INIT praised for innovative incident management
Hannover/Karlsruhe, November 2009.
On October 28, 2009, the ITCS expert panel of the German Transport Association VDV (Verband Deutscher Verkehrsunternehmen) presented the 2009 ITCS Innovations Award to INIT, the worldwide leading provider of ITS and fare control systems. The award recognizes innovative achievements in the field of Intermodal Transport Control Systems (ITCS). The prize was awarded for the new feature “online detour“. With this award INIT and their Intermodal Transport Control System MOBILE-ITCS demonstrate once again their ability to design and produce innovative technology for ITS.
Incident management made easy
The jury based their decision on the fact that the innovative feature ”online detour” is a practice-oriented and user-directed function for “incident management”.
Was the only possibility so far to define detours ahead in the planning system, the innovative feature “online detour” now allows to respond to current disturbances and to generate detours easily on the spur of the moment on the city map. The distinctive innovative characteristic of the INIT system is that all necessary information is provided consistently to all subsequent levels including vehicles and drivers.
Triple benefit
Especially the drivers benefit from the new function because they do not longer have to drive the detour “blindly”. Now drivers receive information on the detour route and the adjusted schedule on their onboard computer, and are also navigated through the entire detour route by audible turn-by-turn instructions and a graphical interface. In addition, they get updated information for connection protection.
The ad hoc defined detours and the information on schedule changes are automatically transferred to the real-time passenger information system and published via the connected media. Thus passengers at stops and onboard receive correct information on the servicing of the stops and the actual departure times – even in case of detours on short notice.
The dispatchers in the control centre benefit from the simple and convenient use of the new module which considerably supports their daily routine.
From practice for the practice
The ITCS expert panel especially praised the practice-oriented approach of the new module. For instance, the existing schedule can be used. This pragmatic solution is the result of the “INIT ITCS Working Group”, a close cooperation of INIT and a group of experienced colleagues from transportation companies. Here is where the major development impulse originated. Achim Becker, Chief Operation Officer of INIT, is especially proud of this collaborative effort: “Not only INIT deserves this award, but also all our customers who have been involved in our Working Group. We see this award as an honour for the performance of our MOBILE-ITCS, but also as recognition of our commitment to listening and incorporating our customer’s feedback.”
The module “online detour” is already in use at DB Stadtverkehr Bayern. The ITCS expert panel is expecting that in addition to the regionally oriented DB bus transportation companies, soon urban transportation companies from metropolitan areas will join the list of users. Since the new module does not target a certain client or a specific market segment, but offers a considerable additional benefit for all transportation companies when dealing with their daily challenges.