COMP Honours Project

Transcription

1 CARLETON UNIVERSITY COMP Honours Project Developing an Online Booking System for Ottawa s Para Transpo Service Student: Shannon Stone Supervisor: Dr. Dwight Deugo Winter 2017

2 Abstract This report documents the research, design, and implementation of a proposed online booking application for the clients of Ottawa s Para Transpo service which provides door-to-door transportation for individuals who cannot use conventional public transit. The result of this work was the creation of a web application with both client and admin perspectives that allows for the booking, review, and cancellation of trips. Page 2

3 Table of Contents Abstract... 2 List of Figures... 5 List of Tables... 5 Chapter 1 - Introduction... 6 Problem... 6 Motivation... 6 Goals... 7 Objectives... 7 Outline... 7 Chapter 2 - Background... 8 Para Transpo Business Rules... 8 Existing Infrastructure Existing Systems in Other Cities Chapter 3 - Approach Technologies to be Used Database Design User Interface Requirements Accessible Design Considerations Chapter 4 - Results and Validation Initialization Use Page 3

4 Chapter 5 - Conclusion Limitations Future work References Page 4

5 List of Figures Figure Number Caption Page FIGURE 1 An entity relationship diagram showing the database structure 12 FIGURE 2 Instantiating the database 14 FIGURE 3 Launching the web server 15 FIGURE 4 Login screen 16 FIGURE 5 Client main view 17 FIGURE 6 Admin page 18 FIGURE 7 Login error 19 List of Tables Table Number Caption Page TABLE 1 Para Transpo business rules for customer profiles 9 TABLE 2 Para Transpo business rules for trip booking 9 Page 5

6 Chapter 1 - Introduction Problem Like many major cities, Ottawa offers an accessible, door-to-door transit service to residents whose disability makes them incapable of using traditional public transit. Once clients are registered to use Para Transpo, trips can be booked, either on a casual basis the day before travel, or as a regular trip if the location for a minimum of 4 weeks. Booking for both types of trips is currently done over the phone with a Para Transpo employee entering the trip request information into the system. This project aims to address the difficulties that users face scheduling trips by proposing an online booking system. Motivation The current system of booking trips over the phone creates a lot of frustrations for clients, as there are frequently long wait times, and trips at their desired times may be unavailable by the time they are able to speak to an agent. In addition to addressing these issues, by increasing the capacity for more clients to book trips at the same time, an online application would present a cost savings to the city as fewer employees would be required to support trip booking. Given the number of accessibility options available with current web technologies, an online booking system would also make it possible for clients with various disabilities to make their own bookings instead of relying on someone else who is able to communicate using the telephone. The usability of the current system is quickly becoming a point of great contention for the disabled community of Ottawa, as individuals are growing frustrated with the feeling that disproportionally few resources are being applied to the improvement of the Para Transpo service. While no technological advancement is free, this project could introduce many benefits at a relatively low cost. This project is of particular relevance at this point in time as the city of Ottawa is moving forward with a significant investment to improve its public transit. Page 6

7 Goals The goal of this project is to develop a web based application, that meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, for Para Transpo trip booking that supports both client and administrator usage. In the client role, the users will be able to book, review, and cancel their trips. In the administrator role, users will be able to view individual client profiles as well as a listing of all the trips booked by all clients for a day. Objectives In order to meet the above goal, I will need to achieve several smaller objectives. First I will research and document the business rules that govern a client s ability to book trips and trip availability. I will then research existing online booking systems for para transit services in other cities. These business rules will be listed so that they can be referenced to justify the decision making process for the rest of the application. With the defined business rules, I will develop a relational database scheme to store the information that will be used by the web applications. This will produce a persistent database that will be accessed by the web application. The business rules will also inform the design of both the client, and administrator web applications. I will document the features to be implemented for both web applications. I will implement this by creating a web application that can be locally hosted on any computer capable of running the JavaScript and an SQL database. Once the database and web applications have been implemented, I will perform various test cases to ensure the desired functionality and robustness of the system. Outline The remainder of the report will guide the reader through the research, design, implementation, and testing of this project. This will be done through text descriptions aided with design diagrams, and images of elements of the system wherever possible. In Chapter 2, I will look at the business rules that will govern the types of data, and actions that my application will need to support. The existing method of booking, cancelling, and confirming trips will be briefly described. I will also investigate online booking systems that are used by other para Page 7

8 transit services to see what features should be considered for inclusion. Chapter 3 focuses on the approach I took in the development of my application, including what technologies where used, design choices, and any special considerations made. In Chapter 4 I provide an overview of the completed app as well as a discussion of some the use cases and test cases that I ran illustrated with screenshots of the application in action. Finally, I conclude in chapter 5 by discussing the direction that future work on the application could take including improvements and integration with existing systems. Chapter 2 - Background Para Transpo Business Rules There are many different rules that govern how Ottawa s Para Transpo service operates; this includes conditions on who can access the service, when trips can be booked, and the types of vehicles used. ParaTranspo services a large number of clients with various mobility needs, including those who use manual or power wheelchairs, walkers, cane, or no mobility devices. Additionally, some customers have service animals that travel with them or require the assistance of an attendant, who travels free of charge. In order to provide the greatest volume of service in the most economical way possible, Para Transpo utilizes a fleet of accessible mini-buses, which they designate as the dedicated service. In addition they have contracts for several local taxi companies to provide service using both accessible taxi vans and standard sedans. In the year ending December 31 st, 2014, Para Transpo reported providing 884, 000 passenger trips, using 89 dedicated buses and 92 non-designated vehicles ( Para Transpo Service Facts & Figures ). In 2016, there were approximately 13, 000 registered Para Transpo users. These numbers are expected to continue growing as the population ages and Para Transpo is in the process of expanding its eligibility criteria to include those with mental and developmental disabilities (Porter). The business rules that are relevant to my application can be largely broken down into two separate categories, business rules that define customer profiles, and business rules that define how trips are booked. The business rules are listed and explained in Table 1 and Table 2 Page 8

9 below. These business rules have been informed by the information available online at and TABLE 1: Para Transpo business rules for customer profiles Rule number Description 1.1 Customers may use a wheelchair and need a wheelchair spot 1.2 Service animals are permitted and must be accommodated 1.3 Clients who require additional assistance travel with a companion at additional charge 1.4 Access to Para Transpo can be granted on a temporary, weather dependent, or permit basis. TABLE 2: Para Transpo business rules for trip booking Rule number Description 2.1 There are two categories of trips, casual and regular Regular trips must recur on the same day of the week, at the same time, between the same two addresses for a minimum of 4 weeks Regular trips can be booked up to two days before the first trip is needed Regular trips may be suspended with at least 2 days notice, otherwise it is considered a cancellation, multiple cancellations can result in a client being refused regular bookings Regular trips are automatically suspended on statutory holidays A casual trip is one that is made for the next day Casual trips for holidays may be made a week in advance. 2.2 Para Transpo services addresses in the city of Ottawa as well as the Hull sector of the city of Gatineau Para Transpo has defined a rural transit area A trip may only have a starting or ending address that is in the rural transit area, not both Trips with a rural start or destination are charged a fixed, flat fee that is greater than the regular bus fare. 2.3 Customers may initially only book a maximum of 4 one-way trips per day, additional trips may be considered if there are openings. 2.4 Customers who use a wheelchair or scooter can only be accommodated in the mini-vans or accessible taxi vans. 2.5 Trips can be book in half-hour increments between the hours of 6:00am and 12:00 am all 7 days of the week. Page 9

10 Existing Infrastructure Para Transpo currently only offers the ability to book trips over the phone by calling an agent between the hours of 7:00 am and 5:00pm seven days a week. Customers who do not use a mobility device must wait until 9:00am to call. There is a separate phone line that can be used for cancelling trips or inquiring if your bus is late. It operates between 6:00 am and 11:59 pm seven days a week ( Reservations and Cancellations ). There are some new systems being implemented to try and leverage technology to simplify the use of Para Transpo for both clients and their staff. There is currently an interactive voice response service that allows users to confirm and cancel their trips for the next two days without speaking to an agent. Para Transpo makes use on an electronic scheduling system which takes all of the calls for a day and organizes them into runs to be assigned to drives. They have real-time location services and communication with drivers via onboard computers, this is also being implemented in the taxi cabs that are contracted to run Para Transpo calls. Para Transpo is also in the process of testing an electronic payment system where clients can prepay their fare since the buses are not equiped with the Presto card readers that has been implemented on the regular OC Transpo fleet ( Presto on Para ). Existing Systems in Other Cities Before beginning the work on my application, I wanted to investigate what other cities have done in terms of leveraging technology to facilitate easier booking for customers using their para transit services. Most major cities in Canada have some form of accessible transit, but there is a great deal of variation. They range from accessible features on conventional city buses, to full door-to-door para transit services like Para Transpo (Government of Canada). Just as the type of service varies from municipality to municipality, so too does the integration with technology. By far, the norm seemed to be that booking is still done over the phone for individuals who make use of para transit services. The most common adoption of technology was for municipalities to have systems similar to Para Transpo s interactive voice response. Page 10

11 Two examples close to the Ottawa region that do have some form of online booking system were, Societe de transport de l Outaouais (STO), which operates in the region of Quebec bordering Ottawa, and Toronto s Wheel Trans operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. STO has a limited online booking option that is integrated with their broader customer portal on their website. Through a special tab that registered users gain access to, users can fill out a form to request transportation up to 2 weeks in advance. The data in this form is then ed to STO staff and the customer is alerted by whether or not their request can be accommodated ( Reserving Occasional Transportation ). Wheel Trans operates the mywheel-trans.ttc.ca website which allows users to book, confirm, and cancel their trips fully online. Interesting features that their web application offers includes the ability to place regular trips on hold for a specified period of time, and a wide variety of pre-entered locations that you can choose as your pick up or drop off point options include major landmarks, a list of favourite locations, and anywhere you have travelled to in the last 6 months ( mywheel-trans.ttc.ca ). The online booking system for Wheel Trans has been successfully in use for more than 5 years now. It offers customers longer hours of operation, and shorter wait time then using the phone booking system. Chapter 3 - Approach Technologies to be Used The web application will be written in the as a JavaScript application using the NodeJS framework. The handlebars framework will be used for writing HTML based layouts that can be modified at runtime using a provided context. The data needed for the application will be stored in a persistent relational database so that it can be maintained across multiple instances of the application. I will use a database written in SQLite, as it is a common language that supports the operations needed and is well integrated with the NodeJS framework. Page 11

12 Database Design The data for the application will be stored in a persistent, relational database written in SQLite. The data is stored in 4 tables which are described in FIGURE 1 below. There are tables for the model like entities of admin, clients, and trips. FIGURE 1: An entity relationship diagram showing the database structure User Interface Requirements Users will be able to access the application from two different perspectives. The first perspective is that of a client who is a registered Para Transpo customer looking to view their Page 12

13 own profile, book, and cancel trips. When the application is being used from the client perspective, it should have a page that provides the client with a summary of their upcoming trips, all of their regular booked trips. From here, there should be options to book a new trip, cancel an upcoming trip, suspend a regular booking, and modify their client profile. The second perspective is that of an administrator. This perspective will be simple as most of the task that an administrator would need to carry out can be performed on existing software that could be integrated to work with this application. The user perspective provides a single view that allows the user to see the trips that are booked for the proceeding two days and a list of all the clients who are registered to use the system. Accessible Design Considerations As dictated by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act (AODA), public organizations such as OC Transpo must ensure that they provide accessible service to all. The act sets out guidelines that require websites to be compliant with the World Wide Web Consortium s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.0. The WCAG criteria is divided into 3 levels with level A being the lowest. AODA requires that websites of public organizations conform to level AA ( AODA-WCAG 2.0 Guidelines ). In the process of developing the application, I have kept the WCAG requirements in mind in order to ensure that it is in compliance with the law. In addition to the legal requirements for accessibility, the nature of the application and the intended audience presents increased importance on it being accessible. Accessibility, and the nature of some clients disabilities potentially making it hard for them to utilize an online booking system has been identified as one of the reasons why Para Transpo has not moved forward with creating an online booking system despite repeated requests from clients (Pritchard). With the variety of assistive technology that exists, accessibility concerns should not be a hindrance to trying to leverage technology to simplify what is a daily inconvenience for many who rely on Para Transpo. The success of similar applications in Toronto proves that with proper design and implementation, it is possible to create web applications that can be accessed by the majority of individuals regardless of Page 13

14 disability. No system is perfect and there may still be individuals who need or prefer to make their bookings using the phone system, but they would benefit from the new application as well because they would not be competing with as many people to reach an agent on the phone. Chapter 4 - Results and Validation Initialization There are a few steps to get the application up and running. First, you must have SQLite installed running the read the database/database.sql file into database/database.db to instantiate the database. If you which to clear out any previous data, database/cleardabase.sql can be run first. FIGURE 2: Instantiating the database Next, the web server can be launched using npm as shown in FIGURE 3. Page 14

15 FIGURE 3: Launching the web server The application is configured to listen on port Opening up a web browser and navigating to localhost:3000 will open up the login screen. This is shown in figure 4 on the next page. Page 15

16 Use FIGURE 4: Login Screen Figure 4 shows the options to login either as a client or as an admain Page 16

17 FIGURE 5: Client main view Page 17

18 FIGURE 6: Admin page FIGURE 6 shows the admin page. In this instance, there are two users registered as clients, and they have no trips booked over the next two days. One of the keys to complying with WCAG standards is the clear display of error message and the communication about want has gone wrong. In FIGURE 7 you can see the error that is displayed upon an incorrect login attempt. Page 18

19 FIGURE 7: Login error Chapter 5 - Conclusion Limitations For the ease of implementation some of the business rules were not implemented. For example, there was not limit placed on the number of trips that could be booked in a given time period, this would be resolved through the integration of this system with Para Transpo s existing scheduling software which would be able to dictate the number of vehicles on the road and how they could be utilized to satisfied the greatest number of rides. Future work Many more features could be added to this application. Foremost, I would like to expand the admin page so that they could filter by user or other criteria to only view select trips at once. I would also like to add more intelligence to the booking feature where by lists of frequent addresses could be available. I would also like to integrate it with a mapping package that would allow the user to see a rough map of their route. This application could be integrated with many Page 19

20 others that are used by Para Transpo already, including the scheduling software and the upcoming electronic fare payment system. This application also presents the opportunity to provide new services to be used if it could be integrated with the scheduling software, it would become possible to utilize mapping and alert a user when approximately their ride will arrive, and how long it is estimated to take to reach their destination. Page 20

21 References AODA-WCAG 2.0 Guidelines, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Accessed 12 Feb Booking your trip and the day of your trip, Wheel-Trans, Accessed 10 Feb Customer login, MyWheel-Trans, Accessed 10 Feb 2017 Eligibility for Para Transpo Services, OC Transpo, Accessed 20 Jan Government of Canada. Local Transportation, Access to Travel, 17 Jul, 2013, mywheel-trans.ttc.ca, Wheel-Trans CommunityLINK Spring/Summer2012 edition,2012, Para Transpo Service Facts & Figures, OC Transpo, Accessed 20 Jan Porter, Kate. Para Transpo gearing up to widen eligibility criteria for riders, CBC News Ottawa, 22 Jun. 2016, Presto on Para, OC Transpo, Accessed 25 Jan Pritchard, Trevor. Para Transpo improvements aimed at reducing frustrating wait times, CBC News Ottawa, 04 Apr. 2017, Reservations and Cancellations, OC Transpo, Accessed 20 Jan Reserving Occasional Transportation, STO, Accessed 25 Jan Rising Stack. Node Hero Tutorial, 2016, Shaikh, Shahid. Node.js and SQLite Tutorial. Code for Geek, 31 Jul. 2014, SQLite Consortium. SQLite, 2017, Page 21