September 2007 Roundtable Minutes

Presentation: Nebiyou Tilahun for David Levinson, "The Role of Social Networks and ICT on Destination Choice"

Question and Answer

Joe Sussman: How are you going to tease out the effects of information technology and communication in this study?

NT: We're using this portion to see the extent to which our hypothesis is supported. We're asking people the role of social contacts in finding their work location versus the role of the internet in finding their work location. That particular information comes from the study we'll be continuing on- the information here doesn't really tell us that.

What is the hypothesis of this research?

Social networks play a holistic role in locating people and their work locations and home locations and that a significant number of people reside close to their coworkers, either because co-workers referred them to houses or neighbors referred them to jobs. We're looking at what role ICP plays in organizing people's social lives, how they maintain social networks, and how they choose a particular destination to go to.

Noreen McDonald: Formerly it's been assumed that social networks are tied to space. Perhaps ICT will allow you to collapse these boundaries.

Presentation: Ben Schooley and Thomas Horan, "ITS and Transportation Safety: ITS and EMS System Data Integration for Safety, Emergency and Crisis Response Planning"

Question and Answer

How do they determine time measured in rural areas with no eye-witnesses?

TH: Generally from estimates. What has been helping is working with Onstar. CAN data will also help to fill in some of those gaps. Onstar has been giving us their data for crashes in 2006.

Donath: I understand car computers stop during a major crash and crash-time data can be pulled from car computers. Is this a source of fatality data?

TH: For 90% of FARS data elements, they have an estimated crash time listed. That can come from any number of sources.

Donath: There's currently no national system. State by state, states determine how to gather data.

TH: Hence the need for NEMSIS standards

Joe Sussman: What about the role of cell phones and the ability to contact EMS personnel about an accident?

TH: The dispatch data set we use from Mayo Clinic is reliant on in-coming 911 calls. It is correct that cell phone calls can aid in the response. I think the way we'll look at it is to look at our data and the origin of our 911 calls, and the extent to which response times vary as a function of coming from a mobile phone call in rural areas. Mobile phones have greatly improved the ability to communicate an accident in a rural area.

There are some rural areas where cell phone coverage is not available. Response to recreational fatalities, eg snow mobiling, can go either way depending on cell phone coverage. Yes, mobile fatalities improve response time, but in a rural area it could still take a half hour to get to a hospital.

Arn Howitt: Your visualization, ie mapping, of data causes strong reactions.

TH: We hope to raise awareness of fatalities. This visualization of fatalities hasn't been done before, and we hope if we get it out there it will cause reactions.

BS: On GoogleMaps, we're creating an overlay where you can click on bubbles on a map and receive crash information for that location.

TH: We're also interested in allowing those involved in accidents to input information on that site. Onstar is a technology used by urbanites, which is a paradox because they are less likely to have a fatal accident that people in rural areas.

Presentation: Frank Douma, "Current and Emerging Privacy Law for ITS"

Question and Answer:

In Hennepin County we have video detection at intersections. Can insurance companies ask for video data of a crash?

FD: Specifically, I don't know, but if that data was collected from a video camera that is generally available, that data could be discovered and found and used.

Steve Simon: Is the explosion of toll responders spilling over into traffic control?

FD: I believe in MN it is specifically written into the policy that this information will only be used for the collection of tolls and no other purpose. However, as we saw with Homeland Security and the federal government requesting passenger information from private airline companies, should an instance arise when it's in the national interest to collect speeding data, there is no federal protection from that happening.

Joe Sussman: I have a notion that your research will benefit Civil Engineers by creating practical, useful tools. Are you optimistic about delivering practical policy results?

FD: Yes, presuming the legislative process moves slower than the research process.

Presentation: Julian Marshall, "School Travel and the Implications for Advances in Transportation Related Technology"

Questions and Answer:

The issue of transporting children in a hot-button topic. How would you separate the implications 'of' advances in transportation technology versus implications 'before' transportation technology raises?

JM: My hope is that information can suggest what technology would be appropriate in the future that meets both schools' needs and parents' needs.

Joe Sussman: So you see this flowing in both directions? Not promising new technology, but making suggestions of what could be.

Noreen McDonald: Are minority students more or less likely to use magnet schools and therefore bus?

JM: I don't know, we're still tabulating our survey. Our findings suggest that minority students are more likely to bus.

Did you look at how marital status complicates busing?

JM: We didn't ask that specifically in the survey.

Arn Howitt: Have you found other places that use ITS technology in school buses?

JM: Not yet, we're looking at what suggestions come from this survey. We're aware of the issues related to being technology-neutral versus promoting technology and whether we come to the school making suggestions versus comparisons.

Can we make a use of technology to improve walking and biking safety to school?

General Program Discussion

Joe Sussman: There are some gaps in the program that need to be considered. The projects take the institutions and their performance as given, and do not think about changing these institutions. Institutional change is vitally important, and may be required as we introduce new technologies. Researchers should not think of an institution as fixed, but as something to be required in the future.

The other gap that struck me is that we heard very little about sustainable development and the environment. All of the projects have validity in and of themselves, but I was surprised not to have heard the word environment, while the notion of sustainability is an overarching design principle in complex transportation systems.

Arn Howitt: If we focus too much on adapting our institutions to take advantage of new technologies, we miss out on the connection between the technology and the people who use it. That connection is on the use side- where people have to find a use that is not just theoretically valuable to them, but actually is valuable in the context of the things that they do in their daily lives, their priorities, and the costs to them (both in dollars and other measurements of costs). Secondly, I think we have to think about demand and consent: people agree to use technological systems only when some reasonable body of citizens are paying attention and think it makes sense to do so. It's important as we think of institutional change to be practical about what the constraints are, either because of potential uses by key stakeholder groups, or what people are willing to consent to.

Joe Sussman: I think it's important that people from different fields (engineering, political science, economics, etc) come together and define what we're even talking about. That's a challenge in and of itself.

Response to Projects by Peer Review Panelists:

Steve Simon:

David Levinson's research is interesting, but I wonder how his research model would apply in rural areas. The social institutions in small areas are bars. We need to know how people get there and get home, whether they're alone or with a group. This could also tease out the source of over-fatalities in rural areas. What's the likelihood of Designated Driver cabs, Sober Drivers, on improving safety?

Tom Horan's research needs a better handle on crash detection time. With that, we could get some surprising data in that area.

Frank Douma's work on Vicarious Criminal Liability gets at the main legal tool to enforcing traffic laws which are directly related to safety, e.g toll roads that could calculate speeding.

Joe Sussman:

Overarching Comments on the TechPlan program:

Applauds ITS for looking at policy issues, which need institutional research along with technology research.

Information can improve safety and system performance interaction between transportation and communication technology. Heavily network-oriented, sometimes complimentary and sometimes competitive. Research is needed to tease out which is which.

Horan: ITS has moved us from the original paradigm- "crashes are expected" to an accident-prevention paradigm. EMS response comes full circle to mitigating accidents and crashes. This is healthy. I question the extent to which we've considered the moral hazard aspects, eg with snow mobiles: whether the ability to service unsafe activities allows them to occur.

Douma: I continue to push him toward how results may be used in practical terms. We're unrealistic if we don't expect privacy doors to open in the future.

Marshall: This is a hot-button, very emotional topic. Stake-holders, ie parents, may be more irrational than typical stake-holders. Idea of kids with cell phones on school buses, how do they fit into this? I'd consider adding public transportation to the agenda, along with changing household demographics with two working parents.

Noreen McDonald:

Highlights parents' concern for safety. It's important to consider how to improve walking safety to school along with busing safety. There are opportunities here for cross-linkages and federal funding eg SafeWalk to School.

St.Paul Public Schools don't use bus-routing software, but they have an award-winning system. If you talk to school districts about how they locate schools, they use software and choose the lowest-cost location in their community. What local knowledge is missing from software is interesting research.

Levinson's work raises the question of defining community. ICT shows us that community isn't spatial. Levinson's research is limited to who is near each other. It's critical to find out how they connect with each other.

Thomas Horan: Find out how information can improve planning and gain a legal perspective.

Arn Howitt:

Commends UMN for focus on institutional, political, and social consequences of ITS technology. These projects represent a creative portfolio of subject matter and level of analysis.

Horan and Schooley: Current effort more useful in planning frame and safety. Powerful visual of seeing photos of accident sites will help generate public concern and serve as a tool to discuss safety within groups. Can users add their own data?

Douma: The fascinating relationship between privacy and technology has even more breadth than this work, e.g. FBI Homeland Security- should data have expiration date? There are so many different relationships to consider in this issue over the right to information- relations between citizen and government, citizens and private entities, governments and private entities, and citizens and citizens. Changing legal framework can resolve tensions, be proactive rather than catch-up.

Levinson: Valuable approach with macro-research.

Empirical observations should combine survey with Census.

System Performance Issue: need to focus on where travel implications of research will lead.

Marshall: Useful research should be able to diffuse around country.

Max Donath:

With respect to ITS and EMS: cell coverage in rural areas is decreasing, how does this impact response time?

How widely deployed is ACN?

Even with legislation for E911, it's not widely deployed. Onstar is in major transition, because most of its technology is based on analog, which will be turned off in one year. We cam learn from European examples of ITS/EMS. How well can we anonymize data?

Local travelers have best knowledge of alternative routes- not software.

Points out availability of location-based cell phones that "geo-fence," or send an automatic text message to parents if a child leaves a pre-approved road. The hurdle in this case is awareness.

Levinson: Need to consider Role of Transit and traveler info about transit choices, for example real-time arrival of bus. Again more data on arterial roads is important.

General Response

Barb Crosby: Wifi covering the entirety of Minneapolis creates a form of "transportation portal." People can access information about who in their neighborhood works where for car pooling purposes. Blogs can tell you what bus has congestion or search where kids go to school. Is this going to become reality?

Lee Munich: Is early input before decisions are made a better form of research than asking questions and presenting information to stakeholders? Or perhaps the input of so many people is too challenging to institutions?

Horan: In what ways does technology allow for more interactive planning, in which citizens can input data?

Bryson: In an environment where everyone is an actor or planner, the terms citizen, system, user, and institution in all become ambiguous.

Response from Practioner Panelists:

Roy Hallanger

We use software that allows us to plan a bus route. I'm working on Safe Routes to School and how strategic planning relates to how people choose schools. School choice does not desegregate schools- people are choosing to segregate themselves. Parents often choose schools based on a nearby bus stop to avoid having walk to a closer school. This relates to child obesity- kids aren't even walking in their neighborhood.

With new busing technology, one thing I always point out is what kind of experiments do you want to do with school children?

There's a lot of controversy regarding putting GPS on buses. How much do you want the driver looking at the map on the bus as opposed to looking out the windshield?

I'd like to see more use of Onstar technology. For example, how often a driver makes a quick stop that could cause an injury but was not called in.

Routing software and GPS are growing, eg monitoring if child doesn't get off on stop. Soon, we will not have a choice but to adopt technology in order to keep up with parents who have already adopted it.

Arlene McCarthy

Levinson and Social Networks: MetCouncil uses LEHD data for planning as well. As an employer, knowing about the Potential shortage of workers in America, this data could help us get employees to our work location. The social network of current employees is an opportunity to get new employees. Appeal of car-pooling increases when people are already in a neighborhood and working together. People avoid car-pooling with strangers.

Marketing applications of social networks: Retailers advertise for employees in areas with good transportation routes to their business.

ITS and Emergency Response: Does congestion impact EMS response time in urban areas? When you have greater congestion, is there an impact on response time because EMS vehicles can't get through traffic. We're implementing a Price Dynamic shoulder- which gives up the shoulder but allows any lane to be closed for an emergency vehicle. This enhances path for emergency vehicles and increases capacity on highway.

Douma: SmartCard system is our struggle with privacy. It tells you when someone gets on a bus and allows us better information on trip dynamics. This makes people uncomfortable. We've implemented a voluntary fee waiver if people get the card that gives this information. On the other hand, public transit is not private. Most people consider bus cameras good. It makes people feel safer and helps control behavior. Lastly, the state can use this ridership data to reward frequent riders. The implications of data collection do not have to be negative.

Marshall: In response to the question, why don't we merge school and public transit? 1990s study found that parents want children in a controlled environment without strangers. People on public transit don't want to be on a bus full of kids. High schoolers in urban areas often ride the bus. Another issue with merging is capacity- both school and public buses are full in the morning, and neither system could absorb the other. Drivers quit when they had to drive kids. We want to promote walking and biking.

Don Mueting:

Technology is not a natural fit in a government setting. The process of government change must come first from the legislature, which acts as a sort of board of directors. Because of the legislative process, government is always catching up with technology. Among state government, no reward is given to a department for experimenting with technology, because any money saved from the new process goes back to larger funds and is not recirculated back to the state agency.

On the issue of privacy, state data is automatically public. Companies at risk are turning over data to the state, which means that information becomes publically available. Data in government hands is much more accessible to the public than private data and it is highly sought after, eg by divorce lawyers. We need legislation to keep this in the right hands.

Susan Moe:

Horan: From a federal perspective, this research is valuable. FHWA's mission is safety. SafetyLoo utilized visualization to make safety a part of planning. Maps have power to create outrage over the 40,000 auto-related deaths each year. We need more tools to reach people who will say that this is not acceptable.

Marshall: Safe Routes to School: Changing definitions of what is safe. Is it infrastructure? Some schools don't have bike racks. Some parents just don't want their kids out alone in the world.

Douma: We would like nothing better than red-light cameras to enforce safety.