Modelling IT systems for public transport companies: the domain model ITTC

Abstract

Abstract The core business processes of public transport with buses, trams, metros and trains cover the areas of schedule planning, resource dispatch, operations control, passenger information, ticketing and statistics/reporting. Today these business processes are usually represented in integrated IT systems used by public transport agencies (PTA) and public transport operators (PTO). Typical examples are schedule planning and optimization tools, control center applications (aka CAD/AVL) and real time passenger information systems (RTPI). So far in research and academic teaching no coherent model for all these business processes was available; in general there is a tendency to concentrate more on planning and optimization than on operation support systems. ITTC (IT systems for Transport Companies) is a domain model that provides an integrated modelling of these processes and systems, which is meant to be used as the basis for analysis, design and implementation of IT systems for the public transport domain. The ITTC model consists of (a) detailed descriptions of the business processes, (b) a functional model of the corresponding IT systems and subsystems and their interconnection through data flows and interfaces and (c) a class model describing the data structures and functions to be used in these IT systems. The complete model has been developed and documented using the “Unified Modelling Language“(UML 2). The class model contains a total of 230 classes grouped in 28 packets and 9 functional domains. 42 IT systems interconnected by more than 70 data flows are described in detail based on this class model. A verbal description of business processes uses the strict terminology from the class and system model to introduce the functional requirements as well as the practical translation to IT systems.