U.S. Department of Transportation Roadway Transportation Data Business Plan (Phase 3): Data Business Plan Development for State and Local Departments of Transportation

Appendix F. Example Charter

Scope and Purpose

This Charter establishes a Mobility Data Task Force (hereafter called the Task Force), which is charged with facilitating cross-agency collaboration, data sharing, and integration of mobility data (hereafter called mobility data) to address data gaps and redundancies and avoid investing resources in the same or similar types of data related programs.

Mobility data is defined as traffic volume, speed, lane occupancy, or connected vehicle data for vehicle, freight, bicycle/pedestrian, and transit modes. The geographic scope of the Task Force is limited to mobility data programs within the three core urban areas in the tri-county Tampa Bay region, which include Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas counties.

The Task Force encourages collaboration among multiple public agencies throughout the region to share and integrate mobility data to support regional performance-based planning. The Mobility Data Task Force should be supported by an Executive Group, which consists of senior level managers from member agencies. The Executive Group would not meet formally, but would provide executive level support for mobility data governance activities. Figure 6 shows an organizational model of this structure.

This Charter establishes the objectives, membership, roles/responsibilities, and operating suggestions for the Task Force. By signing this Charter, each office agrees to participate in the Task Force's activities and to share mobility data and information with other members.

Task Force Objectives

The Task Force is intended to be a forum for regional stakeholders responsible for mobility data to:

• Share Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for current and upcoming data collection activities, data acquisitions, initiatives, activities, and projects related to mobility data.
• Share current initiatives, activities, and best practices related to mobility data, including data strategies, policies, standards, metadata, system architecture, procedures, performance metrics, etc.
• Identify needs and opportunities to integrate mobility data sets to support performance-based planning and asset management activities in the region.
• Identify needs and opportunities to create links between mobility data sets and connected vehicle data sets in the future to support performance-based planning in the region.
• Identify opportunities to coordinate resource, reduce data redundancies, and implement cost-sharing strategies for the collection, management, and maintenance of mobility data.
• Identify needs and opportunities to reduce redundancy in the development and maintenance of duplicative data systems and promote efficiency in system maintenance.
• Identify needs and opportunities to enhance data sharing and access among regional stakeholders, including the need for Web portals for stakeholders to share data and information as needed.
• Understand and promote the value of mobility data as an asset within individual stakeholder agencies and regionwide.

Membership

The members of the Task Force are listed below. Each agency shall appoint a designated representative and alternate to attend Task Force meetings held as a part of Regional Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Committee meeting:

• Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA)
• Hillsborough County
• City of Tampa
• Florida DOT District 7
• Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART)
• Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR)
• Hillsborough MPO
• Pinellas MPO
• Pinellas County
• Pasco MPO
• Pasco County
• Sarasota/Manatee MPO
• City of Lakeland
• Florida Department of Health
• Florida's Turnpike
• City of Temple Terrace
• City of Plant City
• Environmental Protection Commission
• Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority
• Port Tampa Bay

Member Responsibilities

Members of the Task Force shall:

• Regularly attend and participate in Task Force meetings and present their agency perspective.
• Share RFPs for current and upcoming initiatives related to mobility data.
• Share best practices related to mobility data, including data strategies, policies, standards, metadata, architecture, procedures, and metrics.
• Ensure that Task Force best practices are communicated to data stewards from their respective agencies.

Chairmanship

The Task Force is tri-chaired by individuals from the Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas MPOs.

Meetings

The Task Force would not meet separately, but conducts business during the Regional ITS Committee meetings. A regular agenda item to discuss the Data Business Plan should be added to the Regional ITS Committee meeting.

Activities

The Task Force shall perform the following activities:

• Develop "rules of engagement" regarding collaboration and coordination.
• Identify and address gaps and redundancies in regional mobility data collection activities.
• Identify data stewards for mobility data programs within their respective agencies.
• Establish policies and procedures for the collection and use of mobility data and information within their respective agencies.
• Share current activities and best practices in mobility data collection and management.
• Coordinate resources and cost sharing strategies to reduce redundancy in regional data collection, integration, and data systems.
• Facilitate sharing of data with internal/external stakeholders.
• Share procurement plans and RFPs for mobility data.
• Review RFPs and provide recommendations based on best practices.
• Provide recommendations to the Regional ITS Committee regarding the development of mobility data products to meet business needs.
• Provide recommendations to the Regional ITS Committee regarding standards and procedures for collection, maintenance, and use of data programs and products.
• Recommend technology tools to support mobility data management and sharing.

Task Force members seeking input on RFPs and other procurement actions related to mobility data will share the RFP with the Chair/Co-Chair, who will decide whether it should be distributed to Task Force members for input/review. The Chair/Co-Chair shall decide the review mechanism (e.g., form a Working Group, distribute the RFP for review by all Task Force members, etc.), duration of review period, and whether to initiate a meeting to resolve issues.

Charter Amendments

This Charter shall remain in effect until amended or replaced. The Charter will be reviewed annually based on comments received from member agencies throughout the year, and any amendments or revisions will be distributed to Task Force members.

After 3 years, an assessment of the effectiveness of the group shall be made, and the Task Force will decide whether to continue its activities or disband the group.

Approval

By signing this Charter, each member agency agrees to participate in the Task Force's activities and to share data and information with other members.

Agreed to by: