from On the Move, Spring (March) Quarter 1999, Volume 12, Number 1
As discussed in our last newsletter, the Y2K (Year 2000) Bug is a result of an effort to save space
when computers were first developing. Instead of using four digits to represent the year only two
were used (i.e., 98 is used to represent 1998). The problem that arises from this is that the year
2000 will be designated by "00" which the computer will interpret as 1900.
The fear is that computer systems will use the calendar for January of 1900 instead of January of 2000. This poses significant problems in transportation at the Federal, state and local levels. Some of these potential problems include:
These are only a few of the problems facing us.
Transportation agencies need to analyze the computer hardware and software running these
systems in order to ensure safe and uninterrupted use to the transportation system. Traffic signals
should be tested to determine if their timing cycles will continue to function properly in the year
2000.
Problems that might occur with the timing could include using a weekday timing cycle on a
Saturday when traffic would be heavier, both directions could be green, a turn signal could be
green at the same time as oncoming traffic, etc. Similar problems are faced by Intelligent
Transportation Systems (ITS), moveable bridge spans and performance monitoring systems.
Accounting systems face a different problem. While this problem does not concern the safety of
the public, it does concern Federal, state and local agencies as well as the tax paying public.
Accounting systems use a set time period for their billing purposes such as payrolls. If the
computer interprets "00" to be the year 1900, this would result in employee's salaries, bills and
other financial obligations being calculated for a time period ranging from 1900 to 1999. This
would be financially disastrous.
Helpful information on how to handle these and other Y2K problems can be found on the World Wide Web. Below is a list to help you get started:
Additional information can be found by using an internet search engine and the keywords "Y2K
and Transportation."
As the United States Senate moved this week to help small businesses learn how to prepare for
the Y2K problem, Colorado State University instructor, Mike Gould, was on the phone with a
small business owner who wanted to know more about the handbook he'd written to help small
firms become Y2K compliant.
"I began researching the Y2K problem in April of last year," Gould said. "I subscribed to a Y2K
Internet listserv, read numerous...articles, books, [etc.] and talked to a lot of small business
owners." What he found in researching the bug was that larger [organizations] were focusing a
lot of...resources...on fixing the problems associated with Y2K, but small [organizations] were a
different case. "I realized smaller...organizations either didn't believe in the Y2K problem, weren't
aware of the potential for disaster, didn't know where to begin or were waiting for a quick fix
from software or hardware vendors," Gould said. "I felt the need for something [they] could use
immediately, which was affordable, provided consistency in data collection and consolidation of
information for current and future use."
Gould, project coordinator with the Tribal Technical Assistance at Colorado State University, has written a multi-purpose book--a handbook for assessing Y2K compliance and a universal management resource tool. His "workbook" consists of 26 pages of information and basic worksheets and is arranged to walk anyone through an organizational assessment and to prepare them for Y2K changes. "The Y2K Workbook: Business Needs Assessment and Change Management" sells for $24.95 and can be purchased on the internet at [http://www.verinet.com/~margo].