MDS Working Group

• Monthly on Thursday at 9am PT, 12pm ET, 5/6pm CET

Zoom Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAscOmhpjIuHNakPx6CNbACpjUjw1Gsucr4

One tap mobile: +19294362866,,84170989462#,,,,*612987# US (New York) - though we encourage Zoom

• Vianova road safety survey (10 mins)
• MDS 2.0.1 Patch Release (5 mins)
• MDS for Passenger Services
  • OMF Blog Post and publishing digital MDS Policy
  • How LADOT and Blue Systems is progressing on MDS for taxis
  • How SFMTA is implementing MDS for commuter shuttles
  • Share what you are doing with MDS for Passenger Services (taxis, shuttles, ride hail, TNCs, robotaxis, etc)

WGSC Meeting Organizers

• Host: Pierre Bouffort, Blue Systems
• Facilitator: Michael Schnuerle, OMF
• Outreach: Michael Schnuerle, OMF
• Note taker: TBD

1. OMF Summit
2. Take and share Road Safety Survey from Vianova
3. Review and comment on MDS 2.0.1 Patch Release in next two weeks
   1. Extra thought to pull request #882 which clarifies which vehicles to include in the /vehicles endpoint
4. Read the OMF Blog Post on MDS for Passenger Services

• 24 Attendees
• OMF Slides
• Recording - Password Dq?#3idc

OMF Summit

• Attend in LA Nov 14 before CoMotion
• Free for OMF members, you should have an email link

Vianova

• Increase in traffic deaths
• Historic crashes is the best data for metrics and vision zero teams
• Risk Aware data product, hard breaking, speeding, MDS data and other data points, crashes, road and weather conditions
• Custom analysis for each jurisdiction, or a standard safety metric?
• Survey: city members survey, how you track and use data now
• Link to Survey

LADOT

• Regulatory authority for taxis needed to be reevaluated
• Wanted to monderize and keep up with private companies like Uber/Lyft
• Updated regs like driver permitting process, simplified and released processes
• Increase in fare transparency and up front pricing in permits
• MDS started at LADOT with people like Hunter Owens
• Requires MDS, and it’s the backbone of the taxi program
• Want to automate our processes
• Investigations used to take up to a week or two to get trip info and charge details
• Complaint resolution took forever
• Move from Lacuna and Blue Systems, in 48 hours was able to switch (data standard helped!)
• Recently working with Uber and Lyft with taxi companies, getting data from them
• Used to miss valuable info, a gap on that data
• Integration. Devs had been working with taxi companies for a while, prior to MDS 2.0
• Now all aligned with MDS 2.0
• For sidewalk robots or dockless companies, waiting for 2.0 so they wouldn’t have to reingenieer later
• MDS is the future

SFMTA

• Participated in development process for MDS 2.0
• Brooks works on taxi program and help on commuter shuttle program
• Update on both of those using MDS now
• Taxis. Management team has delayed temporarily for a year and hall, mid 2025
• Running a major pilot program with most of the industry for taxis, up front fare and integration with third party entities like Uber to integrate their services into taxi industry as well.
• Didn’t want to risk disrupting the pilot, so postponed for later
• Just as committed to MDS migration after pilot ends
• Commuter shuttle program. Not just small shuttles like in agenda
• Provided by private companies or schools, like silicone valley tech companies
• Go through city and execute pickups across city, since 2016 they are now regulated
• Allow them to use some transit stops, in exchange for fees and regulations
• Like only loading passengers in those zones instead of travel lanes
• Stay of residential, so track paths and routes of vehicles
• Transmit data that allows enforcement of rules
• Telemetry API to send data in real time, passenger counts, etc
• Use the data to detect when vehicles are violating something, like restricted street routes
• Automated ETL system to auto issue fines based on MDS data, with appeal process.
• Updating the ETL system and rearchitected, and evaluating this shuttle spec to MDS 2.0
• Difference, focus on fixed stops and routes and schedules (fixed stops in MDS)

Discussion

• Arielle from Waymo - how is each city using MDS for this mode?
• LADOT example - where is pickup and drop off at hotels, and some didn’t have this available for taxi parking, so talked to companies and reconciled intention and reality. Where to put resources like PUDO for taxis.
• SFMTA - how does bringing Uber and Lyft impact paratransit taxi services? Questions on fares and upfront pricing compare to what the taxi rate fares would have been