What’s Next for the Transit GIS Community

Summary & SynthesisEd Wells, WMATA

Michael L. Pack, UMD CATT LabMartin Catala, USF CUTR

Ed Wells, WMATA

Innovations In Applications: Five Sessions

• Innovative Transit Mapping & Design• Title VI & Paratransit• Viz in Transit Planning• Transit Agency GIS Innovation & Apps• Web-Mapping and the Cloud

What are the takeaways, and what is next?

Apps: The Audience Matters

Vs.

Internal- Engineers- Planners- Operations

External- Legislators- Media- Decision Makers- Public

Apps: Key Insights

• Open Data enables creativity• Developers• Students• Industry

• It’s not all about me!• Other data adds value

• Too many silos. GIS can help to break down those silos IF the right people are involved and aware!

• Moving towards automation of analysis.

Apps: Lingering Questions

• Do we have everyone in the room? Where are the engineers? Just GIS folks? Communication between stakeholders is key.

• Are we leveraging the right tools? • Open Source vs. Proprietary• Free vs. Paid

• GIS—Are we too tied to maps? Does the rest of the world understand us, and how does perception hurt us.

• Do our current tools enable us or limit us?

• Different stakeholders seem to refer to items and data differently.

• Can we standardize terms and appropriate synonyms and formats for our industry and our clients (with respect to transit assets and attributes)?

Apps: Next Steps & Research Needs

• Webinars (or other peer exchange) on a more regular basis to showcase effective practices is key.

• How do our tools compare to other industries?

• Can we leverage each other’s products?• Minimize costs• Advance technology

• Data consolidation and data entry remain an issue that limits productivity. Why?

Martin Catala, USF CUTR