We have applied learnings from the field to develop frameworks to help public agencies conceptualize, design, build, deploy and measure innovative mobility solutions.
Advisory Framework: Bricks
Similar to computer systems, transportation systems are built using the equivalent of hardware, software, networks and storage. Broadly, high-level analogous components are:
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Physical Assets (i.e., hardware): consist of streets, rail tracks, curbs, hubs and other similar linear built environment.
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Digital Assets (i.e., software): includes software and systems such as control centers, roadside infrastructure, parking/curb management and others, to build intelligence layers on top of physical assets. These assets also help manage guidelines set by regulatory frameworks and resultant policies.
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Mobility Services (i.e., networks): includes modes (e.g., personal automobiles, transit, taxis), organizational frameworks, standard operating procedures. service level agreements etc. for service delivery.
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Land Use (i.e., storage): refers to vertical/linear built environment components that serve as attractors and trip generators (e.g., facilities that provide residences, offices, recreation, parking, education, healthcare, mixed-use and others).
Just like interconnected computer systems require hardware, software, networks and storage to work in sync to serve their users, transportation systems need their core components and associated stakeholders to work in sync as well. This is the basis of our “Bricks” framework.
One such example for implementing an integrated mobility is illustrated here. There is no one-size-fits-all approach that will apply to every community. However, mobility systems need a multi-dimensional framework to deliver a complete and personalized mobility solution to travelers.
Mobility Bricks- Integrated Mobility Systems
(Source: Flexlynqs)
Solutions Framework: Sync
Mobility service delivery is a complex process where core workflows are influenced by the following stakeholders:
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Customers: also referred by travelers or riders are demand generators. Their mode-choice and preferences are representative of their physical constraints, demography and socio-economic conditions.
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Administrators: public agencies that carry the overall responsibilities for planning, delivering and measuring of mobility services.
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Operators: run operations either directly or indirectly for Administrators.
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Funders: in coordination with Administrators/other public agencies, and non-profit entities, subsidize public transportation/mobility services.
Dozens of systems are used by these stakeholders on a daily basis for delivery and consumption of mobility services. Often times these systems are on legacy platforms and/or firewalled and cannot be integrated. Our "Sync" platform uses an innovative "Data Broker" approach to capitalize on standard data formats or vendor APIs to develop central data platforms to enable interoperability through mobility operations centers.
While such concept has always existed for complex fixed route services where vendors have integrated on-board, wayside and central systems, such capabilities are limited for truly multimodal systems. The Data Broker approach in the Sync framework enables information exchange across various systems and stakeholders for efficient delivery of mobility services. EZConnect being implemented by NEORide is an example of such approach.
Example: Sync- Integrated Mobility Systems
(Source: Flexlynqs)
Data Framework: Lynq
Our Solutions Framework, Sync (with Data Brokers), is helpful for an individual agency or a small group of agencies in a region, however, to scale to multi-jurisdictional settings, Integrated Data Exchanges (IDE) are needed. IDEs that can enable data acquisition, management, processing, sharing and utilization at scale, will drive how new mobility systems are deployed in the future. We are calling IDE-based framework "Lynq" as it brings, agencies, systems and their stakeholders together with the power of data. Core components are:
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Source: consist of a variety of acquisition elements such as sensors, devices and systems installed in-vehicle, wayside or centrally; data relevant to physical and mobile assets; reference datasets collected by public agencies and many others. Level of sophistication and scale vary by agency.
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Ingestion: based on institutional agreements, data can be ingested using standard formats (e.g., GTFS), APIs or custom logic. Required pre and post-processing is performed during the ingestion process and depends on the typical 5Vs of big data.
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Management: Data is managed by the Exchange owner/steward in real-time and offline repositories to manage the downstream utilization.
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Sharing: governed by regulatory and policy frameworks, data is shared with eventual users.
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Utilization: Data is utilized in raw or application format by a variety of stakeholders.
We believe as the mobility systems move further towards autonomy, connectivity, sharing and electrification, a truly multimodal IDEs will be a necessity for making deployments replicable and scalable.
