Features and Benefits
- Efficient communication will result in stronger security, more of an
ability to respond to emergencies, improved operation during snow and ice
storms, and greater service reliability for all of our buses.
- Each dispatcher's computer console will display maps of the Portland
metropolitan area. Any bus can be located anytime with an accuracy
of about 10 meters (approximately 30 feet).
- Multiple levels of communications can be transmitted from each bus,
allowing our dispatchers to properly prioritize incoming calls.
Dispatchers will usually have advance information about the nature of the
call even before they talk to the driver.
- Last second delays and reroutes can be transmitted to each affected bus
line through text messages that drivers receive on their display screen.
- In emergencies, such as a medical event, dispatchers will
be able to accurately send help to the proper location.
- The clock on each bus display provides official Tri-Met time from
satellite-based clocks that are accurate to about one
second in 3,000 years!
- The system automatically alerts the drivers and dispatchers when the
vehicle is running early or late, or when it goes off-route.
- Our Scheduling Department can receive daily information about how well,
or not so well, every schedule is working for both customers and
drivers.
Tri-Met is among the first transit agencies in our nation to install this
type of sophisticated equipment. As we learn to use the information this
technology provides, we hope to improve and refine the service we provide
to our customers. We are excited by the possibilities it provides and hope
to hear from you about the improvements you notice when using Tri-Met.
3 comments:
Isn't all of that exactly what the CURRENT system is supposed to do? TriMet was one of the first agencies to implement GPS tracking on buses...TriMet has the whole BDS system that's supposed to allow instantaneous two-way communication...the system lets drivers know when the bus is off route or off schedule...
So what the hell are we spending $30 million for???
Seriously? Sophisticated? Right.
Every time I call in here, they seem to know where I am, and the buses with out OBS (New radio/announcements system) are not GPS. Our planners have been able to pull data for a long time from trips, its all saved someplace. And I do not support the texting thing, currently they come on over a speaker in the drivers area and tell us about traffic problems and such, however ours is supposedly going to a text style system soon.
At least our Stop Announcement system 1) works downtown and 2) shows EVERY stop on the passenger display (it only announces the major stops, but every stop is displayed)
And how does the scheduling department even know where to look? We have a form we can turn in for issues, works just fine, as a matter of fact I turned in one and the issue i presented was fixed this shakeup.
TriMet toots its own horn too much, cause who is going to see what everyone else has got going on and compare.
Isn't all of that exactly what the CURRENT system is supposed to do? TriMet was one of the first agencies to implement GPS tracking on buses...TriMet has the whole BDS system that's supposed to allow instantaneous two-way communication...the system lets drivers know when the bus is off route or off schedule...
So what the hell are we spending $30 million for???
The current BDS system, built by a subsidiary of Fairchild (the defense contractor), was spec'd out in the late 80s-early 90s, and not fully implemented until sometime in 1997. It did nothing to upgrade the onboard transceivers (the radios on the buses are all 30+ years old, Motorola Syntors that haven't been supported by Motorola in some time).
Although a digital microwave upgrade was completed several years ago, all that did for the communications infrastructure was upgrade and repair some of the base stations at the repeater sites.
Now the FCC has mandated narrowbanding (which must be completed by 12/31/2012 absent a waiver, and those are hard to come by) - something that is not possible to do with the current on-board equipment, and may or may not (depending on who you ask) be possible for the base stations.
Looking at a capital expense to comply with the narrowbanding mandate, TriMet evaluated several solutions, and this was the cheapest by far for many reasons.
The new system has improved GPS technology (in addition to WAAS Differential GPS calculations, routes can be dead-reckoned in areas of poor GPS reception), integrated ASA and APC technology, as well as improved tools for dispatchers to use to help maintain scheduled service.
The current system is failing (it has to run on ancient hardware which is getting harder and harder to find when it fails - 286PCs for the radio consoles, for example).
And instantaneous, today, can be much longer than that. It also gets TriMet out of a ~$650k annual expense for leased radio airtime using other providers radio infrastructure.
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