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1. Report No.

2. Government Accession No.

3. Recipient's Catalog No.

4. Title and Subtitle

A Case Study on Applying the Systems Engineering Approach: Best Practices and Lessons Learned from the Chattanooga SmartBus Project

5. Report Date

November 2009

6. Performing Organization Code

7. Author(s)

R. Haas (SAIC), E. Perry (SAIC), J. Rephlo (SAIC)

8. Performing Organization Report No.

Project 7372.02

9. Performing Organization Name and Address

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)
Mailstop E-12-3
8301 Greensboro Drive
McLean, VA 22102

10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)

11. Contract or Grant No.

Contract No. DTFH61-06-D-00005,
Task Order No. 4400149309

12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address

United States Department of Transportation
ITS Joint Program Office
Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA)
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590

13. Type of Report and Period Covered

14. Sponsoring Agency Code

HOIT-1

15. Supplementary Notes

Mr. Steve Mortensen, COTM (FTA), Mr. James Pol, COTR (ITS JPO), Ms. Marcia Pincus (ITS JPO).

16. Abstract

This report presents the results of a review of the systems engineering processes used during the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority’s (CARTA) SmartBus Project. The Smartbus Project is a comprehensive transit ITS program for the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee involving deployment of a wide array of transit ITS technologies. This review was part of the national evaluation of the SmartBus Project, a project that is being implemented in part with fiscal year (FY03) ITS Integration Program earmark funding and is being evaluated by the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

This review highlights a number of features of CARTA’s approach to systems engineering that helped lead to the success of its ITS deployments. Some of these features were: (a) documenting their long-term vision for ITS, (b) avoiding the temptation to do too much too fast, (c) testing systems thoroughly before introducing them to operation, and (d) being willing to accept schedule delays when needed to help manage deployment risks. In the end, CARTA’s ITS program helped them evolve from an organization relying on manual processes and compartmentalized software systems to one with integrated applications and automated processes.

17. Key Words

Evaluation, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Systems Engineering, Data Warehouse

18. Distribution Statement

No restrictions.

19. Security Classification (of this report)

Unclassified

20. Security Classification (of this page)

Unclassified

21. No of Pages

34

22. Price

N/A