Skip to main content

NEC to improve bus performance in Saudi Arabia

August 29, 2019 Read time: 1 min

1068 NEC is to deploy an ITS solution to improve the performance of buses operated by Modern Bus in the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

Ryuji Nakagawa, general manager, transportation and logistics solutions at NEC, says: "NEC aims to manage the operation of approximately 2,000 buses in Makkah within the next five years.”

NEC says more than two million people participated in the city’s Islamic Hajj Pilgrimage in 2018; a number which is expected to double in the next 15 years.

The company is hoping it can help the city overcome this challenge by providing an automated fare collection system which enables cashless fare collection and a bus management system which will use GPS to monitor around 400 buses in real-time. Solar powered displays will provide information to passengers at bus stops.

Related Content

  • January 11, 2013
    New approach to data handling aids development of smarter cities
    David Crawford has been to the Irish capital to see a potent memorandum of understanding at work. An imaginative collaboration between the world’s largest IT company and one of Europe’s smaller capital cities is demonstrating a new approach to data handling that could have far reaching implications for urban public transport worldwide. A close working relationship between IBM and Dublin City Council (DCC) dates from 2010. The IT giant was looking for a local transport authority as partner for testing IBM’s
  • January 11, 2013
    New approach to data handling aids development of smarter cities
    David Crawford has been to the Irish capital to see a potent memorandum of understanding at work. An imaginative collaboration between the world’s largest IT company and one of Europe’s smaller capital cities is demonstrating a new approach to data handling that could have far reaching implications for urban public transport worldwide. A close working relationship between IBM and Dublin City Council (DCC) dates from 2010. The IT giant was looking for a local transport authority as partner for testing IBM’s
  • May 31, 2013
    Temporary traffic monitoring with Bluetooth and wi-fi
    David Crawford reviews developments in temporary ITS. Widespread take-up of technologies such as Bluetooth and wi-fi are encouraging the emergence of more sophisticated, while still cost effective, ITS responses to the traffic issues posed by temporary road situations such as work zones and special events. Andy Graham of traffic solutions specialists White Willow Consulting says: “A machine-to-machine radio link is far easier and cheaper than reading characters on a plate.” There can be other plusses. Tech
  • January 9, 2018
    Smarter transport remains key to smart cities
    Colin Sowman looks at some of the challenges and solutions that will provide enhanced transport efficiency in tomorrow’s smarter cities. However you define a ‘smart city’, one of the key ingredients will be an efficient transport system. As most governments and city authorities face financial constraints, incremental improvements in the existing systems is the most likely way forward. In London, new trains and signalling are improving the capacity of the Underground but that then reveals previously