Welcome & Opening Remarks

Educational Sessions

• Covid-19 Innovations for Recovery

  As transit agencies begin the difficult work of reorienting themselves for a post-COVID-19 world, there is a looming question about the role of Innovation and Technology in COVID-19 response and recovery. While the pandemic has strained transit agencies with new challenges, it has also forced agencies to think differently on how to adopt innovative ways that can ultimately regain the trust of the rider. Hear from speakers at AC Transit and Austin’s Capital Metro about how innovation is helping transit to recover from the pandemic.

• Navigating Ridership Demographic Changes

  Hear from agencies across the U.S. about how they’ve responded to the changing demographics and demands of their riders. As ridership has shifted from 9-5 commuters to service industry and essential workers, transit agencies are
  pressed to rethink the ways in which they will meet rider preferences and needs, and how they will plan for the future.

Networking Break

Educational Sessions

• Innovative New Technologies for Transit

  Technology continues to be more and more inextricably linked to mobility. Hear from our speakers about how they are embracing new technological innovations. First, Piper Networks will talk about how they’re using proprietary Ultra-Wideband positioning technology to help transit agencies in Contact Tracing. Then we will hear from AC Transit and WSP about transitioning to Zero-Emission Bus Technology.

• Intellectual Property & Protecting Your Ridership Data: Legal Concerns & What You Need to Know

  We once again welcome back Holland and Knight Partner, Max Bodoin. Learn all about the legal and intellectual property implications of fare technology. As many of us know, there are several concerns centered around intellectual property and data. This session will review what to consider when procuring new technology — identifying new sources and uses of data, significant added value, as well as significant potential risk. We will offer an extended Q&A session to allow the audience to interact and ask questions.

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Virtual Tour 1

Tabletop Discussions

Networking Break

Educational Sessions

• Open and Contactless Payment and the Realities of Technology

  With more and more push for contactless fare technology, transit agencies need to understand the realities of procurement and implementation. This session will cover how to implement open and contactless payment to your current fare collection system, as well as the benefits this advanced technology can provide to both agencies and riders. This session will also address setting expectations with leadership, stakeholders, and more.  

• Voice Communication Technology for Transit

  Transit technologies have gone through transformative changes in recent years in on-board, central, and infrastructure-related systems. Throughout this transformation, voice communication remains the backbone of driver and dispatch exchanges. Whether it is to report an accident or to inform a bus driver of an operational change, voice communication technology is critical to successful public transit operations. Historically agencies have used wireless communication based on land mobile radio (LMR)-based technology that required significant capital investment along with operations and maintenance expenses. However, the advent of affordable high-bandwidth cellular communication has opened other opportunities. This session will provide lessons from several transit agencies’ experiences with voice communication projects.

Fitness Break

Educational Sessions

• The Possibilities of Autonomous Vehicle Technology for Transit

  As we continue to craft a vision for the mobility network of the future, autonomous and connected vehicle technology seems to become more and more central to that vision. Hear about the latest autonomous vehicle (AV) landscape and from some of the agencies that have launched successful transit AV pilots.

• Transit Applications for Systems Engineering

  Systems engineering (SE) should be considered a means by which transit agencies can successfully deliver projects and meet agency and customer needs. Hear about case studies that underscore the benefits/successes of an SE approach. This session will also provide an update on the progress on the APTA Systems Integration Guide.

Virtual Happy Hour & Debrief

Welcome & Opening Remarks

Educational Sessions

• Anticipating a Second COVID-19 Spike - How to Prepare, Innovative Approaches, and Lessons Learned

  As some states and countries struggle to get out of the first spike of COVID-19, transit agencies are in the position of calling on their experiences with the virus to prepare and use best practices. This includes leveraging some of the latest innovations in disinfecting, contact tracing, contactless fare collection, and using data to enforce low vehicle capacity/social distancing. Hear about how transit agencies will prepare for a second wave of COVID-19, and what they will do to continue offering essential transit service while keeping their riders and employees safe. Furthermore, we’ll delve into leadership during a pandemic — how to empower employees, how to educate employees on health and safety procedures, how to motivate and protect frontline employees, and more.

• Open Data Standards

  Open data and open source software can allow transit agencies to make integrated service information readily accessible to riders without requiring them to navigate a constellation of different apps, websites, and phone trees. In this session, attendees will learn about the real-world impact of public transit accessibility data (and its absence). We will hear from agencies in urban, suburban, and rural contexts that are using GTFS-Flex to address a number of
  demand response services.

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Virtual Tour 2

Educational Sessions

• Leveraging Technology to Improve Service

  To be successful developing new mobility options in this rapidly changing transit environment, you need to be able to leverage technology and measure its impacts. This session will feature two case studies from agencies doing just that: San Joaquin Regional Transit Authority (RTD) and Metro Transit. RTD is providing multiple modes of service including Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), Fixed Route, Commuter Bus, County Hoppers (Deviated Fixed Route, Demand Response ADA and Non-ADA Paratransit, Non-Profits, Taxis, and VanGo Ridesharing services. Metro Transit is using flexible, open source coding software (R, R Markdown, and R Shiny) to develop datasets, figures, reports, and interactive data tools from existing APC datasets from the bus and rail CAD-AVL systems. Example outputs included: daily ridership changes from pre-COVID baseline by mode, trips, and segments experiencing overloading under a new, more restrictive standard of 10 passengers per 40-foot bus; and amounts of time passengers and operators experienced overloaded conditions across the bus network.  

• Payment Processing 101: Everything You Should Know

  What is the role of an acquirer? How about the issuing bank? This educational session will delve into the process of payment processing. Hear about the basics of payment processing, how it all works and comes together, as well as how to better negotiate with vendors.

Fitness Break

Tabletop Discussions

Networking Break

Educational Sessions

• COVID-19’s Impact on the Technology Transit Workforce

  The challenges facing today’s transit workforce make up a trifecta -- the transit workforce is aging, which will ultimately result in a ‘silver tsunami’ of retirements and position vacancies; mobility is becoming more entrenched in technology, which means the future workforce will need different skill sets; and a global pandemic is threatening the safety and health of the many essential workers that keep our service running. Hear various perspectives on how to manage these significant shifts in the transit workforce.

• Emerging Technology in Fare Collection

  Attend this session for a broad conversation about new technologies in fare collection and payment. Everything from the procurement of new technology to the impact of its implementation will be discussed as we take a deep dive into how new solutions affect a transit agency, from agency operations to ridership.

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Virtual Tour 3

The Future of Fare Payment Is Now

Safety and Security Considerations in the Age of Connected Mobility

Closing Remarks