Transit Transparency: Effective Disclosure through Open Data

This study examines the process by which transit agencies in the United States disclose their operations data to the public and analyzes how constituencies for that data, particularly software developers and transit riders, used that information. This report is based upon five case histories of public transit agencies: Portland’s Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation System of Oregon (TriMet), Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), and New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The authors sought to understand the origin, evolution and effect of those agencies’ open data initiatives using extensive interview work, web research, and analyses of customer surveys. Through this methodology, the authors identified the drivers and barriers to adoption of transparent, consumer-oriented information systems by transit agencies.

• Record URL:
  http://www.transparencypolicy.net/assets/FINAL_UTC_TransitTransparency_8%2028%202012.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Harvard Kennedy School

  Ash Center for Democractic Governance and Innovation
  79 John F. Kennedy Street, Mailbox 74
  Cambridge, MA  United States  02138

  Taubman Center for State and Local Government

  Kennedy School of Government, 79 JFK Street
  Cambridge, MA  United States  02138

  New England University Transportation Center

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 40-279
  Cambridge, MA  United States  01239

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Rojas, Francisca M
• Publication Date: 2012-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 85p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Case studies; Data sharing; Information dissemination; Public transit; Surveys; Transit operating agencies; Transit riders
• Identifier Terms: Chicago Transit Authority; Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority; New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority; Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon; Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01481253
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: UTC, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: May 14 2013 9:45AM