Hamilton Street Railway (HSR)
Improving Transit Access with ITS
Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) provides over 21 million rides each year for the city of Hamilton, but with an aging technology system and a provincial human rights mandate to uphold, HSR needed more sophisticated transportation technology to keep their operation running smoothly. Having always been at the forefront of technology, HSR looked to incorporate an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) solution to keep them on the leading edge.
Challenges
Before implementing an ITS solution, HSR used a radio system that was becoming outmoded and failing. Their radio system was integrated with an antiquated signpost Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), so when it came time to replace it, HSR committed to replacing their AVL system as part of the project. HSR also had to meet an Ontario Human Rights Commission ruling requiring transit agencies to announce every bus stop on all routes. With 33 routes and over 3,000 bus stops, HSR wanted to automate this task to ease responsibility for drivers and provide consistent and reliable service for their passengers.
Solution
The technical solution chosen by HSR includes the Mentor Streets® Transit Computer Aided Dispatch/Automatic Vehicle Location CAD/AVL software suite integrated with the existing Trapeze scheduling software in the office, and Mentor Ranger® mobile computers in the vehicle. Streets Transit interfaces with a Motorola Dispatch Radio Console that lets dispatchers know via AVL which drivers are operating specific buses. Dispatchers can also call drivers directly within the Streets Dispatch module through the radio console interface.
Results
HSR knew it was necessary to implement an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) in order to streamline their fixed-route service and ensure all transit riders can access public transportation in their communities. "We were at the point where we had to reinvest in our existing system and found over the years we could reduce a lot of our costs with technology. By adding ITS technology we now have a much bigger focus on the kind of information that we can provide to our customers," explains Carol Wildeman, Senior Project Manager at HSR.
The integration between Mentor Streets® Transit and Trapeze software has provided HSR the technology they need to bring their operation to new levels of efficiency and accessibility. Mentor Streets Transit is integrated with Trapeze FX software which delivers CAD/AVL capabilities with schedule building and reporting applications.
The interface between Streets Transit and Trapeze OPS™ operations management software helps HSR manage and automate daily assignments and frequently-performed tasks such as bidding, timekeeping and workforce management.
Being able to rely on the Streets Transit bus tracking system to view historical driver/vehicle activity data is a huge benefit for HSR. As Carol explains, "Our Superintendent of Operations is thrilled with the playback features. When we've had drivers involved in accidents one of the first questions asked is 'was the driver speeding?' Now, we can go into Streets, look up the historical event data and say 'no, they were not speeding'."
The Mentor-Trapeze integration gives HSR a technological means to comply with an Ontario Human Rights Commission mandate requiring the agency to announce every bus stop on every route. HSR imports bus stop information from Trapeze software as well as a bus stop actions spreadsheet into Streets Transit. Bus stop actions control when announcements and signs on a bus are triggered along a route. Streets automatically connects with an in-vehicle annunciator which broadcasts next-stop messages for every stop.
"The drivers felt that this system was being put in to help them, and without it they would be required to announce all the stops themselves. The fact that we made the investment to put in a system that would automatically announce all the bus stops, our drivers really see this as a benefit to them," says Carol.
Mentor also initiated an interface between Streets Transit and HSR's Dispatch Radio Console that not only allows dispatchers to know which drivers are driving specific buses, but lets them dynamically create groups based on agency criteria as well. Dispatchers can then set up a radio call to individual drivers directly or to multiple vehicles, in real-time. The radio console integration minimizes radio traffic and gives dispatchers the ability to better manage requests to talk (RTTs).
As for what the future holds for HSR, they are looking at ITS technology to further improve their riders' opportunities to use public transportation, as well as their access to transit information. "Our customers are looking for more information that is easier to access. We've been looking at adding wayside signs for our terminals. Customers are going to want real-time transit information from our IVR system and our website in an easy-to-handle format," explains Carol.
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We've had a lot of positive feedback from our customers about the automated stop announcements. They all like that they know where they are and which stop is coming up, so i have to say this is our customers' favourite feature 
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