In an effort to improve the efficiency of its operations, as well as its response to potential emergency situations, the Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) recently installed an automatic vehicle location system for its specialized transportation fleet.

Based in Bellingham, Wash., between Seattle and the Canadian border, WTA provides shuttle service for the elderly and disabled in lieu of standard bus routes. WTA has equipped the 35 buses in its specialized transportation fleet with a vehicle location system supplied by Radio Satellite Integrators Inc. (RSI).

The decision to upgrade to a GPS tracking solution arose in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., said Cris Colburn, manager of specialized transportation at WTA. The 35 buses in WTA’s fleet carry a radio communications system that includes a silent alarm that allows bus drivers to notify WTA dispatch in the event of a problem. Dispatch personnel then notify first responders, but the radio communications system not provide up-to-date bus location information. So dispatchers and responders have to study the bus schedule to determine the approximate location of the vehicle.

For the WTA buses, this method of determining locations was no longer adequate in a post-Sept. 11 environment, Colburn told Satellite News. “With some service to isolated areas that included areas along the [U.S./Canadian] border, that kind of difference in safety and security levels got operators’ attention. So we started looking at [an automatic vehicle location] system as a possible way to address that.”

The RSI solution combines GPS, wireless communications and mapping software to provide real-time and historical vehicle fleet location data to WTA dispatchers and administrators. This has improved both everyday operations and emergency response, Colburn said. “We know where our vehicles are located within our service area right now or where they were within the last three or four minutes,” he said. “That allows us to find a vehicle for a ride or a group of rides more quickly, because we know who is at least close to where we might have a pickup.”

Additionally, the location information comes in handy in settling disputes with riders. Recently, the dispatch office received a complaint that a bus was running early, and as a result, a father had to drive his son to school because his son missed the bus.

“We were just able to go to the AVL system, pull the report for that vehicle, see where it was and how it was hitting the time points, double check that the computer time is accurate, and there was a time fix right at the stop he was talking about,” Colburn said. “The bus was clearly on time and not at all early. So we were able to talk to him about making sure his watch is right.”

–Gregory Twachtman

(Cris Colburn, WTA, 360/715-4511)