Skip to main content

Cubic’s NextBus Subsidiary seals real time bus arrival deal

Cubic Transportation Systems subsidiary NextBus is expanding its market with its first real-time passenger information systems (RTPIS) project outside North America, with TransLink, the public transportation provider in south east Queensland, Australia.
October 23, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

378 Cubic Transportation Systems subsidiary NextBus is expanding its market with its first real-time passenger information systems (RTPIS) project outside North America, with 376 TransLink, the public transportation provider in south east Queensland, Australia.

Following a successful three-month trial, NextBus will deliver RTPIS to 19 separate transit providers that operate under TransLink.

The contract expands Cubic’s services and capabilities in the region and delivers on a key component of its NextCity strategy - the integration and application of payment, traveller information and operational analytics to regional transportation networks around the world.

By early 2015 the equipment will be installed across the entire TransLink network, which operates across 23 zones and seven regions with the network stretching from Gympie in the north to Coolangatta in the south, and west to Helidon.

New driver console units use GPS, combined with mobile communications on each vehicle to track the exact location and movements of services with arrival times updated every 30 seconds on the TransLink website.

NextBus vehicle arrival information can be accessed through its regularly updated web application and is also accessible through mobile devices including smartphones and tablets, computers and LED/LCD signs at bus shelters and transit depots. Using GPS technology, NextBus automatically determines the passenger’s location and the nearest stops, which passengers can view on a live map on the NextBus website.

For transit operators, the NextBus system provides a host of management tools that enable operators to improve their on-time performance and transit planning. Tools include headway management that tracks how far apart buses are spaced out, schedule adherence, replay maps that utilise historical travel data to show dispatchers past vehicle location information, and the real-time map interface, which allows transit managers to monitor vehicle arrival status in real time.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • FTA pledges $14m for US transit projects
    September 9, 2020
    Robotic Research to equip docking solution for disabled people on Kansas buses
  • Bytemark partners with MassDOT on BusPlus mobile ticketing
    September 11, 2014
    The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and mobile ticketing solutions provider Bytemark are to team up to offer mobile and web based ticketing for the state’s BusPlus program. The BusPlus program, a partnership between MassDOT and private bus operators, offers new regional transportation services to increase intercity and commuter transportation options available across the Commonwealth and New England. The free BusPlus app will utilise Bytemark’s patented mobile ticketing solution,
  • Investment boost for Canada’s weather warning systems
    August 5, 2013
    David Crawford reviews national and regional initiatives to boost Canada’s weather forecasting. Over the next five years Canada’s national weather services are due to benefit from a CAN$248 million injection of funding into the Environment Canada (EC) department to deliver timelier and more accurate weather warnings and forecasts for users including travellers and transport operators. The scheme, set out in the country’s 2013 Economic Action Plan, is to revitalise the services with new investments in federa
  • US favours express buses are for intercity travel
    November 26, 2013
    David Crawford records an upsurge in ground travel. Express buses are powering ahead of air and rail as the US’ most-favoured form of intercity travel and major operators are investing in passenger-attracting and retaining technologies. At the same time ‘kayak’-style price comparison websites are emerging to widen rider choice. Modelled on airline industry search engines that find cheap flight deals by comparing carriers’ offers, these new websites aim to fill the same gap for a ground-travel equivalent