Our Customers : Public Transit Projects
Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Austin, TX
ACS is providing its latest Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system, OrbCAD XP, to Capital Metro. OrbCAD gives Capital Metro a suite of real-time and analytical tools that will assist in the day-to-day management of the 526-vehicle fleet of local, express, and paratransit bus services, as well as its forthcoming commuter rail service. ACS is also providing several other new features for all modes of the Capital Metro system. For instance, Capital Metro's Special Transit Service (STS) vehicle operators will receive custom directional information via the vehicle’s mobile data terminal to better locate passenger pick up and drop off locations. Additionally, the module will allow Capital Metro to update the STS operator's manifest, or schedule, throughout the day as changes are made to passenger pick up and drop off times.
Culver CityBus Culver City, CA
ACS is providing full fleet management capability for Culver City’s “SmartBus” system with OrbCAD, Orbital's computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and automated vehicle location (AVL) system. OrbCAD offers a smaller transit system, such as Culver City, the full set of tools that a larger transit system would receive, yet the system will be configured to allow for full dispatching capabilities from Culver City’s supervisory vehicles during off-peak hours. The system will assist Culver City in managing its forty-six fixed route buses, six support vehicles, and provide mobile dispatch capability for three supervisor vehicles. The Culver City system will feature automated passenger counting, automated stop announcement, and security camera subsystems on all fixed route buses. The OrbCAD in-vehicle electronics suite simplifies operations for the driver, enhances public and driver security, and supports real-time decision-making.
Foothill Transit West Covina, CA
ACS is providing Foothill Transit with a SmartBus System (SBS) to track and manage Foothill Transit's fleet of three hundred public transportation vehicles. ACS is utilizing its GPS satellite-based OrbCAD Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) fleet management system to help Foothill Transit achieve its objectives of improving service for its riders and increasing the efficiency of its operations.
The system that Foothill Transit is deploying will include a fully integrated vehicle equipment suite in each of its buses. The benefits of this package include simplified driver operations, ADA regulatory compliant announcements to the public, and enhanced passenger security through an advanced video and audio surveillance system. The Foothill Transit fleet is linked to its divisions and headquarters through a wide-area communications radio system that provides a complete assessment of fleet operations and enables rapid response to incidents through the Orbital TMS system.
Among the features the system offers are a Traffic Signal Priority (TSP) capability that controls traffic signals to assist buses in maintaining their published schedule. Additionally, ACS' SmartTraveler Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS) will be included to provide real-time schedule information to the public at major Foothill Transit centers and throughout the regional transit information system.
Hillsborough Area Transit Authority Tampa, FL
ACS is providing the Hillsborough Area Transit Authority (HART) with its latest Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system, OrbCAD XP. This system is designed to enable HART to operate more efficiently, cost-effectively and safely, using real-time satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) information to manage its fleet of over three hundred fixed route, paratransit, and support vehicles. In addition to GPS, other system features include: improved voice and data communications between vehicle operators and dispatchers, automated next stop announcements, automatic passenger count collection and reporting, automated paratransit manifests for efficient transportation solutions for disabled citizens, video monitoring on buses and at transit hubs for improved safety and security, and the SmartTraveler information system that displays real-time arrival information at selected transit centers and bus stops.
In addition to being able to pinpoint each vehicle’s location and operational status, HART’s managers will be able to monitor route and schedule performance while being able to access the number of passengers that are on board each bus in the system. A key feature will allow paratransit vehicle operators to receive their manifests, or daily schedules, with real-time updates during their shift, leading to improved customer responsiveness.
The fully integrated vehicle equipment suite will simplify driver operations and automate ADA-compliant stop announcements to the public. HART’s dispatchers and bus operators will have the ability to automate the coordination of passenger transfers at any of HART’s four transit centers throughout Tampa.
Intercity Transit Olympia, WA
ACS Transportation Management Solutions is supplying Intercity Transit of Olympia, Washington with an Advanced Communications System (ACS) to manage its fleet of eighty-five vehicles. The vehicles include fifty-four fixed-route buses, twenty-five Dial-A-Lift vehicles, and six maintenance vehicles. ACS Transportation Management Solutions ACS provides a radio communications system that is fully integrated with the company's OrbCAD product, which features Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) capabilities. The ACS integrates both fixed-route and demand response transit services on a new multi-site communications system. ACS Transportation Management Solutions ACS enhances public safety and security and improves dispatcher-to-driver communications to facilitate the real-time decision making process that is critical to enhanced operational performance.
Maryland Transit Administration Baltimore, MD
ACS is providing the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) with a “Next Vehicle Arrival” system for two hundred bus stops and is upgrading the MTA’s existing Computer Aided Dispatch and Automated Vehicle Location (CAD/AVL) capabilities for its fleet of eight hundred vehicles. ACS originally installed the MTA’s CAD/AVL system in 1996.
The new Next Vehicle Arrival system is one element of MTA’s commitment to improving the convenience and ease of use of public transit in the Baltimore area. The system provides real-time bus arrival information at two hundred MTA bus stops and transit centers in the Baltimore region. The Next Vehicle Arrival system uses ACS' proven Global Positioning Satellite technologies to determine the exact location of each MTA bus. The arrival time is then transmitted to an electronic information sign at each of the bus stops, informing MTA’s riding public when their bus will be arriving. The system also includes the ability to present additional information to passengers, such as weather conditions or security alerts.
ACS is also providing a comprehensive upgrade to the MTA’s existing SmartTrack fleet management system. The upgrade will modernize the current radio communication and CAD/AVL system in addition to the Next Vehicle Arrival system. ACS' SmartTrack CAD/AVL is scalable and is able to accommodate future growth of the MTA fleet. Originally installed on only a portion of the fleet, the CAD/AVL functionality will now be incorporated into MTA’s entire fleet. The increased features and capabilities of the upgrade will provide MTA dispatchers and supervisors with improved fleet management, increased situational awareness, and the ability to respond to incidents more expeditiously.
Pierce Transit
Tacoma, Washington
ACS is supplying Pierce Transit with OrbCAD XP, a suite of real-time and analytical tools that will assist in the day-to-day management of its 391-vehicle fleet of fixed route, paratransit, and demand responsive bus services. ACS' system will be especially beneficial for the management of Pierce Transit’s demand responsive bus services such as the SHUTTLE and Bus Plus. A Pierce Transit SHUTTLE driver will be able to view a real-time schedule on the vehicle’s mobile data terminal during the workday. This will translate into greater productivity, more flexibility, and timely service for Pierce Transit’s customers.
In addition to OrbCAD’s XP’s suite of fleet management tools, ACS will integrate wireless internet connections to over forty mobile workstations in the vehicles of Pierce Transit’s supervisors. This new feature of the mobile workstations enables supervisors to access the same information and perform the same functions as a dispatcher in Pierce Transit’s Operations Control Center. Supervisors will be able to manage situations with up-to-date operational information. This ability ultimately will benefit Pierce Transit’s passengers through improved information flow to supervisors who will be able to respond more effectively to events requiring their attention.
ACS is teamed with Motorola Corporation, which will serve as the project’s prime contractor. The entire system will feature the latest technologies in public transit system management. Additionally, the ACS system will give Pierce Transit the ability to provide “next-stop” automated voice announcements and to capture detailed ridership information from automatic passenger counters for service planning efforts.