Intelligent Transportation Systems: Urban and Rural Transit Providers Reported Benefits but Face Deployment Challenges
Highlights
What GAO Found
Selected large and medium urban transit providers have deployed most Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies, such as automatic vehicle location (AVL) and electronic fare payment. Most of these providers reported sharing data collected from ITS with the public or regional transportation providers to enable technology innovations and improve regional planning. Large and medium urban transit providers have also deployed advanced types of ITS technologies, such as smart phone applications to provide passengers with travel information and mobile ticketing. GAO estimates that small urban and rural transit providers are using security systems, computer-aided dispatch, AVL, and geographic information systems to, among other things, monitor safety and security and improve record-keeping and billing capabilities. However, most small urban and rural transit providers are not using other ITS technologies—such as automatic passenger counters or electronic fare payment—due to the cost of the technologies or because there is no perceived need.
Transit providers GAO surveyed and interviewed reported various benefits from ITS including improved scheduling and routing, on-time performance and schedule adherence, and customer satisfaction. In addition, many large and medium urban transit providers reported that using combinations of technologies can increase benefits. By using technologies such as AVL and electronic fare payment together, for example, transit providers can obtain more precise ridership information, which can further improve their planning. However, transit providers GAO interviewed and surveyed noted that it can be difficult to quantify the benefits of using ITS technologies because, as reported by large and medium urban providers, it may be difficult to identify a unit of measurement, such as for greater staff efficiency, or attribute benefits to either ITS deployment or a specific technology. Transit providers also face an assortment of deployment challenges, including competing for funding internally with state-of-good-repair needs, reluctance from the transit workforce and leadership to embrace ITS technologies, coordinating deployment across regional agencies, and integrating technologies purchased from different vendors.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) offers a variety of information resources to support ITS deployment, but few of the transit providers interviewed or surveyed reported using these resources. DOT officials, selected large and medium transit providers, and other public transit stakeholders told GAO that the transit community may not be using these resources because transit providers lack sufficient staff and the information provided may not reflect the transit community's needs. Additionally, DOT does not include small urban and rural transit providers in its ITS deployment survey, a tool officials said is used in designing information resources. DOT could improve the awareness and applicability of ITS resources by developing a strategy to raise awareness of DOT's resources available to the transit community and monitoring the adoption of ITS by transit providers in small urban and rural areas. Without greater efforts from DOT to make the transit community more aware of federal ITS resources and to tailor these resources to the needs of smaller providers, transit providers may be missing information that could help them make the most informed ITS deployment decisions.
Why GAO Did This Study
Public transit providers are adopting electronics and information-processing applications called ITS to help improve operations and service. ITS technologies can play an important role in facilitating multimodal choices in a rapidly changing transportation environment. This report describes: (1) the extent to which selected transit providers in large urbanized areas are using ITS, (2) the extent to which transit providers in small urban and rural areas are using ITS, (3) the benefits and challenges these transit providers experience in deploying ITS, and (4) the extent to which transit providers have utilized DOT resources to promote and support ITS.
GAO reviewed DOT's ITS deployment data and ITS studies; interviewed DOT officials and public transit stakeholders; conducted three site visits, selected based on geographic dispersion and DOT recommendations; interviewed 31 transit providers serving large urbanized areas selected for geographic dispersion and use of multiple transit modes; and conducted a national survey of small urban and rural transit providers to obtain information on ITS technologies used.
Recommendations
GAO recommends that the Secretary of Transportation develop a strategy to raise awareness of federal resources for ITS deployment in the transit community and include ITS adoption by small urban and rural transit providers in ITS-monitoring efforts. DOT agreed with the recommendations and provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Transportation | To improve access to and awareness and applicability of ITS resources for ITS deployment, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the ITS Joint Program Office (JPO), in coordination with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), to develop a strategy to raise awareness of JPO's training, technical assistance, and knowledge resources for transit ITS deployment in the transit community. |
In 2016, GAO reported that the Department of Transportation (DOT)-through the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office (JPO) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA)-offers a variety of resources to help transit providers deploy ITS technologies, including technical assistance programs, learning opportunities such as peer-to-peer assistance, and guidance from FTA staff. Officials also told GAO that they advertise offerings through email lists that include major transit industry associations and FTA staff, who they say consistently share news and information with transit, state, regional, and local stakeholders, and the private sector. These resources are intended to help transit providers learn about and more effectively deploy ITS technologies. However, most of the transit providers in GAO's review were unaware of these resources and reported relying largely on non-federal resources. Several transit stakeholders and 12 large and medium urban transit providers GAO interviewed told GAO they were unaware of the resources offered through the JPO. Specifically, GAO estimated, based on its survey that about 75 percent of the small urban and rural transit providers were unaware of JPO offerings and training, and 85 percent were unaware of JPO technical assistance and information resources. In addition, officials from DOT and industry groups, as well as an ITS consultant and several transit agencies, generally said that DOT's ITS support programs and research may not reflect the needs of the transit community in rural areas. Leading practices for successfully encouraging the adoption of new technologies include (1) choosing appropriate methods to promote the use of technology by the target audience, and (2) monitoring technology adoption. Improving the availability and awareness of DOT resources is a key component to promoting the use of technology by the target audience and can enhance efforts to assist others in making decisions regarding the use of technologies. Without greater efforts from DOT to make the transit community more aware of federal resources, transit providers may be missing information that could help them make the most informed ITS deployment decisions. Therefore, GAO recommended that the JPO, with FTA, develop a strategy to raise awareness of JPO's training, technical assistance, and knowledge resources for ITS deployment in the transit community. In 2020, GAO confirmed that DOT developed a strategy to raise awareness of federal resources for transit ITS deployment in the transit community. Specifically, DOT commissioned a white paper that recommended a strategy composed of four initiatives including: (1) developing and maintaining an inventory of DOT's ITS transit ITS technical resources that would provide a central repository of available resources; (2) updating and enhancing DOT websites, such as FTA's ITS for Transit and the JPO's ITS Deployment Resources web pages; (3) enhancing and expanding outreach efforts to transit groups, such as by participating in transit agency association events and encouraging deployment of a web-based portal for ITS information; and (4) developing a road show for different forums to demonstrate the value of connected and autonomous vehicle technologies for transit. DOT adopted this strategy and has either taken or plans to take actions including creating a Mobility on Demand website to help bridge research between FTA and JPO, and updating ITS-related websites as part of FTA's migration to a new web content management system. By identifying several specific initiatives to build awareness, DOT has developed a strategy that can help transit providers be aware and take advantage of JPO's training, technical assistance, and knowledge resources for transit ITS deployment in the transit community.
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| Department of Transportation | To improve access to and awareness and applicability of ITS resources for ITS deployment, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the ITS JPO, in coordination with FTA, to include ITS adoption by small urban and rural transit providers in ITS monitoring efforts. |
In 2016, GAO reported that the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office (JPO) monitors the adoption of ITS technologies through the ITS deployment survey and uses this information to understand the level of deployment and to help them make decisions on how to encourage the future deployment of ITS through its information resources. However, the deployment survey has focused on technology adoption by transit providers located in major metropolitan areas and does not collect deployment data from those that primarily serve small urban and rural areas. Officials told GAO they have no plans to survey rural transit providers because these providers are generally very small and serve specialized functions often associated with federal programs, such as the transportation of elderly to medical appointments, which would have required them to contact each provider individually to get information. Additionally, officials told GAO the purpose of the survey is to document trends and to understand how ITS deployment, which generally occurs in larger cities, has progressed, although some of the information JPO collects may include deployment in small cities because providers in larger cities may also provide service in those areas. However, GAO estimated from its survey results that a majority of small urban and rural transit providers are using several ITS technologies- such as security systems, computer-aided dispatch, and automatic vehicle location-but have experienced challenges in using funding opportunities for ITS as well as the operational costs associated with these technologies. Additionally, GAO estimated from its survey that small urban and rural providers have plans to continue deploying ITS. Including the deployment of ITS by small urban and rural transit providers in ITS monitoring efforts may provide the JPO with information to customize ITS resources to address the challenges faced by this transit community. Without greater efforts from DOT to tailor its resources to include the needs of small urban and rural transit, these transit providers may be missing information that could inform their ITS deployment decisions. Therefore, GAO recommended that Secretary of Transportation should direct the ITS JPO, in coordination with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), to include ITS adoption by small urban and rural transit providers in ITS monitoring efforts. In 2020, GAO confirmed that the JPO had included the adoption of ITS by small urban and rural transit providers in its monitoring efforts. Specifically, the JPO administered a ITS deployment survey from September 9 through October 28, in 2019 on the use and usefulness of ITS technologies deployed, along with reasons why the technologies are or are not being used, to a sample of 244 small urban and rural transit providers, achieving a 74 percent response rate. In addition, the survey addressed the challenges to deployment, the benefits of these technologies, and the sources of funding and technical support, including use of ITS JPO resources. The final report on the survey's findings also presented the JPO and FTA with recommendations for accelerating the deployment of ITS among small urban and rural transit providers, including revising its deployment tracking survey methodology to better account for small urban and rural areas; conducting more targeted outreach to small urban and rural transit providers as part of overall evaluation and technology transfer approach; and consider conducting additional qualitative research, such as case studies with small urban and rural transit agencies. By including ITS adoption by small urban and rural transit agencies in its survey, the JPO helped to improve access to and awareness and applicability of ITS resources for ITS deployment.
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