Init has launched its new vehicle health and driver behavior system to improve transit systems.
Bill McFarland, director of sales engineering for Init, said the Mobile-Eco2 monitors vehicles and drivers to maximize performance and improve the overall lifecycle cost.
“Now the sky’s the limit,” he said. “We can monitor anything.”
Using cellular communications or wifi, the unit can monitor bus information from multiple databases and report information back to the agency.
Looking at fuel consumption and manifold pressure and other technical information allows for the agency to keep an eye on buses so they can determine if a technical issue is about to happen.
It also monitors driver behavior to determine how the bus is being impacted. The unit sends feedback to drivers with lights to show them if they’re revving the engine or idling excessively or swerving too hard.
The monitoring allows for fuel savings and providing feedback on what’s causing issues with driver behavior along a route.
Joe Petrie | Associate Editor
I came to Mass Transit in 2013 after spending seven years on the daily newsbeat in southeastern Wisconsin.
Based in Milwaukee, I worked as a daily newspaper reporter with the Waukesha Freeman from 2006-2011, where I covered education, county and state government. I went on to cover courts for Patch.com, where I was the main courts reporter in the Metro Milwaukee cluster of websites.
I’ve won multiple awards during the course of my career and have covered some of the biggest political events in the past decade and have appeared on national programs.
Having covered local government and social issues, I discovered the importance of transit and the impact it can have on communities when implemented, supported and funded.
