Staff Report #7
August 29, 2018
To All Commissioners
Re: Information Technology Update
Recommendation
That the report be NOTED and FILED.
Background
Smart Card Implementation
Necessary changes that had been tested in May and June by both LTC and the vendor were implemented on production web systems in time for July pass sales. Unfortunately recurring pass payments did not function correctly in the real-world environment. Issues experienced include some previously established recurring transactions to be processed as expected, some processed numerous times, and others were processed but the smart card was not updated. Administration has worked with customers affected to rectify all issues experienced during the July pass sales period.
A positive outcome of the failed update is that the vendor has allocated additional resources to LTC and this issue, and has been monitoring every transaction very carefully in an effort to correct the underlying issues. The vendor is now confident that virtually all issues have been resolved, but in an effort to protect customers from any further negative impacts, August recurring web sales will be limited to LTC-owned accounts.
LTC will not approach the use of stored value on the smart cards until there is full confidence in web payment processes.
Other planned updates are now in the production environment and functioning well. One of these is new reporting that allows LTC to better cross-reference web purchases with customer records, which is helping a great deal in troubleshooting current issues. On-demand web receipts / purchase history for customers have also been successfully added to the live environment, as have fixes to 12 and Under fob record keeping and onboard display. In addition to these previously tested items, the changes necessary to implement the Youth pass being piloted by the City of London went live in early August and are working as designed and with no issues, as are changes to the look of the smart card web portal that better match the look and feel of the new LTC main website.
Google Transit Real-time Data Feed
The work surrounding the provision of a Google Transit real-time data feed remains ongoing. Most issues with the data have been corrected but some remain and the AVL vendor continues to work with LTC to identify the causes of Google validation errors. One factor slowing the process is the rapidly changing “base data” due to the many expected service changes coming in September. It is hoped that once that process is finished, it will be easier to run down the remaining issues. The interactive process with Google, while slow, has been helpful in fine-tuning the base data that both InfoWeb and the real-time feed rely upon. As such, there is good reason to believe that both will be improved by this work.
Information Services Initiatives
Initiatives currently underway as part of ongoing Work Program Asset Management items include:
- Core switch replacements (PTIF)
- Firewall/Web Filter Upgrades
- Transfer of Highbury office to higher bandwidth Internet connection
- Installation of new Telephone System (PTIF)
Initiatives mentioned in previous reports (improved website monitoring, server and backup systems, secure ftp hosting) have been fully completed.
Recommended by:
Patrick Cormier, Manager of Information Services
Concurred in by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager