Visual Defence hopes Mississauga hops on the SmartBus 4 March, 2007 By Liam Lahey

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The SmartBus program utilizes technology from VDI to combine an automatic vehicle locating (AVL) system, passenger counting, traffic control system and the city's scheduling software.

The program enables the buses to precisely report their location and passenger loads through transit signals along the routes. The buses are fitted with an infrared device that sends signals to the city's traffic control system to give the buses priority depending on passenger loads and how far the bus is behind schedule.

"The feedback we've received from Mississauga Transit is they were very pleased with the results and they'd like to go citywide implementation, possibly come June," explained Bethany Moir, marketing manager for VDI. "There were approximately 10 buses used in the pilot along the Hurontario Street route . . . and roughly 450 buses in Mississauga Transit's fleet."

Future enhancements include the integration of the AVL system with the customer website to allow users to view a racetrack image of where the buses are on route and receive real-time "next bus" information.

"Collecting several distinct data streams together into a cohesive and usable common management system has given Mississauga Transit the tools it needs to streamline and improve their operations, resulting in increased ridership, greater customer satisfaction and better ROI," said Dagan Sadeh, CEO of Visual Defence, in a statement. "The real world impact of Visual Defence's integration expertise is making public transit in Mississauga a viable alternative to commuting by car."

Of course, it seems a reasonable conclusion that to help truly make public transit a viable alternative to driving a car, providing MT's ridership with wireless Internet access to this data, especially on its buses and at its depots would be of greater value. It seems reasonable that a transit commuter is more likely to check MT's Web site while standing at a bus stop, rather than consult the website before rushing out the door to work in the morning. Moir agreed but she said she was unaware if MT was considering that option at this juncture.

Meanwhile, when asked if VDI had contacted other transit authorities in the Greater Toronto Area with the SmartBus pilot proposal, Moir said the company had contacted the likes of York Region transit and the TTC.

"Ideally, you'd want to have all of the transit authorities operating in the GTA running on one system since each one's routes overlap another's," she said. "But that isn't very likely."

"The wealth of information produced by Visual Defence is giving Mississauga Transit a greater level of analysis and understanding of our bus system, allowing us to improve the reliability and efficiency of our services," said Fermin Pico, director of services for Mississauga Transit, in a statement. "The technology has already started to pay off in more timely service and increasing ridership. Further system adjustments and enhancements will continue to deliver greater ride satisfaction to our customers."