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Shared Cost Initiative (SCI)
Shared-Use Transit Software Project
The Shared-Use Transit Software project was launched by the New York State Association of MPOs to assess the transportation software landscape, and to identify software viable for statewide deployment in a shared-use program for transit planners in New York State. MPOs and Transit Agencies across the state were surveyed about their needs for transit planning software and about their important agency objectives. The Research Team solicited applications for four pilot projects to test different transit planning software tools. Rochester’s Regional Transit Service (RTS), Westchester County’s Bee-Line Bus System, Central New York Regional Transportation Authority (CENTRO), and the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) applied to the research program with case study project concepts. The Research Team reviewed both proprietary vendor software and a variety of available open-source modules to determine which software could be utilized for each pilot. Remix, TBEST, Conveyal, Replica, and STOPS were all selected for the pilots.
Recommendations were made as a result of the research:
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Each transit planning software utilized in the project is recommended for statewide deployment in a shared-use program, and considerations are made specific to each software.
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To address the technical capacity gap found among transit agencies and MPOs, and to encourage the workflow integration step of tech-transfer, the Research Team recommends the establishment of a Transit Planning Community of Practice (CoP) that fosters collaboration and knowledge sharing along with technical support and documents to facilitate integration such as a transit planning playbook.
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To support the establishment of a statewide transit planning Community of Practice, the Research Team recommends the creation of a Transit Planning Playbook. The Playbook, which is included below, can serve the dual role of collecting and disseminating transit planning efforts across the state. Each case study added to the Playbook will feature a similar workflow.