Innovative ideas to make life easier for public transport staff

Markus Kocea, Senior Product Manager at IT-TRANS, says: "With the help of digital solutions, processes that previously could only be carried out with a great deal of time and/or labour can now be fully or partially automated. Our exhibitors and conference speakers have a number of such tools in their locker - whether for the automatic detection of danger spots, demand planning, occupancy data in real time, maintenance or even incident management and passenger information. We are delighted that INIT and many other companies, associations and research institutions will be sharing their expertise with us at IT-TRANS 2024."

Karlsruhe-based telematics provider INIT has taken on a particularly demanding area of work in public transport: the operations control centre. With RESPONSEassist, the company has developed a system for recording and processing incidents that offers several advantages as, in addition to reducing the workload of personnel, it also enables rapid response times, reliable dispatching, consistent passenger information on all channels and subsequent incident documentation.

Incidents are part of everyday life for all transport companies - whether due to unforeseen events, roadworks at short notice or an unexpected street closure after an accident or breakdown. Such incidents often set off a chain of events: routes are delayed, vehicles have to be replaced, staff have to be on hand at short notice and passengers need to be kept informed. This chain reaction is handled by the dispatchers in the control centre: well-trained employees with a wealth of experience and the knowledge of what to do in such circumstances.

However, the challenge is that all processes in the control centre often have to be individually examined and executed, preferably simultaneously and immediately. "It helps a lot to have a system in which practically all conceivable cases are already taken into account and the corresponding suggestions for action and passenger information texts are stored. In short: a system that simplifies all important control centre processes and enables the structured processing of incidents," says Georg-Maximilian Michalski, who has been working on RESPONSEassist at INIT from the start and, as Key Account Manager, supports customers in setting up the tool. The system automates some of these processes by feeding it with a large number of possible incidents and then playing out the anticipated knock-on effects in order to recommend appropriate action for the dispatchers, including suitable texts for multi-channel passenger information.

Plan ahead for all conceivable scenarios

Yet how is it possible to create precisely the scenarios that will trigger the right workflow and the correct wording in an emergency? Georg-Maximilian Michalski says: "Thanks to more than 40 years of public transport expertise and close cooperation with transport companies worldwide, we know exactly what could happen. Many conceivable scenarios are therefore already included. Of course, we discuss requirements with interested companies and add them to the solution too."

Hallesche Verkehrs-AG (HAVAG) is one of the customers currently implementing RESPONSEassist. The company's decision to reorganise its incident management plan was triggered by the high number of competing tasks in such an eventuality. The priority for the control centre is, of course, to quickly restore the flow of traffic and, if necessary, order rescue services. Passenger information then usually comes in second or third place - complicated by the many different information channels. The passenger information display at the station, for example, may have displayed a corresponding incident message, but the user of the app might not have received that information or been informed too late.

Funding from the German federal project "Digitalisation of municipal transport systems" got the ball rolling in terms of eliminating such problems, and INIT came on board as the contractor. Engineer Andreas Kleint is in charge of the digitalisation project at HAVAG. He summarises the advantages of the new system, particularly with regard to passenger information: "In future, control centre staff will be able to access ready-made text modules and won't have to come up with a suitable information text for every event themselves. These texts can also be automatically converted into speech and played over the bus stop loudspeakers. The control system also provides precise information on which stop or line is currently affected by a disruption. The information is distributed simultaneously to all channels, via displays, loudspeakers, apps and social media."

Dispatchers in the spotlight

Despite vast technological process optimisation, the human factor remains at the heart of everything. Employees in the control centre are the ones who supply the systems with the necessary data in an emergency, select from various recommended actions and modify them if necessary. This makes it all the more important for Kleint and Michalski to provide employees with a good introduction to the new systems. A test and training system was therefore set up at HAVAG for this purpose, allowing the control centre team to become familiar with new functions before their introduction. "That’s because even the best software is useless if you haven't practised using it beforehand,” says Head of Electronics/Communication Systems Andreas Kleint. "During this training phase, colleagues can experience the effects of their actions on the drivers in their vehicles and the passengers at public transport stops. New functions are gradually added throughout the process."

Ultimately, the reduction in workload for employees also benefits passengers, as the time saved on extensive public information can be used to quickly restore services in the event of an incident. As a result, public transport can increase its attractiveness and become an increasingly reliable alternative to private motorised transport.