Continuous system expansion

Dublin Bus and INIT celebrate a strong ten-year partnership

INIT recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary of its partnership with Dublin Bus (Bus Átha Cliath). It was in 2010 that INIT implemented the first fleet management and real-time passenger information platform, ITCS (Intermodal Transport Control System), in Ireland. An eventful year for Dublin Bus as the implementation tied in with when Dublin Bus set up their central control facility. Members of the INIT team spoke with Dublin Bus employees Barbara O’Brien, their Technology Development Manager, Sorin Costica, Area Operations Manager – Central Control and Shane Mitchell, Technology Development Executive, to discuss what the strong partnership with INIT has achieved and what the future holds.

The way things were

Looking back to 2001 when Barbara joined Dublin Bus, she recalls, “It was nothing like it is nowadays where the technology moves so fast”. Dublin Bus did not have a private radio system then, they only had one frequency per depot. It was a really basic communication system which meant “whichever bus driver shouted the loudest was heard”. Radio controllers relied on spreadsheets and information on basic boards in the control room. In 2002, Dublin Bus began the deployment of a private mobile radio system, which was a huge improvement, but staff in the control room still could not see the location of their vehicles.

A user-friendly system

But ten years ago INIT delivered the bus operator’s fleet management system so controllers could see the location of the whole fleet using on-screen maps, which vastly improved their monitoring capabilities. Barbara said the INIT system provides significant functionality such as alert messages when a bus is delayed, allowing staff to be in complete control in a way that was never possible before. Sorin Costica, Dublin Bus’s Area Operations Manager said INIT’s system is “extremely user- friendly”, not just for the 16 dispatchers who work in the control room on any given day, but also for the drivers of their 950 buses.

950

buses

3600

employees

16

dispatchers

Real-time passenger information powered by INIT

One of the greatest innovations of the last ten years for the Greater Dublin Area has been the delivery of accurate, real-time passenger information for passengers via on-street displays as well as the Transport for Ireland Journey Planner website and app. The data driving these services is supplied by INIT’s ITCS system at Dublin Bus. Previously, passengers were generally in the dark about expected bus arrival times and disruptions, but now they have a wide choice of tools at their fingertips to receive this information – powered by INIT.

Continuous system expansions prove to be successful

In the last ten years, INIT has developed enhanced functionality both on board the buses and within the ITCS application. Dublin Bus relies heavily on the MOBILEstatistics application to improve punctuality since they are measured on their schedule adherence by the Irish National Transport Authority, the transport authority for Greater Dublin and the public transport licensing agency for Ireland. They continually refine their timetables in order to improve the whole passenger experience. Shane Mitchell, their Technology Development Executive said the application helps them tremendously – “our real-time accuracy has gone from the mid-80’s to on average 97 % – one of the highest in Europe thanks to a lot of work carried out internally in Dublin Bus and with INIT’s engineers”.

Shane Mitchell also noted that the ITCS system was instrumental in assisting Dublin Bus to manage traffic disruption during the tram line connection project (Luas cross city) which connected the existing tram lines through Dublin city centre. The construction lasted for four years (2013-2017) and at its peak there were over 2,000 ITCS measures being entered daily by dispatchers, such was the level of disruption. INIT’s system enabled staff to deploy changes in real time, such as curtailments, and even to add new vehicles at busy times.

A focus on passengers throughout the pandemic

Barbara explained that Dublin Bus has always made the passenger experience their number one priority and this has never been more pertinent than during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Dublin Bus immediately recorded new audio announcements for the fleet, to remind passengers about physical distancing measures such as exiting via centre doors and to stand back to allow other passengers to alight before boarding. Drivers can select certain announcements manually or rolling announcements can be played automatically.

Shane confirmed this, adding that “the system hasn’t let us down”. Like operators across the globe, they were forced to react quickly to the unfolding situation.

Up to 2,000 dispatching measures per day – a manageable task for Dublin Bus’s dispatchers thanks to MOBILE-ITCS.

Looking to the future

Over the last few years Dublin Bus has trialled a variety of hybrid buses and has recently placed a significant order for 74 to add to their fleet. These will also be gradually integrated into MOBILE-ITCS so that the entire fleet can be monitored.

Looking into new technologies with INIT, Shane explained that an attractive feature of the INIT system is how easily new functionality can be added. INIT and Dublin Bus are always investigating new enhancements to help their fleet controllers and drivers, and ultimately to improve the passenger experience.

Contact

Jens Mullak

Managing Director

INIT Innovations in Transportation Ltd

United Kingdom

Get in touch

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This article was published in our customer magazine INITiative, issue 2/2020. If you want to receive the magazine regularly per e-mail, we kindly ask you to subscribe.

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