Sr. Consultant and Principal Owner at Thomas Consulting

Speaking Topics

5G and Mass Transit

In the US, the Race for 5G is being fueled by several government developments and by increasing demand for 24/7 ultra HD and high-fidelity information and by several government developments. However, the deployment of 5G in the government sector is facing environmental and other community challenges (radiation, aesthetic, service quality and financial impacts of 5G) and challenges in partnerships between the public and private sectors, e.g. asset ownership, project management, risk mitigation, ongoing O&M, and revenue sharing. The purpose of this presentation is to put forth a “New Planning Paradigm for 5G”, an approach that will ensure successful and accelerated delivery of 5G networks in the mass transit sector. The premise is that over the past 50 years, the US successfully built 4,500 miles of Interstate Highways and expanded transit fixed guideway infrastructure serving 5,000 stations. With that experience, then we can surely build a world class 5G network together by learning from lessons of the past and taking advantage of best practices of today. This presentation has four parts. The first will review both the challenges and opportunities associated with the deployment of 5G networks. The second part will compare the scope of 5G systems planning and engineering efforts as called for by wireless professionals and that used by transit infrastructure professionals. Then it will lay out a combined process to specifically address the most challenging areas of community impacts and business arrangements. Those most challenging areas are: 1) stakeholder outreach (a community word cloud of who can say no), 2) understanding where customers live, work, school, pray and play and where to place small cells and base station equipment, 3) selection of network options , 4) compliance with technical requirements and standards to meet the needs of mission critical applications — train arrival prediction information, 24/7 video surveillance, digital advertising, communication based train control, positive train control, prediction location of buses, emergency management, parking management, and asset management with monitoring, control and reporting systems. Some of these applications will be highlighted, 5) joint project management with riskmitigations and 6) the need for independent quality assurance and control. The presentation will end with a call for action to build the necessary partnerships with fixed guideway transit agencies who encourage innovation and invite public private partnerships