Case Study
Licking County Area Transportation Study, Rural Trip Planning Application
Johnstown, OH
Challenge
Rural mobility is a challenge faced in Ohio as well as throughout the U.S. The Licking County Area Transportation Study (LCATS) partnered with Etch to provide equitable mobility options for access to work, healthcare, and education. The completed pilot was required to be scaled to fit county, state, and national rural areas for future deployments.
Solution
One of the key design criteria is a decentralized and open architecture, so that the platform technologies remain viable into the future so Etch’s solution included a foundation of open, free, and proven technologies. Etch successfully completed a pilot utilizing the Etch Mobility Software Platform for the Johnstown business park as well as integration with Catholic Social Services which included:
Web-Based and Device Based Applications for Trip Planning and Trip Optimization System
This deployment was more than a generic trip planner to get someone from Point A to Point B. The vision was to provide a seamless experience by connecting the passenger and the mobility provider, while also communicating the steps and resources needed to reach the destination. All these components were flexible enough to integrate with LCATS and Licking County information such as basemaps, General Transit Feed Specifications (GTFS feeds), routing services, weather, etc. Other information can also be integrated such as real time traffic data and construction locations (i.e. INRIX, OHGO, Paving-the-Way).
Provider Web Portal and Mobile Driver Application
For the seamless trip to be complete, Etch created a driver application for on-board devices that collect location data to communicate with the traveler and back office. Small local providers typically do not have the technical staff or investment capital to provide a ride hailing or booking experience that is comparable with global TNC services.
This provider portal allows operators to be on-boarded and give them a way to manage service areas, fleet information, accessible capabilities, and so forth. The driver application is the second component, which provides a connected vehicle feed, turn-by-turn directions, and dispatching system to those operators which do not currently have one.
Outcome
The results include full deployment for Catholic Social Services that streamlines trip scheduling, driver management and general coordination. Etch is currently working with Licking County Transit to integrate the trip planning application with access to payment.
Learn more about Etch’s GIS Planning Services
Program planning and implementation
Strategic planning for government and private sectors, including facilitation of multi-departmental entities needing to manage, update and disseminate GIS data
Custom built applications
Open source and proprietary software solutions for integration of multiple systems
Asset management
Asset management that maintains and tracks infrastructure, from data collection to integration with work order management software