit resources that would be used.
• The center shall coordinate the use of transit and school bus fleets during an evacuation, supporting evacuation of those with special needs and the general population.
• The center shall adjust and update transit service and fare schedules and provide that information to other agencies as they coordinate evacuations.

Center Secure Area Alarm Support

• The center shall collect silent and audible alarms received from travelers in secure areas (such as transit stops, rest areas, park and ride lots, modal interchange facilities).
• The center shall collect silent and audible alarms received from transit vehicles, originated by the traveler or the transit vehicle operator.
• After the alarm message has been received, the center shall generate an alarm acknowledgment to the sender.
• After the alarm message becomes a verified incident, the center shall determine the appropriate response.
• The center shall determine whether the alarm message indicates an emergency that requires the attention of public safety agencies, and forward alarm message data to the appropriate agency as necessary.
• The center shall forward the alarm message to center personnel and respond to the traveler or transit vehicle operator as directed by the personnel.