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Stephen LaweColin SmithApril 4, 2013
Open Source Programming in Transportation
Prepared for:
2013 TRB Applications Conference
1. Describe successful Open Source programming
2. Make the case that our industry should be heavily leveraging this process for common utilities and methodologies
Two Objectives
Imagine it is 1996 and your financial advisor comes to you with two possible investments:
Two new electronic encyclopedias
1.Microsoft will build. Hundreds of highly paid professional writers, editors and programmers. Managed as a professional enterprise
2.Unpaid volunteers with no professional experience required will give many hours to develop this tool
Start with an Example
* This was adopted from a story told by Dan Pink
And the answer is…
1.MSN Encarta
• Pulled off the shelves in 2009
2.Wikipedia
• 17 million articles
• 270 languages
• Growing every day
Start with an Example
* This was adopted from a story told by Dan Pink
-A well documented and well written code base that is understandable and well structured
-An interested user base
-A capable and motivated contributor base
-A well managed process for fixes and improvements
-A clear vision for future direction
What makes open source successful
- Most agencies have very similar tools build and maintained internally creating massive inefficiency, redundancy and confusion
- Very few of these tools are proprietary
- Managed agency collaboration would result in information sharing and industry advancement and, where appropriate, levels of consistency
Why agencies should consider open source
-Agencies would need to share tools and resources
-Some form of joint or federal funding would be required
-A well managed system of managing and distributing the code and resulting tools would be required.
How open source transportation tools could happen
Example: GreenSTEP-EERPAT-SmartGAP
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Lineage of 3 strategic modeling tools:
-GreenSTEP: developed by Brian Gregor at Oregon DOT, a model for evaluating Greenhouse Gas reduction strategies at a statewide level
-EERPAT: a standardized version of GreenSTEP developed by RSG for FHWA for application in other states
-SmartGAP: a product of the SHRP 2 C16 project using elements of GreenSTEP and other research
Development Approach
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1. Brian Gregor working for ODOT develops GreenSTEP in R (R is an open source statistics and programming platform)
2. RSG working for FHWA evaluates GHG tools, selects GreenSTEP, develops EERPAT
3. RSG working for SHRP 2 builds SmartGAP incorporating elements of EERPAT
4. Brian Gregor working with Portland State University adds features to GreenSTEP
5. RSG working for FHWA moves new features of GreenSTEP to EERPAT, adds GUI built using Python, and develops Git repository for all of the tools
Model Structure: System of Components
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Estimation Application GUI
Data development scripts: NHTS, Census, local sources
Model estimation scripts: specification testing, final model selection, validation, and application functions
Application build scripts:combining final models, application functions, and data
File structure, input data, and scripts to run the model and preprocess outputs
Script structure:-Main script to manage run-Inputs script to read inputs-Preparation scripts to run “one-time” components, e.g Population Synthesis-Simulation script(s) to run the main components of the model-Utility/Model scripts to hold functions-Output scripts to process outputs
Scripts, compiled code, and libraries that form the graphical user interface
EERPAT example:-Python local webserver that serves the GUI to a web browser, interacts with the file system, and executes runs-Java Script code and libraries to provide functionality in the GUI
Future Management Approach
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Git version control repository used for code management – Git is open source (others, e.g. Subversion)
Core management team: decision makers for approving code changes, releases
Development community: Working with pre-release code, making updates and submitting changes
Web based repository hosting, with management and collaboration tools (others, e.g. R Forge)
Development Branch of Repository
Release Branch of
Repository/ Website
Downloads
User community: Working with release code, applying the models, reporting bugs
Colin SmithDirector, Advanced Forecasting MethodsResource Systems Group, [email protected]
Stephen LaweCEOResource Systems Group, [email protected]
