Prescriptive, Predictive &

A White Paper:
Big Data, Predictive Analytics &
the Revolutionary Future
of Wheel-Trans

What is Big Data & Why is it a Big

Deal?

Big data is literally data that is too big for a business

to be able to capture, manage, and analyze using
traditional relational software.

Big Data & Predictive Analytics at Wheel-Trans: A White Paper

in revenue: the more it that you have the greater the potential for
the process to operate with: agility, leanness, precision,

What makes Big Data big

Volume
Information beyond the organizations storage or computing capacity .

Velocity
Real-time torrent of information entering the business process.

Variety
Ordinary database information + unstructured data formats: messages,

Big Data & Predictive Analytics at Wheel-Trans: A White Paper

However, having the data and managing the data are altogether
different! Imagine sitting atop an immense mountain which,
somewhere within contains a wealth of gold. Finding the
treasure requires using the right tools.

The Big Data Tool Kit:

Predictive Analytics proces
Hadoop process structured and unstructured data of
virtually any size, via distributed
computing. Various queries and
data operations out of reach of
standard computing
Cloud-Based Data Warehousing
and Processing enables data
collection, processing, and
outputting in a real-time
environment. Essential for realtime business operations.

ou cant manage
what you dont
measure
Peter Drucker

Machine learning (algorithms)

Predictive Analytics:
From Evolutionary to
Revolutionary
Forecasting has traditionally been done utilizing very basic
extrapolation, which assumes: what has happened in the past will
Big Data & Predictive Analytics at Wheel-Trans: A White Paper

continue to happen in the future and will continue to proceed

along the same trajectory.
Organizations continue to utilize this methodology in spite of
having witnessed its limitations such as the inability to predict:
the sudden crash of the Derivatives Market (crash of 2008)
the erratic rises and falls of the U.S. Housing Market ( 2006
2012 )
the Savings and Loan Crisis (1980s)
the bursting of the Dot-Com Bubble (1995-2001)

Business
Analysis

Big Data Analytics Tools

& Technologies

Traditional Computing

CAPTURE
Statistical
Sampling

YES: Small fractions of the

population are sampled

Experimental
Design

CRITICAL: guided by
causation and statistical
validity.

Number of
Sources

LIMITED: a small sample

population limited by
constraints such as
computing capacity

NO: Data sets encompass an

entire population
LESS IMPORTANT: Data
repurposing means that data
collected for other purposes is
often analyzed to find solutions
to new questions.
GLOBAL: Crowdsourced data,
electronic breadcrumbs, the
capture of all information
entering into an organizations
business process.

MANAGEMENT
Storage

Single physical location.

Structure

Structured: Data resides in

set fields

Multiple locations: hosted,

and virtual (i.e., cloud based)
No Constraints: signals data,
video data, message data, in
addition to structured data,

ANALYSIS
Big Data & Predictive Analytics at Wheel-Trans: A White Paper

Analytical
Approach

Statistics: Traditional
regression

Data Science: Pattern

recognition and machine
learning in addition to
traditional statistics

Number of
Variables

Limited by Constraints

Very Large

Processing

Manual: based on human

use of tools and intuition

Automated: Optimization
routines create a best fit model

How Can it Work for WheelTrans?

Opening the Black Box

Big Data & Predictive Analytics at Wheel-Trans: A White Paper

AVL Signal Data

Runsheets, GPS data,
Operator
Communications,

Mainframe Data
Boards, Payroll, Reports,

Written Data (Paper &

Electronic)

Applications & Assessments, letters &

emails, requests for appeals,

GIRO Data
Reservations, Customer
Service, Dispatch (both
static and real-time)

Incident
Management Data

Currently IGEN, in the future ICS

Customer Service
Reports Data
Complaints, No Shows, etc.

References:
ARTWORK: TAMAR COHEN, HAPPY MOTORING, 2010, SILK
SCREEN ON VINTAGE ROAD MAP, 26 X 18

Big Data & Predictive Analytics at Wheel-Trans: A White Paper

Accessibility plans, specialized transportation services

42. (1) Specialized transportation service providers shall, in their accessibility plans,
(a) identify the process for estimating the demand for specialized transportation
services; and
(b) develop steps to reduce wait times for specialized transportation services.
O. Reg. 191/11, s. 42 (1).
(2) Revoked: O. Reg. 165/16, s. 8.

Big Data & Predictive Analytics at Wheel-Trans: A White Paper