Sound Transit ATCMTD Application Volume 1 - Technical Application

7. CHALLENGES IN REGULATORY, LEGISLATIVE OR INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENTS.

Issues and challenges have been previously identified in question 4. In addition, the seven ORCA agencies have been working on the following institutional and regulatory challenges. Regarding Institutional Challenges, the ORCA smart card fare collection system has been in place in the region since 2009. Next Gen ORCA uses the existing institutional structure, so challenges from institutional partners are minimized. An existing Interlocal Cooperation Agreement has been approved with an agreed upon formula for payment of capital costs and operations and maintenance and an agreed upon formula for revenue sharing. Regarding regulatory challenges, Next Gen ORCA will encompass all steps necessary to develop an integrated system design following the National ITS Architecture Consistency Policy. The project is following the FTA/FHWA guidelines regarding Systems Engineering for ITS. We have built a Systems Engineering Management Plan specific to the Next Gen ORCA project and will be developing all documentation recommended by the FTA/FHWA to support our project.