Västtrafik procures the vast majority of its fleet from sub-contractors, so having a unified transportation platform is vital to operations. It enables them to to consolidate data from all the public transport in the region, allowing them to optimize routes and plan the entire transport grid more efficiently. This, in turn, gives customers a unified view from one source, making their journey easy to plan and execute.
“We operate with public tax money, so it’s critical that we use that money efficiently to provide consistent quality of service,” explains Ulfheden. “IoT helps us do this extremely well by giving us the information we need in order to respond quickly to immediate issues and also to plan long-term.”
IoT in Practice
Connected computers are installed on 2 500 vehicles. Data is generated around the clock and several parts of the ecosystem communicate in real time, such as buses sending information to a central system that provides real time updated departure prognoses to bus stop electronic displays, as well as the planning app.
Vehicle computers also measure other things, such as connecting the vehicle to the right route on its first run of the morning, measuring the time it arrives and leaves, the distance covered, the number of trips made, and the number of tickets validated. Vehicle connectivity also provides communication between the driver and Västtrafik’s operations center and all of this contributes to valuable data, which is then used to optimize the public transport system.
All connected transportation vehicles and the displays used by Västtrafik are equipped with Tele2 SIMs and managed via the self-service portal Cisco Jasper in order to ensure a complete over view of its connectivity, such as with the company’s 1 400 real time information signs. These signs allow them to give customers up-to-the-minute information about things like delays, arrival times, and when the next bus, train, tram, or ferry will arrive.
