HDM to Present Report on Rural Transit ITS at National Conference

For Immediate Release

CAMBRIDGE, MA ... Kija Kim, President of Harvard Design and Mapping (HDM), will be a featured speaker at the 15th National Conference on Rural Public & Intercity Bus Transportation. The Conference will be held at The Lodge at Sawmill Creek, Huron, Ohio on October 27-30, 2002, and is sponsored by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee on Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation (A1E08) and cosponsored by the Ohio Department of Transportation and the U.S. Federal Transit Administration.

Ms. Kim will present the results of a study completed by HDM for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FWHA) entitled Technology in Rural Transit: Linking People with Their Community. The study was designed to provide rural transit system managers throughout the country with the tools to help plan and implement Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies. The final report includes a guidebook for planning ITS applications, a report documenting best practices, specific case studies, and a listing of valuable information and resources.

Technology in Rural Transit: Linking People with Their Community has received an overwhelmingly favorable response. Ms. Kim has presented HDM's report at several other conferences, including the Texas Transit Conference held in April 2002 and the Community Transportation EXPO 2002 held in May and sponsored by the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA). Additional Information about the report can be found on HDM's web site at www.hdm.com.

"HDM is very excited to have the opportunity to share the findings of our study. It represents a compilation of contemporary knowledge regarding Transit ITS implementation and specifically addresses the unique needs of rural systems," Kim remarked. "It provides rural transit systems seeking to implement these technologies with valuable information and insights."

As an extension of this project, HDM is currently developing an interactive web site for the FTA that will serve as an Internet-based information exchange system. The Rural ITS Transit Success Electronic Story Booklet will be an online collection of rural Transit ITS experiences. Current and potential users of Transit ITS will be able to post information, and review the experiences of other systems. Users will be able to browse success stories that illustrate the approach each agency employed, the methods that worked, and the reasons they worked.

With extensive experience in transportation analysis and systems design, HDM has provided innovative technology solutions for transportation professionals, and delivered national level transportation strategies and policy documents with advanced thinking and new ideas. For more information, visit www.hdm.com or contact Kija Kim, HDM President at 703-224-1414 x212.