The Open Transit Software Foundation (OTSF) is incorporated in the State of Washington as a nonprofit corporation. Our bylaws specify how the organization is run. Below the list of links is a summary (but please see the bylaws for the final and legal word). OTSF is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
Links
Members
The project has a set of members. Members are organizations that are active in OneBusAway, including transit agencies, universities, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit companies, but can also be otherwise unaffiliated individuals who are making a significant contribution to the project, such as developers or open data transit activists.
New members are added by majority vote of the existing members or the board. At least a year of sustained contributions to OTSF’s mission or other significant commitment is expected before prospective members are considered for membership.
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors has overall responsibility for the project. The board is composed of up to 12 members, serving one-year terms. The board members represent different constituencies: 2 to 4 from transit agencies using OneBusAway, 2 to 4 from universities doing OneBusAway research, 2 to 4 from companies and nonprofits involved in OneBusAway development or support, and 2 to 4 from individual developers or activists. The board is elected by project members at the annual project meeting each January.
Board meetings are held monthly by conference call. The call is open to anyone interested, unless there is a personnel or contractual decision that requires a closed meeting. (Generally we avoid closed meetings.) Board members who have a potential conflict of interest for any issue must recuse themselves from the discussion and vote on that particular issue, e.g., a company or university that is bidding on a OneBusAway contract being let by the Open Transit Software Foundation.
Technical Decisions
Technical decisions are made by the developers active on that part of the project, as described in the project wiki, although ultimate authority rests with the board. In the future, there may be a number of separate technical projects.
Annual Meeting
The annual project meeting is held each January in association with the TRB meeting in Washington, DC, and is open to all who are interested. We will set up a conferencing tool to support remote participation for those not able to attend in person.