MOBILE-APC at NVV

As a regional public transport authority, NVV provides an attractive mobility service for around 7,000 km². They order public transport services from numerous providers across the region. A multi-client system with high scalability was therefore required. All 28 bus companies (including sub-contractors) that serve the network area have direct access to MOBILEstatistics via a web browser and can analyze their own routes and create reports. The contract also included a service agreement for locating and rectifying faults. INIT hosts and maintains the entire system, from sensors to statistics software.

The start of the project was challenging. The passenger counting system for the first 402 buses had to be installed and put into operation within six months. Currently, all buses in the NVV are equipped with this solution.

Of course, the diversity of the bus fleet made it difficult to equip all the different vehicles, as Olaf Rohde, who is responsible for the project in the Transport Services and Bus Technology department, explains: “In order for the sensors to register correctly, we need the door impulse before the door opens. Sometimes, however, we receive buses that only deliver the door impulse when the door is half-open and this problem must be rectified by the manufacturer. In our experience, we would advise operators to clearly specify in the tender that the door impulses must act within a reasonable time frame.” The NVV relies on tried-and-tested IRMA MATRIX sensors from Berlin-based iris GmbH, a member of the INIT Group.  

They recognize passengers, generate counting data and guarantee maximum counting accuracy with their Time-of-Flight (ToF) technology, even when there are high passenger volumes. The recorded passenger numbers are transmitted to the operations control center via the INIT on-board computer COPILOTpc using an Ethernet interface, matched to the timetable and made available for evaluation.

MOBILEstatistics takes care of the data analyses. The number of passengers per journey and stop is determined, punctuality is monitored and vehicle speeds are checked. All public transport companies in the network use it to analyse their journeys; only NVV, in its role as a superclient, has access to all analyses.  

It uses the analyses for quality management purposes, for example to subsequently evaluate journey cancellations or unplanned trip interruptions. The system is also useful for checking that no stops are missed. Olaf Rohde explains that “MOBILEstatistics was originally only introduced to analyse count data, but we gradually discovered the possibilities it offers. We create weekly reports, store weather data, create evaluations for the Supervisory Board and passenger kilometre evaluations for the German Public Transport Association VDV, provide information for the annual report and much more.” The use of the wheelchair ramp in the vehicles is also displayed and analysed. Even a vehicle manufacturer has benefited from the system: data from MOBILEstatistics about the route provided information that could be used to calculate the vehicle’s gearbox design. Reprogramming the gearbox ultimately resulted in significant fuel savings.

Another useful function is the radio shadow map. The COPILOTpc continuously checks the connection to the mobile phone network. The radio shadow map uses white spots to show where there are reception problems and where additional transmission masts are required for reliable real-time passenger information. Other possible applications such as revenue distribution within the network are also under discussion.

The large-scale APC project with MOBILE-APC has not only fulfilled expectations thanks to the numerous possibilities offered by MOBILEstatistics, but has clearly exceeded them. Olaf Rohde is very satisfied with the project and explains, “We made the perfect decision when we chose the INIT solution.”