Program Assessment User Session Experts (PAUSE) Subscription Services: RSS and Subscription Services October 3-5, 2006

2 Your Hosts Joe Peters, ITS JPO Brian Philips, Mitretek Systems Rob Maccubbin, Mitretek Systems Jeff Trombly, SAIC Juan Noltenius, SAIC Matthew Rohrbach, Volpe Center/Cambridge Systematics

3 Agenda Agenda and Introductions1:00 Background Questionnaire Review1:15 RSS and Subscription Services1:20 Subscribing to RSS Feeds (a live demo / discussion) 2:00 Subscribing to Service (a live demo / discussion)2:10 Subscription Services Testing and Wrap-up2:20

4 PAUSE Participants – Fall 2006 Group 1 – October 3 rd Group 2 – October 4 th Group 3 – October 5 th 1.Thomas Kane Des Moines Area MPO 2.Doug Ito San Joaquin Council of Governments 3.David Crout TriMet 4.Susan Slye FHWA 5.Tom Stout FHWA 6.Alan Hansen FHWA Arizona Division Office 7.Mac Lister FHWA - National Resource Center - Olympia Field 8.Amy Polk Cairo Corporation 9.Bill Rouck Cairo Corporation 10.William Anderson ITS America 11.Shelley Row ITE 12.Ron Herrington Lexington-Fayette Co. 13.Michelle Birdsall Institute of Transportation Engineers 14.Patrick McGowan Telvent Farradyne Inc. 15.Marianna Rizzo FHWA Office of Operations 16.Harry Crump FHWA Office of Operations 1.Peggy Tadej NARC 2.Steve Fern Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) 3.Kevin McGinnis National Association of State EMS Officials 4.Marshall Elizer National Association of State EMS Officials 5.Robert Ferlis FHWA 6.Margaret Petrella Volpe Center 7.Stephen Clinger FHWA 8.Chris Cluett BATTELLE 9.Michael Harris Parsons Brinckerhoff 10.Phil Shapiro BMISG 11.Kenny Voorhies Cambridge Systematics 12.Jaime Kopf TRAC Research Engineer 13.Galen Mcgill Oregon DOT 14.Deryl Mayhew UDOT- Traffic Operation Center 15.Joe Foster District of Columbia DOT 16.Skip Yeakel Volvo Trucks North America 17.Michael Curran Inside ITS 18.Bernie Wagenblast Shadow Traffic Metro Networks 19.Quon Kwan FMCSA 20.Steve Austin Emergency Responder Safety Institute 1.Dave Kristick E-470 Public Highway Authority 2.Alan King Lochner 3.Jesse Glazer FHWA/FTA Metro Office 4.Emiliano Lopez FHWA 5.Ray Murphy FHWA 6.Carol Zimmerman BATTELLE 7.Jim Barbaresso Odetics 8.John Hibbard PBS&J 9.Ed McCormack Washington State Transportation Center, University of Washington 10.John Ishimaru University of Washington 11.Mike Akridge Florida DOT 12.Sheryl Wilkerson YGOMI LLC 13.Marty Lege’ North Texas Tollway Authority 14.Matt Burt Battelle

5 How Frequently Returning PAUSE Members Use KR Websites n = 14 responses

6 Background Questionnaire Survey - Part 1 Results n = 44 responses

7 Background Questionnaire Survey - Part 1 Results n = 44 responses

8 Any questions about the homework? Background Questionnaire Survey - Part 1 Results

9 Subscription Services – Covered Topics Need for Subscription Services Overview of RSS – RSS and Knowledge Resources –What is RSS?, Benefits / Limitations, and How RSS works Demo of RSS What is the Subscription Service? –What is it?, Benefits / Limitations, and How the Subscription Service works Joe Subscribes to RSS Feeds(a live demo / discussion) Joe Subscribes to Service (a live demo / discussion) Introduce concept of testing the Subscription Services Ask for participation in testing Survey

10 Background on Need for Subscription Services Diversity and breadth of knowledge Applications Overview – 16 categories >> 176 specific applications (see Lessons Learned – 9 Lesson Categories >> 45 categories (see States – see information by the 50 states (see ome) ome

11 Background on Need for Subscription Services Applications Overview – 16 categories >> 176 specific applications (see

12 Background on Need for Subscription Services Lessons Learned – 9 Lesson Categories >> 45 sub-categories (see

13 Background on Need for Subscription Services States – show information by the 50 states (see

14 An Overview of RSS – RSS and Knowledge Resources RSS allows you to receive selected "news items", such as: –"What's new" in Knowledge Resources (e.g., Costs, Benefits and Lessons Learned KRs) –ITS-related news items from Bernie Wagenblast's Transportation Communication Newsletter –Application Area news items (e.g., Arterial Management > Traffic Control) –Lesson Category news items (e.g., Design and Deployment > System Design)

15 An Overview of RSS – What is RSS? RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” (but can also stand for “Rich Site Summary”, or “RDF Site Summary”) Works as an automated way to see "What's New" on a Web site –Requires a sender (manual or automated) and a subscriber Also used as a method for distributing headline content and data between sites Commonly used for news items and web log (“Blog”)

16 An Overview of RSS – Benefits and Limitations of RSS Benefits –Users can create customized news feeds that show only topics of individual interest –When this is performed for many sites, a customized view of information from many sources is aggregated in one place –This can save time over accessing many sites daily in order to discover new items

17 An Overview of RSS – Benefits and Limitations of RSS Limitations –82% in a recent survey did not know what RSS was* –Requires work to set up the RSS reader –Requires work to identify sites to get news items from * – Lee Gomes of Wall Street Journal

18 An Overview of RSS – How RSS Works Originating site creates an RSS “feed” or “channel,” which is an XML file accessed by a standard URL. –An RSS file consists of a list of items, each of which contains a title, description and a link to a web page –Date information Users instruct their RSS tool to “subscribe” to the feed. –Tool automatically accesses and downloads new file(s) for each subscription and parses them to show summary and headline information in a convenient, easily viewed format. –User can then access more detail by navigating to content source from the RSS tool

19 New Washington Post Technology Channel Story RSS – Washington Post Technology source Channel = WashingtonPost.com – Technology

20 RSS – Transportation Communications Newsletter source Channel = Intelligent Infrastructure – Arterial Management Systems – Traffic Control New TCN news story for Traffic Control application area channel

21 RSS – Lessons Learned Knowledge Resource source Channel = Intelligent Infrastructure – Arterial Management Systems – Traffic Control New Lessons Learned entry for Traffic Control application area channel

22 Summary of Differences between RSS and Applications Overview Only new items Tailored to your interests regarding the types of ITS information you receive Links to some stories may expire over time Accessed through an RSS reader and browser Applications Overview RSS Archival Searchable, for all information, not just new information Accessed via browser

23 RSS – Experiences Using It? Has anyone used RSS? Anyone want to share their experiences (good or bad)?

24 An Overview of the Subscription Service – What is it? Subscription Service is a method to distribute targeted and timely information to a subscriber using ordinary –Subscriber selects subject and frequency of receipt Uses any account –No need to install specialized software –No need to establish new account

25 An Overview of Subscription Service – How does it work? Subscriber accesses webpage that describes the process for signing up to receive –User provides address and selects topic or topics of interest –User specifies frequency of receipt (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly.) s sent to address provided by user according to user specified schedule –User may modify or cancel receipt at any time

26 An Overview of Subscription Service – Benefits and Limitations Benefits –Subscribers automatically receive information via –Information may be compiled from several sources and consolidated into a single –This can save time over accessing many sites daily in order to discover new items Limitations – could be considered spam –User can be overwhelmed by amount of received (independent of this service) and the s from this service could get lost in in-box

27 Summary of Differences between RSS and Applications Overview Only new items Tailored to your interests regarding the types of ITS information you receive Links to some stories may expire over time Accessed through an RSS reader and browser Applications Overview RSS Archival Searchable, for all information, not just new information Accessed via browser

28 Summary of Differences between Subscription Service and Applications Overview Only new items Tailored to your interests regarding the types of ITS information you receive Links to some stories may expire over time Accessed through system and browser Applications Overview Subscription Service Archival Searchable, for all information, not just new information Accessed via browser

29 Thoughts on RSS or Subscription Service? Thoughts or feedback on RSS or Subscription Service Any questions?

30 Subscribing to RSS Feeds & Subscription Service Subscribing to RSS Feeds (a live demo / discussion) Subscribing to Subscription Service (a live demo / discussion)

31 Testing of Subscription Services The results would then be used to modify and enhance the RSS and subscription service prototypes to better suit users’ needs. Participants can subscribe to either the RSS or Subscription Service, or both. Participants will be given a tutorial on RSS and/or Subscription Service to help them get set up RSS or ESS and participate in the testing

32 Testing of Subscription Services Results used to modify and enhance RSS and subscription service prototypes to better suit Users’ needs. Participants can subscribe to either the RSS or Subscription Service, or both. Participants will be given a an overview and instructions on RSS and/or Subscription Service to help them get set up RSS or ESS and participate in the testing.

33 Testing of Subscription Services – Process Steps involved in helping to test the RSS and subscription services: 1.Indicate your interest in participating in testing the RSS or the subscription service, or both. 2.Receive from Volpe on participation details 3.Install RSS reader software / subscribe to channels, and/or subscribe to service. 4.Use RSS and/or subscription service. 5.Record comments on your usage in electronic journal. 6.Complete two on-line surveys. 7.Receive our thanks for participating, and a summary presentation on RSS and subscription service.

34 Background Questionnaire - Part 2 Please fill out this questionnaire.7 minutes Questionnaire link:

35 Thoughts, Questions, or Comments? Additional thoughts on RSS? Additional thoughts on the Subscription Service?

36 Next Meeting Dates Next meetings: Tuesday October 17 & Wednesday October 18 Information sessions on testing RSS & Subscription Services –Question and Answer sessions –Answer questions on the procedures and technical issues with using the Subscription Services –Strictly optional