The document outlines the initiatives of the Beta Transit Authority focused on enhancing public transit through civic media, grassroots mobility, and an open data initiative aimed at improving multi-modal transportation in Maine. It emphasizes collaboration between various organizations to create sustainable transit solutions, improve transportation equity, and utilize technology for better community engagement. The document also discusses the challenges of high transportation costs and the shift in preferences among younger generations towards alternative transit options and reduced car dependency.

1. The Beta Transit Authority
Open Data, Civic Media
and Grassroots Mobility
Tuesday, October 25, 11

2. CarFree Maine overview
Focus is on Multimodal Utilizes Civic Media to build
Connections rather than single public engagement
mode
Seeks to improve connections
“Bottom up” approach within existing infrastructure
Short Term Projects
• Public Transit “Marketing”
• Transportation Equity
• Infrastructure+Memory
Long Term Projects
• Interorganizational
Collaboration
• Multimodal
Travel Planner
• Open Data
Initiative
Tuesday, October 25, 11

3. Infrastructure+Memory
Public Transit Marketing- • Video Oral Histories W/ individuals w/
extraordinary experience and influence on the
•Web Video PSAs, current state of Maine Infrastructure (i.e
•Campaign for Best Practices of Information Wayne Davis, Joe Gray...)
Design
•Parodies of car commericials
• Web Episodes Illustrating the Past, Present and
Future of Transit in Brunswick, Portland and
•Regional profiles Biddeford (1 episode each)
•Mapping and InfoGraphics
•Social Networks
GTFS-OSM Interface
Transportation Equity- • Utilize active Facebook,Ushahidi,
EveryTrail,Foursquare, Twitter, Google Tracks etc... to
build solid core of OpenStreetMap inputs
• Active Partnership with African Diaspora Institute • Collect and disseminate data through gtfs-osm-sync/
• Strong Connections with Veterans Advocates opentripplanner software
• Video Oral History with various Mainers about mobility, • Develop User-oriented trip planning interface web/
access and lack of auto alternatives native HTML5 Hybrid app based online with iOS,
• Open Twitter account/Ushahidi Deployment for open Android, SMS, webapp, RIM, MS extensions
comments RE:Portland Metro Bus improvements
• Work with ADI to devise best practices for multi-lingual
information design
Interorganizational
Collaboration
Open Data Initiative
• Collaborate with Bicycle Coalition of ME, ET
Coalition, town of Saco, Engine Inc, UNE, NNEPRA,
• Work with GPCOG, PACTS, TriCities Riders Assoc,
GOMAINE, MDOT, MCOG, Coastal Trans, RTP, METRO, TRNE, ECG to ensure ability to bring bicycles on
NNEPRA and Concord Trailways to adopt GTFS data board in Saco
standard regionally using GTFS Builder Software • Bowdoin College, CEI, USM, SMCC, UMaine, UNE,
SNHU to incorporate “digital volunteering” i.e
• Implement local deployment of “Transit Appliance” or
similar devices at partnering coffeeshops, libraries, graphic design, web design, software
community centers, churches etc... development, coding, front and back end
architecture...
• Implement deployment of Ushahidi to determine best
locations for TA displays • Forge partnerships with groups based in Boston,
NYC and other national organizations. MIT Civic
Media, Open Plans, Code For America,
Transportation for America, PPS, STARlab,
TransportationCamp 2012
Tuesday, October 25, 11

4. Civic Media
Civic Life Participatory
Media
Civic
Media
— Ethan Zuckerman
Director, MIT Center for Civic Media
The “civic hacker ethic”, if you will, is about making sh[...], and it represents a pretty new way of getting
civically engaged — less about arguing policy or politics and more about building something helpful.-
Nick Grossman , Open Plans/Civic Commons
http://www.slideshare.net/nickgrossman/the-opportunity-for-civic-startups
Tuesday, October 25, 11

5. ■ Rising gas prices have cut nearly one-third of
the potential growth in real disposable income,
which could have gone to creating more
economic activity within the economy,
including the travel and tourism industry -AAA 5
Memorial Day 2011 Travel Forecast, IHS Global Insight May 19, 2011
Average Family
Transportation Spending
Budget in New England
Memorial Day Weekend
2011
■ Many Maine residents
work a second job solely
to pay for transportation Accomodations
to their first job! 15%
■ Most new job growth in
Auto Transportation
Maine has been in the Food and Beverages 39%
Tourism/Service Sector 20%
Entertainment
■ Even these low-wage jobs 9%
Shopping Other
have been threatened by 3%
oil dependency 15%
■ AAA Memorial Day 2011
Travel Forecast, IHS Global
Insight May 19, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 11

6. Monthly Transportation Costs Per Household
$1,000.00 ?!!!
$750.00
$500.00
Transportation Costs as
$250.00 Percentage of Yearly
Income
Waldoboro, Maine Brunswick, Maine 50%
$0
Portland Maine Boston Mass
40%
Transportation Costs
are making rural life
impossible for recent 30%
graduates and young,
working-age adults.
6
20%
2000 Portland ME Region 2008
Data/Calculations from H and T Affordability Index, Center for Neighborhood Technology. www.htaindex.org
Tuesday, October 25, 11

7. graphic: Code for America
The Opportunity for Civic Startups
Web 2.0 Expo 2011 - Nick Grossman | @nickgrossman
Tuesday, October 25, 11

8. graphic: Code for America
The Opportunity for Civic Startups
Web 2.0 Expo 2011 - Nick Grossman | @nickgrossman
Tuesday, October 25, 11

9. graphic: Code for America
The Opportunity for Civic Startups
Web 2.0 Expo 2011 - Nick Grossman | @nickgrossman
Tuesday, October 25, 11

10. graphic: Code for America
The Opportunity for Civic Startups
Web 2.0 Expo 2011 - Nick Grossman | @nickgrossman
Tuesday, October 25, 11

11. Emerging generations are moving into
downtowns, driving less, walking
more, living in smaller homes[...], preferring local
businesses, [...] prioritizing health, going green and
valuing community and social networking like
never before.-Neil Takemoto www.cooltownstudios.com
Farmers Market Cafe'
Tuesday, October 25, 11

12. The thought of living in a place which would require me to own a
car ever again gives me chills. Imagine being beholden to a
2,000 pound piece of metal which sucks 15% of your income
every month, makes you pudgy, and does bad things to the
environment.- CarFree Baltimore
12
Ages 55+
86% Under 35
Ages 35-44
73% 74%
Traveled to Maine in Personal Car 2010
The share of automobile miles driven by
➡ Millennials are choosing to drive less people aged 21 to 30 in the U.S. fell to
for environmental reasons. 13.7% in 2009 from 18.3% in 2001 and
20.8% in 1995
➡ This group would drive even less if they The proportion of people aged 21-30 actually
could find good alternative sources of increased from 13.3% to 13.9%
Sources KRC
transportation. Research 10/2010,
20-somethings went from driving a
Department of
disproportionate amount of the nation's
➡ Car ownership is prohibitively highway miles in 1995 to under-indexing
Transportation
Federal Highway
expensive for many in this age group. for driving in 2009. Administration's
National Household
October 2010 Study by KRC Research- Travel Survey
Census data
Tuesday, October 25, 11

13. “Young people aren't simply swapping cars for
buses or bikes; they are choosing to own and use
other technology instead, such as smartphones
and tablet computers.”
13
-www.shareable.com
"Previous generations found “Carmakers' next problem:
freedom and flexibility through the Generation Y
car. But Generation Ys find their People in their teens and twenties are more
interested in gadgets than cars”
freedom and flexibility by staying
connected to their friends, family
and workplaces through the various
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39970363/ns/business-autos/
information devices - like their
laptops, or iphones.
"They can stay connected on a bus “Is Digital Revolution
or a train. They can bring the office Driving Decline in U.S.
with them. They can bring their
study with them. They can bring Car Culture?”
their friends with them. They can't if
they're driving."
-- Peter Newman, Curtin University, Perth, Australia,
quoted in the West Australian, www.humantransit.org
Article: http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=144155
Tuesday, October 25, 11

14. Can New Media Effect
Transportation Preference?
According to a study called “Tech for Transit: Designing a
Future System”
Web and mobile information tools can confer a
wide range of benefits, typically reserved for car
ownership, on alternative transit options like
public transit, walking, biking, and car-sharing.
They achieve this by offering a similar sense of
choice, convenience and personalization, and by
providing new opportunities for people to reach
their personal goals—whether those relate to
being more social, being better to the
environment, discovering local hang-outs and
events, and so on.
http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/nextamcity/22658/latitude-
transit-study-results-part-two
Tuesday, October 25, 11

15. The Vision
A Multimodal Public Transit Network Designed, Utilized and
Operated By... The Public
U Car
Casco Share
GoMaine Bay Lines
Shoreline
Vanpool
Explorer
Bike Zoom
Share Turnpike
Express
Brunswick
Explorer
Amtrak
Portland Downeaster East Coast
Metro Bus Greenway Trail
Maine
Eastern
Railroad
Maine State Ferry
Vacationers Residents
Tuesday, October 25, 11

16. Brunswick
Transportation
Rail Bus Tickets
CarShare Bike Trails
Closest Schedules Maps
Integrated Data Networks Leading To-
Tuesday, October 25, 11

17. An Integrated Mass Transit Network
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18. Tuesday, October 25, 11

19. Proposed Coastal Corridor for Car-Free Tourism
Ferry Rockland
Connection
Maine
Eastern RR Bass Harbor/
Downeaster W/ Brunswick Acadia NP
Brunswick
Extension
Bath
Saco/ Freeport
Biddeford
Portland
Wells
Tuesday, October 25, 11

20. Brunswick/
Bath/Topsham Brunswick/
Bath/
Topsham
Portland/So.
Portland/So. Portland/
Portland/ Westbrook/
Westbrook/Casco
Bay Islands Casco Bay
Islands
Biddeford/
Saco/Old
Orchard
Biddeford/Saco/
Old Orchard
Tuesday, October 25, 11

21. An inventory of relevent open transit data can have far-reaching effects in a rural area. Open Transit
Data has been released with great success in places like Portland Oregon, and Boston where over
1/3 of MBTA riders use some form of mobile app to plan their trips or locate their bus or train. Mass
transit has been difficult to implement in Maine because of the low population density. However,
with sufficient network adoption, a “Smart Transit” system can effectively its modal response much
like the “Smart Grid” uses data to determine power generation.
Open Transit Data
Schedule a Trip
Check Your
Neighborhood
Find A
Ride
Open Data Can Change The Game
Tuesday, October 25, 11

22. 22
Tuesday, October 25, 11

23. Regional planning organizations have
been working on an “Intelligent
Transportation System” (ITS) in the
State of Maine since 2001. This
initiative was at the cutting edge of
innovation at the time but technology
has advanced to the point where
similar information displays can be
provided for less than $150 each today.
Tuesday, October 25, 11

24. www.transportme.org
Intelligent Transportations
Systems circa 2001
Tuesday, October 25, 11

25. The Availability of Open Source
Transit Data Has Resulted in
Hundreds of Innovative Applications
Transit Appliance:Open Source Code
+Consumer Grade Screen Display -$60
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26. Tuesday, October 25, 11

27. This recent study recommends a
combination of the GTFS format
for transit data and crowdsourced
data in the form of
OpenStreetMap for pedestrian and
neighborhood data .
Tuesday, October 25, 11

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30. Tuesday, October 25, 11

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32. Tuesday, October 25, 11

33. Tuesday, October 25, 11

34. Transit Hub Portland Maine Transit Hub Detroit Michigan
Transit Design,
Wayfinding and Branding
Tuesday, October 25, 11

35. “Metro Pulse”
Interior
Tuesday, October 25, 11

36. Portland Maine Metro Population 514,098 Ogden Utah Metro Population 547,184
Apples and Oranges?
Portland, Maine is much smaller than most other cities
so it isn’t fair to compare them....
Tuesday, October 25, 11

37. Ogden Utah Metro Pop. Salem, Oregon Metro Pop
547,184 396,103, Lansing Mich Metro
Pop 464,036
Eugene Oregon Metro Charlottesville VA,
Pop 351,715 Metro Champaign-Urbana Ill.
Pop 201,559 Metro Pop 231,891
Tuesday, October 25, 11

38. Signage, Usability
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39. Bus Shelter at Portland Transit Stop at Portland Shelter at Monument Square
Transportation Center Jetport Transfer Hub
Chattanooga Tenn. w Arrival Tempe Arizona, Solar Albany NY Express Bus Stop
Time Display Heated, Green Walls
Tuesday, October 25, 11

40. Tuesday, October 25, 11

41. Next Steps-
• Initiate an active“Open Data” initiative
• Work with NNEPRA, Town of Saco to train volunteers for bicycle handling at Saco
• Convene a board of “Civic Hackers” whose purpose is to set up a “virtual town hall” in
accordance with the best practices of the “Civic Commons” using Civic Participation tools
such as openblock.com or frontporch.com. Online committees should always include a face
to face element, whether it is an official board meeting or an informal meetup, conditions for
participation online must involve partipation in real life.
• Community Design Collaborative- A group of volunteer artists and designers tasked with
redesigning wayfinding and signage.
• Important to stress that Committees are voluntary. “Value Added” services by hired
consultants services can be useful but can have the effect of inflating costs to the point that
implementation will never be possible.
Tuesday, October 25, 11

42. Existing Civic Participation Organizations
Tuesday, October 25, 11

43. For Supplemental Materials from this
presentation and others like it scan the QR
Code
or just go to
carfreemaine.org
facebook.com/carfreemaine ajawitz@carfreemaine.org
@carfreemaine 207 370 5481
youtube.com/user/carfreemaine
flickr.com/user/carfreemaine CarFree Maine
Tuesday, October 25, 11