Bus, train 'real time' info steps closer

A major plank of Greater Wellington Regional Council's strategy to get more people on buses and trains is closer to reality with the choice of suppliers for a real-time information system (RTIS).

The companies chosen to provide the satellite position-locating system that will track the location of up to 100 trains and 500 buses are ACIS from the UK and NZ-based Kordia.

The council hopes that 'real time' systems will eliminate the frustration of Metlink riders with not knowing whether the next bus or train is early, late or already gone. That's a major turn-off, people say, and a huge hurdle to increasing the 'mode-share' of public transportation, says GWRC.

The system relays information about when to expect a bus or train at a particular point to electronic visual display screens at terminals, stops and on the vehicles themselves. It can also be gotten through txt messaging, a call centre and the Internet.

The 'real' time is in fact an 'estimated' time, being derived from the vehicle's current location and historical travel time information collected over a certain period.

GWRC says travel times could be more predictable and reliable, especially as the system will feed late buses' locations to Wellington City's traffic signal control system, which could give priority to delayed vehicles at intersections.

In addition to the main benefits for riders  more reliable information, enabling them to make better travel decisions  councils and operators will also use the data for planning, monitoring and reporting purposes. RTI systems are already operating in Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch.

Attempted for much of the last decade, and ballyhooed by GWRC as part of its Transport 2020 future, RTI is still at least a year away. The system was earlier estimated to cost at least $10 million, but GWRC did not release a figure. Negotiations with the companies are continuing.

The preferred supplier of the satellite position locating technology, electronics and software is British company Advanced Communication and Information Systems Limited (ACIS).

GWRC says ACIS is one of the leading providers of real time location systems for bus, coach, rail and airport sectors. It has more than 100 customers across the UK, Europe, Middle East and North America, tracking more than 9,000 buses.

Its New Zealand partner, supplying the communications network and infrastructure, is Kordia, the state-owned company that grew out of the separation of the programming and technical arms of the state broadcasters. It has more than 700 employees and provides custom broadcast and telecommunications solutions and specialised networks.

Peter Glensor, deputy council chairman and chairman of its [public] transport and access committee, said ''Today we move a significant step closer towards a hugely exciting development for Wellington's  public transport network.''

GWRC says the choice is the result of an extensive tendering and evaluation process. Mr Glensor said eight conforming tenders were considered for the design, supply and installation of the RTIS.

GWRC says RTI is so high-tech that all tenderers had to obtain at least some components or technology from outside New Zealand. No tenderer offered a 100 per cent New Zealand-sourced solution.

The anticipated timeline for the system includes a pilot phase, to be carried out on a selected cross-city bus route starting later this year. The system is expected to begin operating for bus services in Wellington City about this time next year. The trains will then follow.

The second major plank of Metlink's plan to make public transport the preferred and most efficient transport mode is integrated ticketing. It is promised to standardise prices per unit of distance across the whole region and make it possible to buy one ticket for any journey across the system on buses and trains.

There is no go-live date for that advancement, which requires greater cooperation and agreement among many operators and the institution of a 'smart-card' to pay. Smart cards such as Snapper are in partial use, and GWRC has trialled an integrated bus-rail ticket in Paraparaumu. GWRC said it was so successful it is continuing.

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