Commission du
transport en commun
25 January 2012 / le 25 janvier 2012
Submitted by/Soumis par : Transit Commission/Staff Information
Technology Working Group / Groupe de travail personnel / commissaire sur la technologie
du transport en commun
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Rosemary Theriault,
Committee Coordinator / coordonnatrice du comité
(613) 580-2424 x21624, Rosemary.Theriault@ottawa.ca
SUBJECT:
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OBJET :
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POLITIQUE d’OC Transpo SUR LES données GPS
en temps réel |
That the Transit Commission
direct staff to work with the Staff/Commissioner Working Group on Transit
Technology to develop an OC Transpo Real-Time GPS Data Policy that is in
accordance with existing policy and which includes, but is not limited to, an Application
Programming Interface (API) Overview and Terms of Use for the consideration of
the Transit Commission at its March meeting.
Que la Commission du transport en commun charge
le personnel de collaborer avec le personnel et le membre de la Commission
faisant partie du Groupe de travail sur la TI, et ce, afin de mettre au point une politique d’OC
Transpo sur les données GPS en temps réel qui soit conforme à la politique
actuelle et comprenne notamment un aperçu sur l’interface de programmation
d’applications (API) et ses conditions d’utilisation, et qui sera examinée par
la Commission du transport en commun lors de sa réunion du mois de mars.
By Motion OTC 15/4 of December 8, 2011, the Transit Commission formed a Transit Commission/Staff Information Technology Working Group, as follows:
WHEREAS
OC Transpo is working to implement the newest and most reliable Information
Technology (IT) components to improve customer service, i.e. real-time data,
route planning technology, Presto Smartcard, etc.;
THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED that a Staff/Commissioner Working Group on Transit Technology be
created to help ensure timely delivery of the program and that there be 5
Commissioner representatives consisting of the Chair, the Vice-Chair,
Commissioner Tierney, Commissioner Rahn and Commissioner Crew; and
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Transit staff provide the Commission with an update on
open data and mobile apps at the first meeting in 2012; and
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that staff provide quarterly updates on the status of
Transit technology projects and their implementation schedule to the Transit
Commission for their review and the IT Sub-Committee for their information.
The Transit Commission/Staff Information Technology Working Group (“IT Working Group”) has met three times since its formation – on December 23, January 16 and January 23. Present at the meetings were City staff, members of OC Transpo Senior Management, members of the OC Transpo Transit Technology Projects team and relevant consultants, as well as the members of the Commission appointed to the IT Working Group.
The IT Working Group has discussed real time GPS data, 560560, the timeline for development of OC Transpo-related Applications for various platforms, and technical aspects of the introduction of PRESTO smart cards. The IT Working Group mandate requires regular updates to Commission through the Chair’s verbal update on all aspects of OC Transpo technology, with quarterly informational reports to the IT Sub-committee.
At the December meeting, OC Transpo staff expressed concern to ensure that the publicly available apps, and the information they will make available, meet a standard of quality assurance that guarantees that customers are only receiving accurate and reliable information. Staff also expressed the view that, subject to direction from the Commission, the release of real time GPS data should be delayed until the opportunity to assess the revenue-generating potential for this information could be assessed through the current RFQ process for OC Transpo’s complete advertising portfolio.
At the meeting of January 16, 2012, the IT Working Group was presented with a full technical briefing relating to all technical aspects related to the release of real time GPS data and app development, including information on data quality, filtering, and server capacity.
As presented at the Transit Commission meeting of January 18th, the OC i-Phone application has been submitted to the Apple app store. Apple must approve and licence all apps before they are made available publicly. This process is on track, and transit users can expect the see the i-Phone App available through the App Store once approval has been granted by Apple. This initiative was on track even before the formation of the IT Working Group, and the IT Working Group fully supports its release. The IT Working Group will be examining and making recommendations with regard to the development of apps for other platforms, including Android and Blackberry, at a future meeting.
The IT Working Group has directed staff to follow up with the City and appropriate departments of the Federal Government to canvass the demand for, and their willingness to deploy, an OC Transpo app for touch-screen Blackberry devices, should one be developed.
At the meeting of January 23, 2012, the IT Working Group extensively discussed the feasibility of the release of real time GPS data on the location and timing of buses. The IT Working Group believes that staff’s concerns about the reliability of independent apps can be addressed through the provision of Application Programming Interface (“API”) keys and Terms of Use Agreement that address concerns such as the use of OC trademarks, the requirement of disclaimers, and provisions that ensure that the City of Ottawa and its taxpayers cannot be held liable for any issues stemming from the use of the real time GPS data stream. Staff are to determine the level of request throttling, based on the number of API keys that are generated, that will best protect OC Transpo servers from data attacks or poor performance.
With regard to staff’s concerns about delaying the release of real time GPS data until the economic value of this information could be fully ascertained, the IT Working Group believes and recommends that the City should proceed with the release of real time GPS data as soon as prudent terms of use can be developed, given that there is currently no market taking advantage of such advertising opportunities and that the anticipated additional revenue is relatively small. More fundamentally, the Commission members of the IT Working Group unanimously believe that we do not wish to prevent the public from accessing data on the location and timing of public transit vehicles.
Therefore, the IT Working Group recommends that the Commission direct OC Transpo IT staff to immediately develop, in collaboration with the IT Working Group, and in accordance with existing policy, an OC Transpo Real-Time GPS Data Policy, which includes, but is not limited to an API Overview and Terms of Use Agreement. As part of the development, staff are to refer to Winnipeg Transit’s Open Data Policy as a model. The Ottawa version of the API Overview and Terms of Use Agreement are to be created, vetted by legal, and translated as soon as possible, subject to final approval by the IT Working Group and the Transit Commission.
Once developed, the IT Working Group will be recommending that the OC Transpo Real-Time GPS Data Policy be approved by the Commission, and that the Real Time GPS data feed be fully activated by March 22, 2012.
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There
are no legal impediments to approving the recommendation in this report.
There are no risk management implications to
implementing the recommendation in this report.
There are no implications to the City’s
Strategic Plan to implementing the recommendation in this report.
There are no technical implications to
implementing the recommendation in this report.
Staff will identify any operating or capital cost implications
during the 2013 budget process.
There are no accessibility implications to
implementing the recommendation in this report.
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Following approval by the Commission, an OC Transpo Real-Time GPS Data Policy which includes an API Overview and Terms of Use are to be brought back to the IT Working Group and the Transit Commission for final approval.