Keynote address given by The Open Planning Project's Nick Grossman at the NYS DOT 511/ITS Regional Workshop, Oct 1, 2009.

1. What open source and open data
mean for tomorrow's
transportation agencies
Nick Grossman, The Open Planning Project
NYSDOT 511 / ITS Regional Workshop, 10/1/09

2. Open

3. Better stuff. Less money.

4. Who we are
TOPP is a nonprofit civic technology organization
OpenGeo TOPP Labs Livable Streets
Open source GIS Civic web Urban policy
tools & services applications media & advocacy

5. What we do, exactly
We create software, build open source communities,
and advocate for smarter, more livable cities

6. Some clients and users
• Portland TriMet
• MassGIS: Central GIS Agency of Massachusetts
• Landgate: State of Western Australia
• IGN France and Spain: National Mapping Agencies
• New York City and San Francisco
• Finnish Ministry of Agriculture
• Dutch Ministry of Water and Transportation

8. 1. Open Source

9. Open source is a new way of
developing software.
• It’s about collaboration
• It’s free to use — no license fees
• It produces better software

10. A tiny example

11. Getting a little bigger

12. Filling in the gaps

13. Inclusive process

14. Inclusive process
One Bus Away

18. Mutual benefit, collaborative funding

19. Mutual benefit, collaborative funding

20. Product development
Existing Code
tools contributions
Roadmap Features
Funding

21. Towards an open transit suite
System map Developer center
Trip planner Data management
AVL System planning
Modeling Analysis ...

22. But wait... it’s harder than that

23. But wait... it’s harder than that
“GeoServer Enterprise offered us the flexible and
comprehensive support we were looking for: expertise and
knowledge transfer from core developers; feature development
that's incorporated into the source code; unlimited priority
bug fixes; and fast and reliable technical support”
— Bibiana McHugh
IT Manager for GIS, TriMet

24. 2. Open Data

25. You don’t have to build it all

26. Core services
Apps
Agency

27. Core services
Apps
Data APIs Platform
Agency

28. Core services Value added
at no cost
App
Apps App
App
Data APIs Platform
Agency

29. Concerns
• Data accuracy
• Liability
• Trademarks and copyrights
• Equity
• Security

30. GPS

31. IRS eFile

32. Data.gov

33. Wikipedia
2-way: Hopstop, Ride The City

34. The beginning of a platform for transit
Google Transit Feed Specification (GTFS)

35. The industry is catching on

36. The industry is catching on
“Sharing our investment in technology will help to create
innovative tools more quickly and in a broader range than
what the agency will be able to provide on its own.”

37. The industry is catching on
“Sharing our investment in technology will help to create
innovative tools more quickly and in a broader range than
what the agency will be able to provide on its own.”
“The bottom line is to provide the best experience for
customers by enabling those who can create new and varied
applications with the means to do so.”

38. The industry is catching on
“Sharing our investment in technology will help to create
innovative tools more quickly and in a broader range than
what the agency will be able to provide on its own.”
“The bottom line is to provide the best experience for
customers by enabling those who can create new and varied
applications with the means to do so.”
— Richard L Rodriguez
President, Chicago Transit Authority, 9/9/09
http://www.transitchicago.com/news/default.aspx?Month=&Year=&Category=2&ArticleId=2450

39. Over 100 transit-related iPhone apps

43. Open data = good press

44. So, how do you get there?

45. Idea 1: Rethink the order
of operations
(Hat tip to Chris Dempsey from Mass EOT for helping to articulate this idea)

46. Idea 1: Rethink the order
of operations
Then:
1. Build end-to-end
infrastructure...
2. ... including
consumer services
3. Open up data
(as an afterthought)
(Hat tip to Chris Dempsey from Mass EOT for helping to articulate this idea)

47. Idea 1: Rethink the order
of operations
Then: Now:
1. Build end-to-end 1. Build internal
infrastructure... infrastructure
2. ... including 2. Open up data
consumer services 3. Build core services
3. Open up data + see what arrives
(as an afterthought) from third parties
(Hat tip to Chris Dempsey from Mass EOT for helping to articulate this idea)

48. Idea 2: Make it easy

49. Idea 3: Engage developers early on

50. Bringing it back home
http://nytransitdata.org

51. Open:
Better stuff. Less money.

52. Keep in touch!
• The Open Planning Project: http://openplans.org
• Nick Grossman:
nickyg@openplans.org
@nickgrossman on twitter
• OpenTripPlanner: http://opentripplanner.org
• This presentation: http://slideshare.net/openplans