Summary of the First Meeting of the Joint Council on Transit Wireless Communications

October 4, 2009, Orlando, FL

Barry Einsig (APTA Wireless Communications Subcommittee Chairperson, Harris Corp.) presided over the meeting. Meeting attendees are listed below.

Rick Fitz-Gordon, HART

Mike Haddad, Charlotte Area Transit System

James Burke, City and County of Honolulu

Leonid Bukhin, LA Metro

Mike Hubbell, Dallas Area Rapid Transit

Arkady Bernshteyn, Valley Metro Rail

Walt Kulyk, FTA

Lou Sanders, APTA

Dan Deveson, Harris Corp.

Michael Cairl, Eta Phi Systems

John Maglio, Eta Phi Systems

John B. Moore, Phoenix Contact

David deKozan, Cubic Transportation Systems

Niklas Hook, Sempere Comp.

Jokin Lopetegi, Semere Comp.

Paul Gwynn, Tait Radio Communications

John Graham, Tait Radio Communications

Karl Witbeck, Stantec

Dave Gorchkov, Digital Grape

Mark Curry, Transdyn

Keith Allan, ACIS

Rob Ayers, aE

Jon McDonald, Stantec

Delma Bratvold, SAIC

  1. Keynote Address

Mike Hubbell of Dallas Area Rapid Transit gave a keynote address to start the meeting. He briefly described DART’s evolution to their current communications system with several parallel networks, and their upcoming further evolution to a single, integrated network. He highlighted key challenges, and the needs for:

•National Industry Forum

•Technical & Regulatory Clearing House

•Education & Information Resource

•Consortium Facilitation

Mr. Hubbell suggested that the Joint Council on Transit Wireless Communications is a means to meet these needs, and stressed that its success is dependent on broad participation.

  1. Tentative Description of Officer Positions

Tentative duties for Joint Council officers pending charter adoption were listed as:

Chair

• Preside over Governing Body meetings

• Identify and coordinate efforts for obtaining JC funding

• Oversee implementation of the Strategic Plan

Vice Chair

• Preside over meetings in absence of the Chair

• Assure coordination of JC activities and products

Secretary

• Maintain minutes of the Governing Body meetings

• Update the JC website as appropriate

  1. Officer Elections

Candidates to fill Joint Council officer positions were nominated, and voted on by all present. For positions that were not filled during this meeting, the type of representative sought for the position was noted. Results follow:

  • Chair – Barry Einsig, Harris Corp,
  • Vice Chair – Karl Witbeck, Stantec,
  • Secretary – open seat, seeking a transit agency representative

It was noted that since two of the officer position are filled by transit support products and services companies, it would be preferable for the third officer position to be filled by a transit agency.

  1. Tentative Description of Committee Chair / Task Force Leader Responsibilities

Tentative duties for these positions, pending charter adoption were listed as:

  • Recruit participants
  • Preside over committee/ task force meetings
  • Maintain meeting minutes and attendance records
  • Facilitate development of an implementation plan
  • Review products/needs listed by Roundtable and Workshop attendees
  • Coordinate achievement of implementation plan goals
  1. Committee and Task Force Chair/Leader Elections

A brief description of each committee and task force was listed, and chairs/leaders were nominated and voted in. For unfilled positions, the preferred category of desired candidates was noted. During these elections, transit agency representatives stated a need for more detailed descriptions of committees and task forces to provide to their management to get approval for their participation. Delma Bratvold volunteered to expand these descriptions based on input received during development of the transit wireless strategic plan. The expanded descriptions will be posted on the JC website in the near-future.

Interoperability Committee

  • Ensure transit participation in State Interoperability Executive Committees (SIEC)
  • Work with other groups to develop technically neutral, open standards for private radio emergency communications
  • Provide guidance to assure the integration of commercial communications services and emergency communications
  • Committee (Joint) Chair – Karl Witbeck, Stantec, and Dan Deveson, Harris Corp

Purchasing Assistance Committee

  • Develop benchmark suites of wireless communications solutions based on agency size, modes, and operating environment
  • Develop listings of commercial services by region with capabilities, performance, and costs
  • Assist with group purchasing strategies and options for financing of equipment and services
  • Committee Chair – open, seeking nominations

Tracking Committee

  • Track and provide comments on FCC notices and standard developments
  • Work with FTA to collect transit communications data through reporting as part of FTA funding requirements
  • Regularly report on the status of transit wireless communications at meetings of the transit industry and related groups (e.g. AASHTO)
  • Committee Chair – FTA representative (to be named by FTA)

Narrowbanding Task Force

  • Ensure communications during narrowbanding through promoting industry awareness of the 2012 deadline and guidance on meeting the mandate
  • Task ForceLeader– open, seeking small agency or small agency association representative (e.g., CTAA or TLPA)

800/ 900 MHz Rebanding

  • Ensure communications during rebanding through information sharing between those that have rebanded and those that are/will be undergoing rebanding
  • Task Force Leader– open, seeking large agency representative (volunteered assistance from Dan Deveson, Harris Corp., and Paul Gwynn, Tait Radio)
  1. Joint Council Draft Charter
  • The Joint Council should be “non-membership”
  • The Joint Council should welcome the entire public passenger transportation industry
  • Please review and comment on the draft charter, available on the JC website
  1. Joint Council Website
  • Website hosted by NPSTC, funded by DHS
  • Site is still under development, but can be viewed at
  • Send helpful information/links for posting on the website to Delma Bratvold,
  1. Next Meeting Plans
  • An end-of-October teleconference was suggested by JC Chair, Barry Einsig, to provide status update and further coordinate next steps
  • It was requested that the teleconference commence no earlier than 4 PM EST
  • It has been requested by agencies unable to attend the first meeting that Joint Council meetings be conducted during weekday business hours
  1. After-the-Meeting Developments

Discussions regarding the breadth of Joint Council representation

  • Taxicabs are feeders into the more traditional transit system, proving important first and last mile transportation – taxicabs were viewed as important to include in the Joint Council by nearly all with whom this concept was discussed.
  • Like public passenger transport, school buses are critical to the evacuation plans, particularly in rural communities. As such, their inclusion has been promoted to help present the FCC with a larger block of similar needs, adding weight to Joint Council statements and recommendations.
  • Designing a charter for the Joint Council that is as inclusive as possible allows a stronger voice – all groups may not want to participate at this stage of Joint Council development, but the charter should not exclude important, potential future partners.

Concepts being developed by the Joint Council Officers

To facilitate discussion on Joint Council organization, the Barry Einsig and Karl Witbeck will be further developing ideas that will be sent to those on the Joint Council mailing list and posted on the Joint Council website within the next couple weeks.