Buses

Real time passenger information

Bus parked at the bus stop. Auckland City is working with the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) and the city's bus operators to install technology that will improve passenger transport and ultimately get more people catching buses.

Real time passenger information is the electronic information displayed at some Auckland city bus stops.

Signal pre-emption is a GPS-based technology that enables buses to communicate their position to the city's traffic signals system.

These technologies are a vital part of the council's package of sustainable transport solutions, which aims to make bus travel a better, more attractive travel choice for people.

Since introducing the system in 2003, Auckland City has fitted more than 730 buses with GPS, installed over 180 on-street passenger information displays, and equipped 174 intersections for signal pre-emption.

Auckland City signed over management of the system to the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) in June 2006. This is so the system can be rolled out across the region, enhancing its contribution to the region's transport goals.

How it works
What are the benefits?
Creating a regional system
Information at bus stops
Background

How it works

Real time passenger information at a bus stop. Buses are installed with on-board Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment to detect their position on the bus route.

At the beginning of each trip, the bus driver enters the route number and departure time into the on-bus ticketing machine. As the bus travels along its route, predicted arrival times are communicated to the electronic display signs at bus stops. This information is relayed as the bus passes set points along the route, using information from the GPS system.

The Link buses also announce next-stop information through on-board speakers and signs. The driver can control the volume, and the audio includes tourist information on nearby places of interest.

If a bus approaches an intersection fitted with signal pre-emption, the system can request traffic signal priority for the bus:

if the signals are green but about to turn red, the green phase can be extended by up to 10 seconds
if the signals are red, the green phase can be brought forward by 10 seconds.

The system is also used to monitor passenger transport services for use by Auckland City, ARTA and the bus companies.

What are the benefits?

Giving people more, sustainable and attractive travel choices is the key to unlocking Aucklanders' dependence on private vehicles.

Real time passenger information and signal pre-emption is an essential part of making bus travel better by:

reducing bus journey times
improving reliability of bus services
providing better passenger information by removing the uncertainties of bus arrival times
giving operators and planners better information.

Research undertaken indicates a saving to passengers of approximately 11 seconds per intersection, or in the case of The Link service, about eight minutes per circuit (the average Link circuit takes an hour).

Creating a regional system

Auckland City's involvement was the first step towards a regional system, and stemmed principally from legislation which prevented the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) from owning transport infrastructure. The ARC, other local authorities and passenger transport operators have also been heavily involved in the development of the system and its implementation.

The creation of ARTA in 2004 as a subsidiary of the ARC means that ARTA is now the best placed transport agency to operate and roll-out the system. Negotiations started in 2005 to transfer the system to ARTA.

The ARC approved the transfer to ARTA in May 2006. Auckland City looks forward to the region's traffic signals benefiting from signal pre-emption soon, and to the regional roll-out of real time information signs, starting with North Shore City.

Information at bus stops

Answers to some common questions about bus information displayed at bus stops via the electronic signs:

Bus due times
"DUE" means the bus is expected to arrive within the next two minutes.
On a small number of The Link bus services, drivers may be instructed by Stagecoach to take shortcuts. This occurs when, due to traffic conditions and other factors, there is bunching of buses (when 2 or more buses end up travelling together). By taking shortcuts, The Link system can best maintain the regularity of the service however it can sometimes mean that a bus arrival time may suddenly disappear from a sign for no apparent reason.
Placement of signs
Auckland City, in consultation with Stagecoach, determined the locations for the first batch of signs based on passenger numbers at the stops and proximity to major destinations. The focus for future signs will be on main shopping centres and rail/bus interchange locations.
Yellow button
By pressing the yellow button at electronic bus stop signs, you will trigger the audio system that has been installed to assist sight impaired passengers waiting for their buses. The volume has been set at similar levels for all stops, but can be adjusted to suit particular conditions or noisier locations. If the audio volume at particular bus stops seems too high or too low, let us know.
Victoria Park bus stop signs
This bus stop is where most drivers begin the route, and enter trip information into the system. This means that no information is available until they have begun the route, and that only limited information is available to the next few stops along the route. The use of these signs will increase when the system is rolled out to other bus services using Victoria St and College Hill.
Sign not working
If you see a sign (either on the bus or at a bus stop) that isn't working, please let us know.

Background

Introducing real-time passenger information and the signal pre-emption technologies was managed by Auckland City, along with involvement from the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) and local bus companies.

The first stage of the project went live in August 2003. It installed the technology on all buses on The Link route after an initial trial period. The Link bus route was chosen as it is recognised as it presented a particularly challenging set of circumstances with which to test the system, including:

operating in some of the most congested parts of Auckland city's road network
having "urban canyons" particularly in Queen St, where because of tall buildings on either side of the road GPS is unreliable
the loop nature of the route, and in Newmarket the presence of a loop within a loop, has increased the complexity of the system design
practices to enhance system reliability in the past, such as buses short-cutting their route to improve timetable reliability, and the use of timing points spread around the route.

Tests and monitoring took place through to the end of March 2004 with the system consistently meeting availability targets. As the database of past trips increased, so did system accuracy.

Stages two and three saw the council installing and testing passenger information displays on Auckland's radial arterial routes, and equipping the remainder of the bus fleet with GPS equipment.

By the end of 2005, 737 buses had been fitted with GPS equipment, 204 on-street passenger information displays installed, and 174 intersections equipped for signal pre-emption. In addition, The Link buses have also been equipped with on-board passenger information displays that let passengers know details of the next stop and associated tourist information.

The first non-Link bus routes to have on-street passenger information displays installed were Dominion, Sandringham, Mt Eden and New North roads.

The total contract cost was $6.9m over the three stage implementation period, with funding assistance for the project provided by grants of $3.23m from Land Transport New Zealand (formerly Transfund) and $3.14m from Infrastructure Auckland. The balance has been funded through Auckland City's bus priority budget.

Operating costs are jointly funded by Auckland City, ARTA and the bus operators. As the system is rolled-out to other parts of the region, it is anticipated that the other city and district councils will contribute to the cost of running the system.

Updated October 2007