Advanced Operating System
Public transit's first fully integrated communication, operation, and maintenance system.
If you are interested in viewing a CD about the AATA AOS system, please forward
an email to jhallberg@theride.org
The University of Michigan evaluation of the Advanced Operating System is available for download.
May 98
The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority and its prime contractor, Rockwell introduce the Advanced Operating System, the first fully integrated public transit communication, operation, and maintenance system.
AATA serves over four million passengers per year with 27 bus routes and paratransit service for seniors and people with disabilities in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and adjacent areas. Services are offered 24 hours a day, seven days a week in Ann Arbor. Though national public transit ridership rates are declining, AATA continues to buck the national trend by documenting an increase in ridership on the average of 8 percent each year.
The AOS project began in the fall of 1996, when the prime contract for development and implementation was awarded to Rockwell. Operation of the Automatic Vehicle Location and Computer Aided Dispatch is in its second year of operation. Final system integration testing is being completed and the project completion is scheduled for this summer. Ninety percent of AOS funding is provided by Federal and State grants.
AOS
Advanced Communications
Each AATA bus has an 800 MHZ radio and onboard computer. The system minimizes voice transmissions by providing data messages that summarize vehicle status, operating condition, and location. During routine operation, the vehicle sends this information over a data channel. When drivers or dispatchers request voice communication, the radio switches to a voice channel.
Drivers use a graphical Mobile Display Terminal (MDT) to interact with the radio; to call their own transfers; to play onboard announcements; to receive and send text messages; to review their schedules and to receive continuous on-time performance notices.
Paratransit drivers receive their entire schedules and mark their arrival and departure times with date, time and location information as well as all the features above.
Automatic Vehicle Location
Each bus determines its location using global positioning satellite (GPS) technology. Differential corrections are broadcast to the vehicles so they can calculate their locations within one or two meters. The MDT stores complete route schedules on an insertable memory card. The GPS system provides accurate time to the vehicles. Buses compare scheduled times and locations with actual locations and determine whether they are on time.
If a bus determines that it is running late, the driver is advised, and if necessary, the onboard computer notifies the Operation Center. The AVL also triggers the outside destination announcement and the internal next-stop signs and announcement. It also integrates location data with fare collection, passenger counters and electronic controlled engine data.
New runs and routes can be inserted or removed from the scheduling system at any time. Entire new routes or schedule changes can be easily constructed. Through the use of headway displays and schedule adherence reporting, dispatchers can manage the system and assist drivers by inserting overload vehicles in the system or recommending re-routing options. All changes to the route and schedule database are noted and automatically updated.
Emergency System
Onboard the vehicle, the driver has an onboard emergency system. When encountering a life-threatening situation, the driver covertly alerts the dispatcher, who immediately notes the vehicle's location on the system's center map and dials the appropriate agency. The system also allows the dispatcher to open up a central P.A. system inside the vehicle to monitor the situation. The system also supports responsive reporting of routine, non-life-threatening emergencies, such as passenger inconvenience.
En Route Information
Inside the bus, next stop announcements, date, time and route are given to passengers utilizing the onboard P.A. system and a 2 line LED display. The driver also has the ability to trigger timed and periodic announcements for specials events that can be made to support the system.
Outside the bus, the current route information is announced to waiting passengers, and the destination signs are changed based upon the location. Creation of digital announcements is done locally using a P.C. based recording station. Updates can be copied right on the vehicle.
Geographic Information System
The Rockwell MapMasterTM, is a portable system that allows you to log the geographic locations of bus stops and routes. This data can be imported to the route generator GIS system. This system generates transit schedules that include time points, announcement points, transfer points and bus stops on a route by route basis.
Computer-Assisted Transfer Management
Using the TransitMasterTM system, drivers send and receive all transfer requests that they will encounter in the next several minutes. Routes are listed in the order that they will occur. The dispatch computer calculates whether requested transfers are possible and informs the driver on the TransitMasterTM display. If a transfer is accepted, the dispatch computer sends a message to the bus advising the driver to wait for the transfer.
ADA Paratransit
Reservations, scheduling, flexible integration with fixed-route, and after-trip information for paratransit vehicles utilizes Trapeze software. All of these elements are based on real-time information generated with the Rockwell TransitMasterTM software.
Customer Information
All real-time operational data is stored in an open format that allows access for external sources. Color graphic arrival and departure screens are installed at the downtown transit center. The infrastructure is in place to integrate the real-time operational data with the AATA web site and public-access cable television channels during peak service times.
Vehicle Component Monitoring
Reports from the electronic controlled engine monitoring the system are integrated to the onboard computer. Out-of-tolerance conditions such as oil pressure and temperature are reported in real time to the onboard computer, the Operations Center and the Maintenance Department. Also a continuous three minutes of data is monitored, and when a driver activates an emergency, the engine information is saved.
Video Surveillance
A three-camera video surveillance system enhances safety on AATA's New Flyer buses. The system records videotape for playback. One of the cameras also records audio. A two-camera digital system is installed on each ELF El Dorado vehicle, which has a P.C. based playback system to insert the harden hard drive from the digital camera. AATA has also discovered dramatic improvements in the cleanliness of the vehicles attributed to the video surveillance system.
Automated Passenger Counters
A sample of each vehicle type in the fleet will be equipped with integrated Automatic Passenger Counting system. This system will count passengers as they board and leave the bus. This information will be used for future route development, assessment of ridership patterns, and development of new service concepts.
Fare Collection
Drivers can register all fare transactions via the MDT by integrating the current keypad from the electronic farebox. Fare collection data will be stored in a central database.
Collaborators
Primary Contractor: Rockwell
Integrated Sub-Systems:
Digital Recorders Research - Triangle Park, NC
Trapeze Software - Mississauga, Ontario
Prima Facie - King of Prussia, PA
REI - Omaha, Nebraska
Red Pines Instruments - Denbigh, Ontario
Multisystems, Inc. - Cambridge, Massachusetts
The systems and benefits of AATA's Advanced Operating System will be applied to public transit systems nationally, enhancing the reliability, efficiency, and attractiveness of public transit.
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