For the Transportation Research Board's (TRB's), Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), EBP (formerly EDR Group) authored an action-oriented report that includes a how-to guide for transit agencies to use in making data sharing decisions.
The findings were developed through a review of relevant academic, professional, and legal literature, a survey, and interviews of individuals in the public and private sectors. The report highlights the major benefits, costs, and risks of data sharing, as well as the legal context. It identifies different models for data sharing, including open data models and private data sharing agreements, and describes the continuing challenges that transit agencies face in maximizing the value of their data and accessing external data.
The report discusses both internal changes that transit agencies can make to meet these challenges as well as broader needs, such as data standards and protocols. It also comments on how data sharing is expected to evolve and includes topics for future research.