Lab 1 – Current ITS Product Description
By
Charles J Deaver
07788057
05/01/2012
“I certify that the work submitted is entirely my own and I have not received external assistance
in preparation of this assignment. The work meets the requirements of the ODU Honor
system.”
In fulfillment of requirements for
Old Dominion University
Professional Workforce Development I
CS410
Spring 2011
Table of Contents
1.0.
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 3
2.0.
Current ITS Product Description ...................................................................................................... 4
3.
2.1.
Key Product Features and Capabilities ........................................................................................ 4
2.2.
Major Components (Hardware/Software) .................................................................................. 7
2.3
Target Market/Customer Base .................................................................................................... 9
Current ITS Prototype Description ..................................................................................................... 10
3.1.
Prototype Functional Goals and Objectives .............................................................................. 10
3.2.
Prototype Architecture (Hardware/Software) .......................................................................... 12
3.3.
Prototype Features and Capabilities ......................................................................................... 13
3.4.
Prototype Challenges and Risk .................................................................................................. 13
A.
Glossary .............................................................................................................................................. 15
B.
References .......................................................................................................................................... 16
1.0. Introduction
Tidewater or Hampton Roads is home to roughly 1.7 million people and faces challenges
to vehicular traffic due to the population and the amount of necessary water crossings. The city
of Norfolk installed a light rail train called The Tide to help reduce traffic congestion. The Tide
has been successful in ridership since service began but has suffered some losses in ridership.
Some of these losses can be attributed to poor communication with riders which results in
lower ridership and loss of revenue for both the Hampton Roads Transit Authority (HRT) and
the businesses surrounding train stops. This deficiency in communication is caused by limited
web resources and the non-existence of informative signage at train stops. This communication
shortcoming not only affects existing riders, but also hampers new ridership. Recent surveys
conducted in the area also showed that many residents were aware of the train, but many were
unaware of exact stop locations. (Southeastern Institute of Research, Inc., 2011) Additional
studies have shown that additional real-time information provided to riders also encourages
use. (Dziekan, 2006)
Current Intelligent Transit System (ITS) is a modular solution that can help close
communication gap by providing easy access to real-time information that is valuable to The
Tide riders by providing alerts and rider feedback for improved customer satisfaction.
Businesses will benefit thought the capability to market directly to The Tide riders and HRT will
benefit from having granular information that can be used to adjust schedules accordingly and
improve operational efficiency.
2.0. Current ITS Product Description
Current ITS is designed to be a modular solution that addresses the needs of The Tide
riders, local businesses, and HRT. Current ITS will have easy to use mobile and web-based
applications which are designed to keep riders informed, give local businesses another
advertising platform, and allow HRT the capability to improve operational efficiency. The real
time data gives improved decision-making capability for both HRT and the riders plus provides
local businesses the capability to direct ads based on location. Current ITS will provide a
valuable service by saving riders time, HRT money, and generating customers for local
businesses.
2.1. Key Product Features and Capabilities
Current ITS provides many features for the three target groups of the transit authority,
the riders, and local businesses. All of the products developed will be web-based and accessible
through either a website or a mobile device.
The heart of Current ITS is a central database and web application server combination
which provides storage and distribution of information. A GPS unit on board the train sends
location and occupancy information through a GSM signal to the main database for processing.
This information is used by the multiple applications for information dissemination and analysis.
A web application designed for the transit authority will provide granular up to the
minute information regarding the location and occupancy of every train system. HRT authority
officials will be able to view current and past train occupancy data displayed on a web GUI. A
search capability will provided past data past rider data for analysis. Rider predictions will also
be available based on rider and event data. These functions will be the key to providing transit
authorities the ability to see the benefits of granular data and how they can be used to improve
operating efficiency by providing more or less trains depending on the current use. The
database will also contain the historical information of train ridership data and calendar of
events for use by prediction algorithms for forecasting of ridership.
Figure 1: Transit Authority Webpage
Current ITS will provide riders with a web-based and mobile application to allow train
tracking, real time occupancy information, and local business information. The numbers of
mediums currently providing this information are lacking. Previously, a rider will have to visit
the website or view timetables on station walls to retrieve train schedules. These methods do
not show changes or interruptions in service or additional services do to civic events. Current
ITS will fulfill the shortfalls by providing information directly to the rider. Figure 2 shows a
mock-up of the website a rider will use and Figure 3 shows a mock-up of the web-application
home page complete with a current alert.
Figure 2: Rider Web Application
Figure 3: Rider Mobile Application
A business and event management web interface will allow local businesses change and
update advertising preferences as well as allowing civic event managers to enter and update
event date and time information and expected patronage. This allows these entities to market
The Tide riders directly on the rider’s mobile device while getting on or off the train at a nearby
stop. It also aids the transit authority return for events with large attendance.
2.2. Major Components (Hardware/Software)
Figure 4 shows the overall picture of Current ITS and how information will be
accumulated from real-world events and distributed to the interested parties.
Figure 4: Real world product MFCD
The primary and most important information is gathered from the trains. Each train will
have a microcomputer running a small Linux operating system and is connected to a GPS
antenna, an automatic person counter, and a GSM modem for relaying data. The data collected
from the train is passed to the database through a GSM Wireless connection.
A Dell R710 will be used as a host server providing a platform for multiple virtual
servers. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization will be the software utilized to provide the virtual
server capability. Virtual database and application servers will be run on Red Hat Enterprise
Linux server.
A mySQL database located at the transit authority IT office will be used to store train
data, local event information, and local business advertising preferences. It will serve this
information to the web application engine as required. The rest of the system can be broken
down into functional areas based on user.
The web application engine (WAE) will be responsible for compiling and serving
applicable data to the respective web or mobile applications. The WAE will retrieve data from
the database and analyze it based on riders, time, and location to provide historical trends and
ridership predictions to the transit authority webpage. The WAE will also relay real-time
information to both the transit authority and rider webpages to present a current picture of the
train locations and occupancy status. The WAE will also serve out advertisements based on
rider location through by coordinating a GPS response from the application running on the
mobile device and the location of the local business.
2.3 Target Market/Customer Base
The primary focus of Current ITS is the Hampton roads transit authority specifically designed for
The Tide light rail considering it is in its infancy stages and better rider utilization benefits the
public as a whole. Improve ridership and utilization will provide motivation to expand light rail
service to other areas of Hampton roads and reduce traffic congestion.
Another focus of Current ITS is the local businesses surrounding train stops. By providing an
advertising capability to the local businesses, sales can be improved by capturing foot traffic
from train riders. Sales at the 7-11 on Newtown Road in Virginia Beach increased by 13 to 14%
after the opening of The Tide light rail. (Shapiro, 2012) Further gains could be made by effectively
targeting light rail riders through Current ITS.
New markets would include new and existing light rail systems and a modular capability of Current
ITS can also be implemented in bus and heavy rail systems as well as areas experiencing rapid growth or
heavy traffic congestion. Light rail subsidies have been shown to produce positive returns from
subsidies through reduced congestion and parking. A successful implementation Current ITS provides a
role model for newer systems.
3. Current ITS Prototype Description
The Current ITS prototype will be designed to perform the appropriate algorithms and
predictions to display the end user functionality of the system. The functional aspects will be
the transit authority tracking and prediction capability, the end-user tracking and occupancy
information, and local business advertising capability. The train hardware implementations
providing the location and occupancy data will be simulated by a developed simulation driver.
Old Dominion University computer science virtual servers will be used instead of acquiring a
physical server to run the database and web application engine. The prototype will provide the
capability to show the benefits of displaying real-world data for riders and HRT. It will also
display the advertising capability which will be required to offset implementation and
operational costs.
3.1. Prototype Functional Goals and Objectives
The goal of Current ITS prototype will be to show the functionality of the application
from transit authority, rider, and local business standpoint. All web based and mobile
applications will be displayed using simulated train data and rider information data. The
historical data in the database will also have to be simulated. The transit authority portion of
the application will take simulated data from the database combined with data from the
simulated train to display prediction capabilities. Transit authority users will be able to
generate reports and make predictions based on simulation data.
Figure 5: Protoytpe MFCD
Data for the end-user portion will flow directly from the simulator to the web
application to show real Time Data allowing the user to get a representation of what live
tracking would look like. Static route information will be housed in the database and used for
the trip planning portion of the application.
Local businesses will be able to view the simulated data to select desired time frames
and types of advertising capability. They will also be able to view and update their advertising
preferences and available methods.
3.2. Prototype Architecture (Hardware/Software)
The prototype will require most of the same components minus the actual physical
hardware of the train. Instead of acquiring servers to run the applications, virtual servers
provided by the Old Dominion University Computer Science department will be used. CentOS
will be the primary operating system instead of Red Hat Linux because CentOS is an open
source operating system similar to red hat Linux and will avoid additional expenses. My SQL
will be used as the primary database since it is open source and will incur no cost. The signage
portion of the real-world product will not be included because the implementation is
straightforward. Figure 6 shows all of the hardware requirements for the prototype compared
to the real world product.
Hardware
RWP
Prototype
Functionality
IRMA Matrix
Simulated
Static Android GPS
Data
Partial
Embedded Computer System Habey BIS-6620-IV-Z530
Omitted
N/A
3G Modem
Omitted
N/A
Omitted
CS Dept Virtual
Machine
N/A
Omitted
Partial
CentOS server
Full
Automatic Passenger
Counter (APC)
GPS Antenna
Electronic Signage
Physical Server
Virtualization Software
Operating System Software
Garmin GPS 18x
Novatel MC935D
US Stamp & Sign
Electronic LED
Dell R710
RHEL KVM
Red Hat Enterprise
server
Figure 6: RWP vs Prototype
Partial
Full
3.3. Prototype Features and Capabilities
HRT, The Tide riders, and local businesses will need to be able to view and test
applicable applications for a successful prototype. An objective of the prototype is to show the
benefit of having real time granular data to aid in predicting ridership and adjusting train
schedules accordingly.
Showing the capability to improve the rider experience will be another goal of the
prototype. Displaying a trip planning capability as well as simulated current train information
regarding location, station arrival time, and occupancy on a web or mobile application will
provide the user a view of how easy it is to ride The Tide.
Local businesses will be able to view and modify advertising data based on their
preferences. Then view a picture of how the ad will look when it is presented to the rider.
3.4. Prototype Challenges and Risk
The prototype will have many of the same challenges and risks as the real-world product.
The risk of data latency will be removed because the train data will be simulated but this also
inserts the risk of simulation error. Another challenge will be to accurately portray train motion
and rider data. The test harness needs the capability to simulate rider data based off probable
circumstances. The test harness will also need to randomly generate problems to simulate
delays or accidents. The simulations will display the functionality of the software that they will
not replicate a real-world operation.
The prototype will also not operate under a full load of users and operations with
thousands or tens of thousands of requests will be difficult to test. Thorough testing will
need to be conduct to ensure system can handle excessive loads.
A. Glossary
CentOS: Community Enterprise Operating System. An open-source Linux based distribution
that is free to use and is the foundation for future versions of Red Hat Enterprise Server.
GPS: Global Positioning System. A network of satellites used to identify exact location.
GSM: Global System for Mobile communications. The primary protocol for mobile
communications worldwide.
HRT: Hampton Roads Transit. The transit authority for the Hampton Roads area and the
owner of The Tide light rail system.
ITS: Intelligent Transfer System. A system designed to provide improvements to light rail
transit.
MFCD: Major Functional Component Diagram. A diagram that shows the larger components
of a system.
MySQL: An open source relational database management system.
WAE: Web Application Engine. A web server used to perform analysis on data and provide
the data to a web page.
B. References
Works Cited
Dziekan, K. (2006, May 26). Dynamic at-stop real-time information displays for public transport: effects
on customers. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from http://www.sciencedirect.com:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856406001431
Shapiro, C. (2012, Feb 20). Some stores near Norfolk light rail stations see boost. Retrieved Apr 18, 2012,
from Pilot Online: http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/some-stores-near-norfolk-light-railstations-see-boost
Southeastern Institute of Research, Inc. (2011). Hampton Roads Transit: Light Rail Marketing Research
Study. Norfolk: Southeastern Institute of Research, Inc.