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COURSE 07 - SERVICE AND AUTHORITY DESIGN

Intelligent Transport Systems Specification and Integration

Specify the technology on your buses and put its data to work

Every bus carries technology that passengers rarely notice. It tells them when their bus will arrive and announces the next stop. It records each journey, counts who boards and helps keep passengers, drivers and the vehicle safe. Each system also produces data. Passengers use that data to see where their bus is and how full it is. Your Authority uses it to check that services run as agreed. This course shows your team what to ask for, who provides it and where the data needs to go. Before the day, we ask you to complete a short form about your fleet, current systems and reporting arrangements. By the end, you will have set out what each on-bus system must achieve, agreed who fits and maintains it, and traced its data from the bus to the people who use it.

Discuss Course 7

How the day works.

Five steps from on-bus systems to  the data your Authority uses.

01

Know what is on the bus

A bus carries systems that work together: • Ticket machine: records journeys and payments. • Vehicle location: tracks where the bus is. • Next-stop announcements and displays: tell passengers where they are. • Passenger counters: show how full the bus is. • CCTV: helps protect passengers, drivers and the vehicle. • Telematics and the driver terminal: support the driver. An on-board computer links these systems and sends their data on. Your team will compare this with the systems running on your buses today.

02

Agree who does what

Each system needs an owner at every stage: setting requirements, fitting, testing, operation and repair. Your team will identify the service that relies on its data and how you will check that it is performing. Roles differ according to whether your Authority buys the buses or Operators supply them. Under a franchise, the contract sets the requirements and your Authority owns the data. Under an Enhanced Partnership, the scheme sets the requirements that Operators must meet, and your Authority obtains the data it needs through the scheme and its information powers. Your team will compare the two delivery routes side by side.

03

Write the requirement

Your Authority states what each system must achieve. The Operator chooses equipment that meets the requirement. The group will draft requirements for: • How often location updates are sent. • Data formats. • Repair times. • How data is stored when a bus loses its signal. You will also decide which systems must be fitted at the factory and which can be added later.

04

Follow the data

On-bus data serves two purposes. It gives passengers live information, such as where their bus is and how full it is. It also gives your Authority evidence of service performance. Your team will follow one bus position from the vehicle to a passenger’s phone. From there, the data can feed the national Bus Open Data Service, the control room and the reports your Authority uses to check performance. The group will also look at your Authority’s control room, which oversees services across Operators and transport modes and coordinates responses to major events, such as a large sporting fixture or a city-wide emergency.

05

Protect and use the data

Much of the data from a bus is personal data, including CCTV footage and ticket records. The group will agree who owns each type of data, who is responsible for protecting it, who may use it and how long it is kept. You will also set how quickly an Operator must report a security incident.

What you leave with

What your team will leave with.

A list of on-bus systems: the systems every bus needs and what each one does for passengers, your Authority and the Operator.
Clear responsibilities for each system: who sets the requirement, supplies it, fits and tests it, trains staff, runs it and maintains it. This also identifies the service that relies on its data and how you will know the system is working. It covers buses your Authority buys and buses Operators supply.
Outcome requirements for each system, written so that any supplier’s equipment can meet them. This includes open data formats, location updates at least every 15 seconds and repair times.
A map of where the data goes: from the bus to passenger information, the national Bus Open Data Service, control rooms and your Authority’s business systems.
Data ownership and protection: who owns each type of data, who may use it, how long it is kept and how quickly incidents must be reported.
A draft ITS Roadmap: the systems you need now and those you expect to add, to help Operators and manufacturers prepare.

Who should attend

The team we suggest you bring.

This course brings together colleagues from digital and data, ICT, fleet, network management, passenger information, contract management, information governance and procurement. It is for authorities preparing to franchise or strengthen an Enhanced Partnership.

Digital and dataICTFleetNetwork managementPassenger informationContract managementInformation governanceProcurement

Bring the colleague who manages your real-time information system or bus-stop data. They can explain where passenger information comes from today and where it falls short. Who fits the technology depends on who buys the buses. If your Authority buys vehicles, some systems need fitting during manufacture; the Operator and its technology supplier fit and test the rest. If Operators supply the buses, they fit and maintain every system. In either case, your Authority sets what each system must do and the data it must provide. Early decisions can reduce cost. A new bus can be wired at the factory for equipment you expect to add later, rather than rewired once it is in service.

BUILD THE COURSES AROUND YOUR PLAN

How Course 7 fits with the wider programme.

Course 3 builds the team and services that rely on this data. Course 4 decides whether your Authority or Operators provide the buses, which shapes who fits the technology. Course 5 covers how passengers pay and Course 6 the information they see and hear. Course 7 covers the systems and data behind both. Course 8 carries the requirements into a contract, and Course 10 uses the data to manage it once it is live.

The course is core for Authorities preparing to franchise and for those working through an Enhanced Partnership. The two routes are covered side by side, so your team can see how each one shapes what you can require and the data you receive.

FranchisingEnhanced PartnershipBSIP-led
01 Strategy, Shaping Public Transport
02 Programme Design and Governance
03 Target Operating Model
04 Network Design and Specification
05 Ticketing Strategy and Specification
06 Customer Strategy and Engagement
07 Intelligent Transport Systems Specification and Integration
08 Contractual and Procurement Strategy
09 Artificial Intelligence Enablement across Transport Change
010 Contract Management and Improvement
LegendCore to your transport decisionRelevant; adapt to your scopeLight touch

Choose courses for your delivery route

Courses 1, 3, 6 and 9 can support your Authority whichever delivery route you choose. If you have not decided on a route yet, contact us and we can discuss how these courses fit your plans.