Lesson Learned

A ConOps is a useful tool for the initial definition and justification of ITS projects. The StarTran AVL ConOps is a good example of how a Systems Engineering (SE) ConOps should be applied on ITS projects. A ConOps needs to be prepared properly in order to serve its intended purpose. Users need to make sure that the ConOps is written so that the systems engineer or developer will understand precisely what problems users are trying to solve and their purpose for solving them. A ConOps should not include descriptions of system design components or prescribe technology solutions to address users’ problems. A ConOps needs to stay focused on "what" the users need rather than "how" to design systems to solve user problems.

The StarTran AVL ConOps provided a number of examples of the proper development of a ConOps for an ITS project including:

• Concisely define the system in order to avoid any confusion about what needs to be developed.
• Remain focused on the operational system without dictating design features.
• Provide descriptions of the current system including the inadequacies associated with it. This helps the system developer to understand the problems that the owners/operators need to fix.
• Write the ConOps with the systems engineer/developer in mind. It is the engineer/developer that will translate the ConOps into an operational system, so it is important for the users to express their needs such that the engineer/developer can understand the problem and what is needed to resolve it.
• Ensure that the needed functionalities of the system are easy to identify. The StarTran ConOps included descriptions of system functionality written as "shall" statements. This feature in the ConOps allows engineers to isolate and extract the required system functionalities more quickly.
• Avoid assumptions about the internal content and structure of the eventual system. This is done to avoid getting lost in details, avoid premature feasibility (mis)judgments, and preclude the early insertion of pet design concepts.

Because a ConOps contains project needs, justification, and analysis information, it can be especially helpful when conducting a traditional transportation feasibility study. The ITS engineers should consider including a ConOps as part of the feasibility study process.
This lesson suggests that a ConOps is a tool that helps ensure user/customer satisfaction. In addition, a ConOps is designed to help simplify the definition of complex systems while maximizing productivity of system engineering activities.

http://www.browardbulldog.org/2010/06/whistleblower-triggers-corruption-probe-at-broward-county-transit-one-official-suspended/

Broward Transit problems

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From the Broward Bulldog

The Office of Professional Standards is responsible for investigating complaints “of malfeasance and misfeasance filed in good faith under the county’s whistleblower program,” according to the county’s web site.

State law shields the identity of employees or others who file a written whistleblower complaint. The county has a “zero tolerance” policy toward retaliation against whistleblowers.

The complaint says that after DRI was “paid in full” for its poorly performing passenger counting system, it appears as if Swirsky and Blitman “orchestrated” a $13.3 million no-bid deal for the company at county hall – and did so in a way that apparently masked what the county was actually buying.

County records show the commission voted on April 28, 2009 to modify an existing sole source contract with DRI to upgrade a bus announcement system it bought in 2002 for less than $2 million.

But according to the whistleblower, that’s not what the county really bought. Instead, those millions went for an altogether different kind of bus communications system that DRI was peddling, but had yet to deploy at any other major transit agency – an Automatic Vehicle Location/Computer Aided Dispatch system (AVL/CAD).

“Note the glaring omission (in the county’s agenda item) of any reference to an AVL/CAD system,” the whistleblower wrote.  “It is most unlikely that an upgrade of this single announcement system would cost BCT over $13 million.”

[A link to Digital Recorders AVL system overview page]

The whistleblower urged investigators to determine who made that happen.

“Someone at BCT had to provide information to county purchasing personnel that formed the basis of emails and documentation provided by purchasing personnel that in turn created the mechanisms for approval by the Board of County Commissioners,” the whistleblower’s complaint said.

Randi used to ask, "How will you and I know when I have done the job to your satisfaction?"
Some clients were disarmed by this question; they had never been asked it before. Inevitably, answers began to emerge. Clients would say things such as:

• Our record-keeping and accounting costs will decline by 10 percent from those of last year.
• We will capture 40 percent more revenue from taxpayer compliance than occurred with our previous collectiion efforts.
• Our Website will move to the top in Google in less than a month.
• Fifteen percent of the proposals we write will result in signed contracts, as opposed to our traditional norm of 9 percent.

Randi Sherman's question can be adopted by all project managers as well. "How will my project team and I know that we have completed the project to the satisfaction of those charged with assessing our efforts?" The response may turn out to be multipart, but  invariably the answer homes in on the essential question for all project managers who choose to be successful: "What needs to be accomplished?"

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