Program allowing commuters to track buses delayed again
The iBus program that will let users track their buses in real time has been delayed again.
Originally promised for 2014 and then the end of 2016, the program will allow users to see the location of buses on the web, and display that information at métro stations and select bus stops. As part of the program, buses will be equipped with GPS trackers and digital signs will be mounted to the front of buses to display and announce upcoming stops.
Speaking with the Montreal Gazette this week, Société de transport de Montréal chairman Philippe Schnobb said the program will now be fully up and running by the middle of the year.
Schnobb said the Cadillac métro station has the first of 64 digital boards showing the next arriving buses at the station. He said the sign is in a testing phase at this point, and if all goes well more signs will be installed at métro stations in the coming months. There will also be 24 signs posted at highfrequency bus stops.
The slowest part of the installation process was not related to the GPS trackers or the software, but rather the radio-communication system that’s being replaced as part of the program, Schnobb said.
“It’s a complex system, and we took the opportunity to replace our whole radio communications system, which is now linked to iBus,” Schnobb said.
The STM built a new operations centre to monitor its fleet. From that centre, dispatchers can track buses, and receive information about which buses are on time or late, or if they are full, and the system also counts how many people are on board each bus.
The dispatch centre can then send an extra bus if one is overcrowded, or order a bus to skip a few stops if operators see an empty bus is close by.
In other STM news, Schnobb said the STM will look at how to improve the way it communicates with its customers when a métro is delayed.
Schnobb made the statement about an hour after a message on the Orange Line misled users by saying the line was delayed in the Côte Vertu direction, when in fact it was in the opposite direction.
“It shows that we have to review the whole system,” Schnobb said, explaining that the messages broadcast at stations are automated messages generated by STM operators. “I think someone pressed the wrong button in that case.”
Schnobb said the decision was made after a difficult week in November, when the métro system was down several times over three consecutive days. He admitted that sometimes the messages communicated by the STM during a slowdown or an outage can compound the problem.
“Our messages are so general, that they sometimes don’t give any useful information,” Schnobb said.
He said it’s possible métro operators themselves will get on their PA systems to inform users when there is a stoppage, and how long they expect delays to last, but the STM will continue to evaluate how to best communicate with passengers.