Park Ridge,IL--URISA and the University of South Florida's National Center for Transit Research at the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) are pleased to support this one of a kind conference which offers GIS in Transit professionals the opportunity to learn from industry experts, attend professional development training, learn about research updates and new technologies, and network with your peers.

GIS in Transit: The Route to Success in Transit GIS Conference
November 16-18, 2009
St. Petersburg, Florida

Featured Session: Google Transit - GTFS Data Standards with Open Innovation The Google Transit Web Based Trip planner has excited many within the transit community. Equally exciting is the open source data format which drives the Google Transit application. This open source format encourages innovative uses of transit data to communicate with transit passengers in many ways. This session will address the open data format and illustrate innovative approaches to using this data to better communicate with the transit customer. It will feature Joe Hughes from Google Transit and three software innovators using the Google Transit data format to create alternative web and mobile trip planning applications.

• Developer 1: In Search of Simpler Schedules, Jehiah Czebotar, theNextTrain, New York, NY
• Developer 2: OneBusAway: An Open-Source Transit Traveler Information System, Brian Ferris, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
• Developer 3: Five Points: An Open-Source Framework for Transit System Simulation, David D. Emory, Atlanta, GA
Featured Session: Better Transit Maps
If your customers can't understand your transit maps, they won't use them. This presentation discusses guidelines and recommendations for producing effective and consistent printed transit information materials like system maps, route maps, and schedules.

• Designing Printed Transit Information Materials – A Guidebook for Transit Service Providers Alasdair Cain, CUTR/USF, Tampa, FL
• Development of Innovative Bus Schedule Format That Reduces Printing Costs Judith M. Lavelle, MPH, Lavelle Consulting Group, Greeley, CO
• The Psychology of Passenger Information and Wayfinding Rick Wood, CHK America, Inc, Santa Barbara, CA

Featured Preconference Workshops:
• Asset Management: Planning, Strategy, and Implementation
• Transportation Spatial Database Design
• Overview of Free and Open Source GIS

Featured Keynote Address:
Unlocking the Benefits of GIS in Tough Times: Moving GIS from the “Sidelines” to the Heart of the Enterprise Paula (Polly) Okunieff, Senior Technical Staff, Consensus Systems Technologies Corporation, Shenorock, NY

For many transit agencies, GIS and GIS staff must do more with fewer resources and meet greater expectations of customers and senior managers. In the past, the role of GIS in transit agencies has focused primarily on making pretty maps and simple planning studies. With the tools that are available today, it can be used as an integration engine for core transit data, serving a critical role in ensuring quality transit information and operating efficiencies. The need is manifested in the specialized tools that scheduling and ITS applications – like Computer Aided Dispatch and Automated Passenger Counting Systems -- use to implement transit service. Many of these tools still manage data in stove-pipes, missing the integration opportunities to support a multitude of other transit business processes. Ms. Okunieff will discuss strategies and initiatives to expand the role and value of your agency's GIS investments.

Featured Closing Session:
What Open Source, Open Data, and Open APIs Mean for Tomorrow's Transit Agencies Chris Holmes & Nick Grossman, OpenGeo, New York, NY Agencies across the US are embracing an open approach to transit data and technology. The Open Planning Project will share its experiences working with TriMet to develop open platform solutions. Find out what this means for agency operations, how it enables greater inter-agency collaboration, and most importantly, how it can save money and foster ongoing innovation.

Review complete conference details, exhibit and sponsorship information and register online: www.urisa.org/gis_transit

Sponsored by the URISA and the University of South Florida's National Center for Transit Research at the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR). Endorsed by the Transportation Research Board and the American Public Transportation Association.

Wendy Nelson
Executive Director - URISA
wnelson@urisa.org www.urisa.org 847-824-6300