Buried away in the March 2010 ARTA monthly business report is a promising update on the likelihood that we’re edging towards getting some real-time information signs at our railway stations. It has been a very long-lasting bugbear of mine that we have managed to put in place real-time information displays for the bus network – which must be a fairly difficult task of using GPS to locate buses, estimating the time it will take them from their current location to you, ensuring that you can display buses heading to a variety of destinations on a fairly simple sign, and so forth. While the system has a few problems (such as the notorious DLY), in general it works and is very popular. We’re very used to seeing these:
Compared to operating a bus-based real-time information system, one would have thought that doing the same thing on the railway system would be a doddle. Hey you could even get real cheap and just have a “trip-wire” at each station telling the system when that particular train reaches a certain station – and take it from there. But of course in the world of Auckland’s public transport system, what seems to be simple generally ends up being the thing ignored by the “powers to be”, and we’re still awaiting real-time information signs on the rail network.
However, as I mentioned above, there is some good news on this front contained in the ARTA monthly report – this is included below:
In case you were wondering, RTPIS stands for “Real Time Passenger Information Systems”. Basically, it would seem as though some of the newer stations (Newmarket and Grafton) already have the hardware installed, and are just waiting for Ontrack to come to the party and provide the “feed” (uhhh….. come on Ontrack, what’s the story?) For the remaining stations on the network, there is a process in place to ensure that 20 stations (not quite the whole network, I wonder who misses out?) have real-time information signs by the time of the Rugby World Cup.
Well it can’t come soon enough!
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Given what is happening on the western line maybe Ontrack don’t want people to be stewing longer about their DLY..?
I assume they would only be going to the stations that have been upgraded which would make sense.
@ Admin
Section 7.3 of the following GWRC report might shed some light on the rail real time info issues.
http://www.gw.govt.nz/assets/council-reports/Report_PDFs/2010_98_2_Attachment.pdf
Thanks Kegan, though I must say it’s mainly gobble-di-gook to me. I guess it means that the buses already have the technology whereas the trains don’t?
I understand that for Wellington, given the Snapper Card relies on GPS. But for Auckland?
There’s a very similar (and effective) system for the buses here in Edinburgh. On top of that, you can log on via the Web to look up the bus information data for a particular stop. Rail system data is also available on-line – this has a real ease-of-use about it as well. It means that if you do have to wait, you can do so in the warmth/dryness of your home, not getting frozen waiting at the stop!
I’ve always been confused by the “real time displays” for the buses. I could never decide if the time was an indication of how long the actual bus is away in reality, or how long it is away according to the timetable only. Sometimes i can be waiting for a bus 5 minutes out, the time comes and goes and the bus doesn’t come…as if it is just related to the timetable not the actual bus. Can you confirm?
It is a mix of both. If I’m not mistaken all buses are now supposed to have GPS transponders, but the signs will revert to displaying the timetabled time if the bus falls of the system. This means that they can appear and dissappear, then look like they are coming only to disappear a minute or two before they are scheduled to arrive.
@Admin
“I guess it means that the buses already have the technology whereas the trains don’t?”
Partly.
The main difference is that buses require the driver to sign on at the beginning of the run (mostly for ticketing purposes), but this also allows a bus to be linked to a particular route & service – essential for real time prediction. There isn’t such a system on trains, so one must be developed (which is what ACIS is currently doing). (Kiwi Rail’s current tracking systems only show location & direction of travel, not linking the train to a particular line & stopping pattern.)
Providing a RTI system is up to regional authorities (ARTA, GW, etc) rather than Kiwi Rail – the question is why wasn’t rail RTI implemented earlier by ARTA? The current rail RTI work seems largely driven by GW …