A new system being developed for West Midlands bus company Centro
should save passengers the irritation of standing at bus stops not
knowing when the next bus will arrive.
Marconi Transportation and Mott MacDonald have joined forces to
produce a travel information system after a £2m government grant
was awarded to Centro and Travel West Midlands.
The system will provide Centro's passengers with up-to-the-minute
information on the bus service. Steve Harris, director of
transportation for Marconi, said that the system will be based on
tried and tested technologies.
The core of the system is a global positioning system module that
will be fitted to 300 buses. These will beam the locations of the
buses to a control centre where factors such as traffic and weather
conditions will be factored in to give estimated arrival times for
the stops along the various bus routes.
From the control centre the updated times will be distributed to
signs built into 300 new bus shelters. It will also be beamed to
kiosks in shopping centres, hospitals and other public access
buildings. At home, customers will be able to plan their journey
from Web site information or receive updates via mobile phone SMS
messages or Wap screens.
"This will mean that shoppers can stop for a coffee or wait for the
bus at night in a safe haven, rather than stand at the stop,"
Harris said.