Appendix B - Private Sector Input

National Perspective

Interviews were conducted with private ATIS providers and traditional (broadcast) traffic service providers, to ascertain whether public sector data, raw or processed, is helpful and/or required to provide a quality ATIS service.

The interviews revolved around the following questions or statements:

1. Public sector funding is required to support a quality ATIS service.
2. What makes a national ATIS Business Model work?
3. Has the private sector's reliance on public sector information increased or decreased in the past few years, and why?

These discussions revealed that the level of data required depends entirely on the service being provided. In the case of traditional broadcast reporting, a broad level of information will suffice, as the end result is a more general report for an entire metropolitan area. For a more detailed ATIS service, such as a route specific web site or IVR (Interactive Voice Response) telephone service, much more granular information is required.

Data Classifications

There are essentially two classifications of information from which an ATIS service's reports are derived: Incident/Accident/Event information and Speed/Travel Time/Traffic Flow information. In either case, the bulk of the detail for this information is rooted in the public sector, whose agencies gather the information for incident management or to monitor the general traffic flow[13].

A substantial percentage of this information is available to the private sector through non-intrusive or almost public means. Monitoring police radios, making telephone calls, monitoring computer aided dispatch (CAD) or video images on the Internet, leaves the private sector with a fair amount of public sector data without ever having to make a direct connection to the public sector's data streams.

However the detail that is not present in this data is what makes it most useful to the traveling public: How long will it take me to get through the back up? How long will the incident be there? Is there a way to go around it? For this expanded information base, most private companies will gather their own data in addition to that, which is available from the public sector. Aircraft or mobile-probe networks (two-way radio or cellular telephone) can raise the level of information and "color" beyond that which the public sector's information provides.

Private Data Use

Etak has been engaged in an agreement with Metro Networks for a number of years where a workstation is provided to Metro Networks operators for data entry. This workstation provides a unified platform for all 68 Metro Networks markets. The information is entered manually for the vast majority of the markets. In the few markets where automated data is available, the information can be pulled directly into the workstations but is often checked or edited by live operators in order to augment the data with their own information. This is not to say that the detail provided by the public sector is of lesser value. In fact, in many areas, having even a simple data feed consistently from a roadway allows even a live operator to make a more educated judgment even though they may not have the "color" detail that they would from a human reporter.

Mobility Technologies, better known as Traffic.com, has expressed a willingness to work with the public sector by negotiating certain base services in exchange for access to DOT right-of-way. This allows for the placement of infrastructure (the company's own Traffic Pulse detection system) on the right-of-way to monitor traffic flow. In certain cases, the company might assent to enter a market with only an agreement for access to the right-of-way and no additional funding. This would only occur in a market where, in the company's opinion, enhanced ATIS products would provide the necessary revenue to support a system once installed. The company believes that the emerging market for in-vehicle telematics applications requires a national footprint, and is willing to make it's own investment (in partnership with the public sector) to establish such a presence.

Best Use of Public Data?

To be certain, the private sector is always looking for more data for its products. Whether that data comes from the public sector or private sector is uncertain. Currently, the private sector is watching with interest the developing private companies as they develop and deploy their systems. Accurate "floating car" data will add a level of detail and "moving map" capabilities that are not available at this time. However, from at least one company's perspective, the manual fusion and learned judgment provided by live system operators, bridges the gap between the public sector data and a usable, marketable product.

There are markets where significant public funds have been expended to gather data for traffic management purposes. In some cases, the public sector also realized that the data has value to the private sector, and has taken to selling the data in order to recover some of their own system costs or fund improvements to their systems. There are some in the private sector who are not pleased with this arrangement. The belief is that the private sector is not making money specifically from the DOT information, and in fact the public sector data is more detail than they need for the traditional broadcast products where they are making money. The public sector is providing a level of detail that can be (and in some cases, is) used to provide granular ATIS products. But to date, no business model has proven itself viable in generating supporting revenue from and for ATIS services.

If the public sector's desire is to provide a new, more detailed level of service such as a route specific telephone service (as described for use with the 511 dialing code), then there needs to be public sector funding for infrastructure and for operations and maintenance of the systems. This could be accomplished solely through the public sector (including day-to-day operations), or through contracts with the private sector, which may have additional means to disseminate the information as well.

Base level of information

Within the private sector, the base level of information required is determined solely by the end products being delivered. In most cases, the private sector will not attempt to open a new market to deliver a product unless a "buyer" has been contracted beforehand. In the late 1990s, SmartRoute Systems attempted to establish private operations in certain markets with the belief that "if you build it, they will come." In fact, even with an abundance of data provided by other private companies and public sector resources, this model failed to develop even moderate revenue for its ATIS products [14].

The traditional broadcast services offered by Shadow Traffic, Metro Networks, Traffic.com and others, requires very little infrastructure as far as the public sector is concerned. One or two aircraft and a handful of police scanners can provide enough information for a broadcast traffic report of 30-45 seconds. However if the same company was asked to provide an ATIS service with the level of detail the public sector has come to expect, then additional data gathering and data fusion infrastructure is required. This is in addition to a dissemination system (IVR or otherwise), telephone lines and the cost of providing the telephone service itself (local, toll-free or 511 number).

Some Departments of Transportation offer their own ATIS services as an extension of their traffic management operations. The private sector has occasionally found themselves in competition with these DOTs for ATIS and in some cases traditional broadcast services. As such, the private sector would expect some form of payment (either cash or in-kind contributions of some form) in order to make the market profitable for them beyond the services being delivered.

Other Possibilities

Mobility Technologies (Traffic.com), using it's own Traffic Pulse sensors, does not rely on the public sector for data per sé, though access to DOT right-of-way may be considered a public sector investment, (as there are costs involved in overseeing the installation of sensors alongside a highway). What data the company cannot retrieve through placement of sensors along the right-of-way, it gathers "the old fashioned way," using airplanes, mobile units and police scanners.

In places where the public sector has already established a good level of infrastructure, Mobility Technologies will adapt its fusion engine to ingest the DOT data automatically. If the data available is sufficient for the products to be delivered, then additional data sources are unnecessary.

Providing data from a fusion engine directly to a web site has limited ongoing costs. But providing the same detailed information to a telephone service, which involves costly hardware and monthly line or usage charges, requires substantial resources. Even if the private sector provides its own data gathering resources, the cost of disseminating detailed Advanced Traveler Information System services to the public is prohibitive without funding from the public sector.

Bottom Line

The assertion that public sector funding is required to provide quality ATIS services, in particular a telephone service proves true, at least at this date.

The funding may come in the form of infrastructure, payments for services provided, or both. As long as the public sector wishes to provide a level of detail and quality that is more advanced than a broad based, general traffic report (which is what an ATIS service is assumed to be), then funding will be required at least until the market has matured enough to support these services through other means.

[13] Private companies may state that the data which they gather does not come from the public sector, however at the root level, even information received by monitoring police scanners is, in fact, public sector information.

[14] SmartRoute Systems opened its New York market by creating a partnership with Shadow Traffic and co-locating within Shadow's operations center in New Jersey. This provided SmartRoutes with access to Shadow's CCTV network, multiple fixed and rotor wing aircraft and real-time data sources such as the New York State Throughway's automated toll tag/travel time system. Nonetheless, after less than a year of operation, SmartRoutes closed the New York offices due to lack of sales of its ATIS services.