Lab 1 – Current ITS Product Description
Current ITS - 1
Lab 1 – Current ITS Product Description
Current ITS – Red Team
Old Dominion University
CS410 – Prof. Brunelle
Author: Brian Dunn
Date: 4/30/2012
Lab 1 – Current ITS Product Description
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Table of Contents
1.
2.
Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3
Current ITS Product Description ............................................................................................. 4
2.1 Key Product Features and Capabilities............................................................................. 4
2.2 Major Components (Hardware/Software) ....................................................................... 7
2.3 Target Market/Customer Base ......................................................................................... 9
3. Current ITS Prototype Description ........................................................................................ 12
3.1 Prototype Functional Goals and Objectives ................................................................... 12
3.2 Prototype Architecture (Hardware/Software) ............................................................... 13
3.3 Prototype Features and Capabilities .............................................................................. 15
3.4 Prototype Development Challenges .............................................................................. 18
A. Glossary ................................................................................................................................. 20
B. References ............................................................................................................................ 21
Lab 1 – Current ITS Product Description
1.
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Introduction
Hampton Roads locals can provide many stories about the Tide ranging from pessimism
like how much money and time was wasted early in its development to optimism such as
desires for more stations and expansions. Either way, despite efforts by Hampton Roads
Transit (HRT) to show off their early success with the Tide, there is still much room for
improvement. These gaps in communication and information can be easily seen, such as in one
survey that revealed 70% of downtown workers did not even know the station locations for the
Tide (Southeastern Institute of Research, 2011). This poses a direct problem, as can be seen in
the downward trend in ridership has been in place since the start of the light rail (Hampton
Roads Transit, 2012) and the public expects to see results from all of the money invested into
this system. Current Intelligent Transport System (ITS) is a product designed to solve these
problems by providing direct communications, local business advertising, real-time information,
and data reports from trending and predictive algorithms.
By creating direct communications throughout the light rail system, knowledge will be
shared in all directions. Operators will be able to send important alerts to other users, while
riders will be able to send feedback to the operators regarding issues they are experiencing.
Along with this, local businesses will be able to communicate to the riders as well through
advertising, along with providing information about businesses that are within close proximity
of specific stations. The real-time information will consist of the basic transit information such
as train tracking and passenger counting. This information will be made available in various
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report formats, as well as being run through trending and predictive algorithms which will allow
Current ITS to provide estimates for future tracking and capacity information.
All of this information will be delivered through a multi-platform system that ensures
convenience and ease-of-use will allow a wide range of customers and end-users to take full
advantage of Current ITS. Additionally the system will be designed with scalability and
modularity in mind, allowing transit systems a wide variety of options regarding sensor
interfaces and upgradeability.
2.
Current ITS Product Description
The main goal of Current ITS is to connect the three parties involved in light rail systems:
the operators (Hampton Roads Transit), the end-users (Tide riders), and local businesses
owners. All three of the user subsets will access the same system, which will simplify
communication between them; however, only the appropriate information, layout, and options
provided will be presented to each user class. This system will also be accessible from different
platforms, with the real world product featuring applications for mobile devices, a website
interface, and software to run on station hardware.
2.1 Key Product Features and Capabilities
The product experience will be different for each class of user, starting with the lowest
access level: the rider. The rider’s experience will be focused around helping them to find the
necessary information to fully utilize the Tide’s route and stations. The first option will be a
search function that will break down into three categories: destination – for those that know
where they are going but not where to get off, business – for those that want to find a specific
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business or search categories such as restaurants, and event – for those that are looking for
special events going on near the Tide such as parades or baseball games. This option will
appeal to both novice users who do not know where they are going and to veteran users
looking for something new to try along the Tide. The next option will be trip planning, which
will aid riders in determining the appropriately scheduled train to arrive at their destination on
time. The third option will be an easy-to-use ticket-purchasing interface that will give riders an
efficient way to buy their ticket from whichever platform they are using to access the system.
Finally, a simple feedback system will be available where users can report problems, comments,
or suggestions that will be delivered to the light rail operators in an efficient manner.
Rider Interface
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The next level up will be for local business owners to access the system and according
product features. The primary focus here will be on advertising for the business. All businesses
and approved events will be listed for riders regularly, but in addition business owners can
choose to purchase advertising space on the system. Here businesses can tell riders anything
they want, whether their ad displays new specials or simply business hours, with the goal of
gaining customers through the use of the Tide. In addition to purchasing and launching ad
campaigns, the business owners will use this interface to view metric data for the campaign’s
performance. In addition to the standard data for impressions and clicks, local business owners
will also be able to view information about passengers boarding and leaving the train at the
closest station. The trend and prediction algorithms will generate reports that can be used to
find relationships between time of day, day of week, and months between ridership as well as
estimations for future ridership that will allow businesses to adjust their marketing accordingly.
The final level will be for the operators who work for Hampton Roads Transit and help to
run the Tide. The two main focuses on this level will be pushing alerts to other users and using
ridership data to make better decisions about the Tide’s operation. The alert system will
primarily be used to update other users about delays or interruptions in service routes. All
three parties will benefit from this feature as it will provide an easy form of communication
between operators, give users real-time updates on trains they are expecting, and even provide
business owners with knowledge of potential delays for reservations or appointments. The
second focus of the system’s interface for operators will be providing extensive information
regarding rider trending and forecasting. Combining historical information with current trends
and upcoming events, the Current ITS algorithms will provide operators with insight to ridership
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so that any necessary adaptions, such as increasing the number of cars for an event, can be
planned in advance.
2.2 Major Components (Hardware/Software)
The start of the data flow will go from the sensors on the train through the Onboard
Unit to a centralized database server where all of the data will be stored. All of the user
platforms (mobile phones, website interface, and station hardware) will connect to the Web
App Server, which will connect through the Decision Engine to the Database. Through this
connection the Decision Engine will seek requested data and apply appropriate algorithms to it
in order to provide reports to users through the Web App Server.
Major Functional Component Diagram
The exact hardware required for the real world product will vary some due to the
modular nature of our product. If a customer, such as HRT, already has some sensors and an
onboard unit, we will interface with them to make use of the existing solutions. In addition, the
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server hosting will need to scale with demand both in terms of the number of users accessing
the system and the number of trains being monitored through the system. The basic hardware
breakdown, however, will consist of 1 IRMA Matrix Automatic Passenger Counter per train, 1
Garmin GPSP 18x antenna per train, 1 Habey BIS-6620-IV-Z530 Embedded Computer System
per train, Dell R710 servers to use for the Database, Web App Server, and Decision Engine, and
finally any requested hardware for the stations such as electronic signage or kiosk booths.
During the development of the product, Current ITS will also require workstations to be used
for software development.
The major part of making this hardware work will be the interfaces that connect them
all together and provide an easy way to adapt as the system’s requirements change. The
central part of the interfacing process will be the embedded on-board application, which will
have to take the data from the sensors and transmit it back to the Database Server.
However, to make proper use of the data collected by all of this hardware, a lot of
software will be required to make the information presentable. The center of the network will
be the Database Server, which will be run on the Red Had Enterprise operating system. The
schemas for the database will cover the basic authentication and access levels for users and
their profiles, as well as basic information such as names and coordinates for the stops, trains,
events, and businesses.
Once all of this information is stored in a logical manner, the Decision Engine will be able
to run algorithms to analyze the masses of data. The first major function will be generating
trend data, which will require associating ridership data with various factors that impact it
including the date, time, and any relevant events or service interruptions that occurred. The
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second major function of the Decision Engine will be generating predictive data for delays and
ridership numbers. While some of these occurrences, such as accidents, may be entirely
random in nature, other delays such as capacity issues may be predicted through an algorithm
based on historical data being compared to real-time data and the upcoming schedule.
With reports and raw data both available now, the remaining software will focus on
delivering the information to users. The center of this will be the Web App Server, which will
connect Current ITS to the public Internet. Software will be required for each of the platforms
that will connect to the server; the first being a website interface that can be accessed from
popular web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome
among others. The second will be an Android app designed for users that want to access
information on the go from their mobile phones. The third end-user GUI will be a similar
version of the Android app that is optimized to run on kiosks using the Android operating
system. All three of these end-user GUI’s will have to request and transmit authentication for
the user to the Web App Server, which will then determine which data to deliver and work with
the end-user software to provide users with all necessary information. The final form of data
delivery will come in a simple form: a Google Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) based feed that
will allow external applications to access the data collected by the Current ITS system.
2.3 Target Market/Customer Base
The Current ITS product was designed specifically with Hampton Roads Transit in mind.
The Tide light rail system will work as both our first customer and essentially our trial run of the
system. While our prototype is designed to mitigate implementation risks, the feedback and
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experience from the real world product in this first incarnation will help to modify and optimize
the product and its deployment for future customers.
The reason HRT works so well as the initial customer is that the area has seen a lot of
recent growth and the light rail system is still relatively new. As the light rail system enters its
first new fiscal year, the budget required to operate it will no longer be padded by the initial
investment grants that HRT received to get the Tide up and running. Instead the company will
need to generate more revenue from other sources, most notably ticket sales. Studies have
shown that real-time information is so valuable to riders that providing these updates reduces
perceived wait times by 10% (UK Department for Transport, 2010). Station information
availability was ranked as an important problem by 69% of those in the SIR survey on Hampton
Roads, which further shows that the ability to easily find destinations through our application
will boost ridership.
Two other studies show 30% increases in sales at businesses local due light rail systems
around the country (1. Cagney, Crossley, Crossley, & Wells, 2006 2. Brown & Victor, 2010),
while everyone in the localized area benefits from increased property values and new job
openings. This is already great for showing return on investment to taxpayers, but by using
Current ITS, the impact can be boosted further through increased information flow and
communication about these local businesses and the advantages of property located near the
Tide. Additionally, one study shows that by 2030, Virginia will need to spend $3.1 Billion on an
estimated 989 new lane miles just to keep up with growing traffic (Hargten & Fields, 2006).
Nationally traffic and congestion cost over $115 Billion per year in lost productivity (Texas
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Transport Institution, 2011). The Tide can help alleviate this problem, but only if riders learn to
trust the alternative method of travel, which is exactly where Current ITS excels.
The final direct benefit of implementing Current ITS will be the revenue directly
generated by the advertisement program being run for local businesses. As such a targeted
medium for advertising the option will be very attractive for any company looking to reach new
customers, which will provide HRT with another source of funding that will continue the
snowball effect started by the increased ridership numbers.
The use of Current ITS will also help Tide proponents to achieve their goal of expanding
the light rail system to new areas. Through collecting more thorough data better analysis can
be done to show which areas would benefit the most from an expansion, while the overall goal
of boosting ridership will ensure that future expansions are not met by dwindling numbers by
unhappy customers.
After the initial deployment of Current ITS for Hampton Roads Transit, the next targets
will be areas featuring several key characteristics that made the Tide an easy choice. The first is
that an area must be undergoing a lot of new development, as the benefits of the search
function and increased communication will be much more effective in an area where people
are still exploring and learning. The second is the age of the light rail system and its recent
expansions. Long established light rail systems should not have as much trouble earning a
reputation as a reliable means of transit and have had time to be woven into the area’s mass
transit network, but in areas with newly developed systems, Current ITS can help speed up that
process.
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Finding these areas should not be hard, as there are currently over 35 light rail systems
up and running in the United States alone (Dickens, 2011), with 60 more systems now in
development or proposal stages (Light Rail Now, 2011). This gives many options, while allowing
the product to stay within the country where language barriers and other complications can be
avoided while focusing on the first wave of expansion. Once this stage is complete, however,
even more room for expansion can be seen in the global market, where over 8000 miles of
track can be found in Europe alone (Global Industry Analysts, Inc., 2010). This global market is
estimated to be worth $7.5 Billion by 2015 and is quickly growing, so there will be no fear of
finding future customers any time soon (Global Industry Analysts, Inc., 2010).
3.
Current ITS Prototype Description
The underlying goal of the prototype for Current ITS will be to show how the data is
handled in the system. Instead of using real sensors in a real world environment, data can be
simulated and placed in the Database Server to allow for rigorous testing. Part of the key to
this will be making sure the data is realistic and tests the bounds of the system, but simulating
this data will allow efforts to be focused on building a prototype that will provide users with a
positive product experience. In addition to this, both the ticket purchasing and parts of the
decision engine, such as the re-rerouting algorithms, will be left out of the prototype in order to
keep the scope of the project down in the early development stage.
3.1 Prototype Functional Goals and Objectives
The main goal of the prototype will be to show the ease-of-use factor involved in all of
the GUI interfaces provided for riders, business owners, and Tide operators. The keys to the
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impact of Current ITS are information flow and user communication, both which hinge upon the
interfaces to be effective. If riders to not find the product as a good tool for finding
destinations using the Tide, there will be no point in having the businesses advertise since the
audience will not exist. Additionally if Tide operators and business owners have a difficult time
using the interface, it will negate the effect of aiding them to make related decisions in a more
efficient manner.
In the prototype much of the input will be artificially simulated in a realistic manner.
Since we will not yet have actual business owners to create ad campaigns or riders to submit
feedback, the test harness will provide the ability to generate data for testing these features
properly. In order to guarantee the realism of the data used to simulate the train GPS sensors,
actual GPS tracking will be used to generate the dummy data.
3.2 Prototype Architecture (Hardware/Software)
The biggest change from the real world product to the prototype in the architecture will
be the replacement of the onboard sensors and computers with simulated data. This will cut
back on much of the hardware, and in addition the hardware required to host the three servers
will not be as strict as the real world environment. Instead of purchasing hardware, Current ITS
will make use of ODU’s Computer Science Department resources for workstations and virtual
servers to use in the development and testing stages of the prototype.
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Prototype Major Functional Component Diagram
Since the prototype will not be using sensors or any onboard equipment, the need for
interfaces will disappear. In terms of software, the biggest change will be in the smaller scope
of functions available on the Decision Engine, which will be focused more on trend analysis than
true machine learning or predictive algorithms. The Database Server and most parts of the
Web App Server will remain the same, with the biggest change being the availability of some
reports from the Decision Engine and the lack of a ticket purchasing function for rider level
users to access.
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3.3 Prototype Features and Capabilities
With an emphasis on ease-of-use and effective tools for the users in the Current ITS
prototype, the testing focus will be on the interfaces used by the three different levels of users.
Each will have their own set of information to display, but will need to remain intuitive for the
sake of acceptance by users.
Hardware
RWP
Prototype
Functionality
APC
IRMA Matrix
Simulated
Partial
GPS
Garmin GPS 18x
Static Android Data
Partial
Embedded CPU
Habey BIS-6620-IV-Z530
Omitted
N/A
3G Modem
Novatel MC935D
Omitted
N/A
Electronic Signage
US Stamp & Sign LED
Omitted
N/A
Physical Server
Dell R710
Virtual Machine
Full
Virtualization
RHEL KVM
Omitted
Partial
Operating System
Red Hat Enterprise
CentOS
Full
Prototype vs. Real World Product Table
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For the rider interfaces, the main way to focus on ease-of-use will be through the
navigation options. As shown in the sitemap for the mobile app below, there are very few
layers of complexity to the overall system. Each category is relatively self-contained and guides
the user through the necessary steps, while options are kept simple so as not to leave a rider
feeling lost and unable to find the information he needs. Since the prototype will not feature
actual riders using the tools, testing must be done to ensure best practices are followed and the
tool works as expected. Finally, the rider’s feedback tool needs to be an extremely simplistic
submission that allows them to submit feedback to HRT without having to go through any
hassle.
Mobile App Sitemap
The business owner interface will be slightly more complicated, as business owners will
have more relevant data that needs to be displayed. However, the key here will be to make
sure the ability to create ads and monitor campaigns remains intuitive. Since the prototype will
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not feature any actual business owners, we will simulate their presence by generating realistic,
yet fake data in the business owner backend to test the system thoroughly. In order to
generate an ad, the interface will require a business associated with a station, an image to use
as the advertisement banner or text string to display, and of course payment to begin the
selected campaign option. In order to avoid unnecessary development, the prototype will
simply use a sandbox external payment processor such as PayPal to simulate the transfer of
money.
Business Owner Interface
The final interface will be for the Tide operators, the users that need to see the most
data about riders and the trains. Since the full version of the Decision Engine will not be
running in the prototype, most of the analysis will be limited to trend reporting that shows
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which factors lead to the highest ridership peaks. This historical data can still be used to
determine potential peaks in upcoming usage, so there will be plenty of reports to display for
the Tide operators nonetheless. The key to making this interface intuitive and easy to use will
be the display of these detailed reports one at a time but provide the user with many options
for viewing different data or altering the parameters of the current display. Finally the alert
broadcast will be crucial for testing, as operators will need to have a simple tool that allows
them to get out information fast and the network will need to make sure that everyone else
receives the alerts promptly.
Tide Operator Interface
3.4 Prototype Development Challenges
The most difficult challenge to tackle in the prototype development will be the accuracy
of our simulated data. Because we will not have real-time data from the Tide’s actual sensors,
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our prototype will need to use simulated data that is as close to real as possible. In order to
adequately serve its purpose to users, Current ITS must be able to verify the data that it is
processing. Our prototype will also need to be able to handle outlier data, such as bad
coordinates, being reported from sensors in a way that does not cause glitches in the system.
For example, if a GPS sensor were to malfunction and report coordinates outside of the Tide’s
service area, the Decision Engine should not use this data in its estimates for future train
arrivals. Likewise limits will be set, and then tested, for the occupancy data being simulated
from Automatic Passenger Counters.
This will mean that our simulated data must include both realistic sets gathered from
actual GPS coordinates that the Tide follows, but also erroneous data generated by the test
harness in order to ensure the system’s integrity. Once the data is all confirmed to be accurate,
bounds will need to be set for the latency at which it is transmitted. If data from a train or
sensor is delayed, the Decision Engine will need to consider it outdated. In order to simulate
this in the prototype we will use timestamps on all data, while the test harness will be able to
generate timestamps to simulate data that has been delayed or lost due to network congestion
or any other possible technical difficulty.
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A.
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Glossary
Automatic Passenger Counter (APC): A sensor that is used to count the number of passengers
that pass through a door.
Hampton Roads Transit (HRT): The organization responsible for running the Tide and other
public transportation services in the Hampton Roads area.
Global Positioning Satellite (GPS): Technology used to provide latitude and longitude
coordinates of a receiver or antennas location through satellites.
Light Rail System: A form of rail transportation that has lower speeds and capacity than heavy
rail systems, but higher speeds and capacity than tram systems.
The Tide: A Light Rail System located in Norfolk, Virginia.
Tide Operator: The employees responsible for running the Tide service.
Tide Station: The locations where the Tide train stops and allows passengers to board or leave
the train.
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B.
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References
1. Southeastern Institute of Research, Inc. (February 25, 2011). Hampton Roads Transit: Light
Rail. Retrieved from http://www.gohrt.com/publications/reports/sir-light-railsummary.pdf
2. Hampton Roads Transit. (2012). Ridership Levels for Rail [Data file]. Retrieved from
http://www.gohrt.com/public-records/Operations-Documents/Rail/MonthlyRidership/Rail-Ridership-Current.pdf
3. UK Department for Transport. (January 12, 2010). Passenger Information Systems. Retrieved
from http://www.dft.gov.uk/itstoolkit/Tools/T20.php#Benefits
4. Cagney, R., Crossley, D., Crossley, J., & Wells, G. (August 2, 2006). The Impact of Light Rail on
Local Businesses. Retrieved from http://www.gulfcoastinstitute.org/university/
LightRail_BusinessImpact.pdf
5. Brown, D., & Victor, J. (April 2010). The Business of Light Rail: A Compilation of Local Business
Interviews. Retrieved from http://www.friendsoftransit.org/The-Businesses-of-LightRail.pdf
6. Hargten, D., & Fields, M. (August 1, 2006). Building Roads to Reduce Traffic Congestion in
America's Cities. Retrieved from http://reason.org/news/show/126773.html
7. Texas Transportation Institute (September, 2011). What Does Congestion Cost Us? Retrieved
from http://mobility.tamu.edu/files/2011/09/congestion-cost.pdf
8. Dickens, M. (December 6, 2011). Transit Ridership Report. Retrieved from
http://apta.com/resources/statistics/Documents/Ridership/2011-q3-ridership-APTA.pdf
9. Light Rail Now (2011). New Rail Transit Systems Proposed, Planned, or in Development.
Retrieved from http://www.lightrailnow.org/success2.htm
10. Global Industry Analysts, Inc. (July 14, 2010). Global Light Rail Market to Reach $7.5 Billion
by 2015. Retrieved from http://www.prweb.com/releases/light_rail/light_rail_transit/
prweb4253534.htm