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    1. Technology
    2. Intelligent Transportation Systems
    3. Communications, Navigation, CAD-AVL, GPS

    TARC to install CAD/AVL system on all buses

    Jan. 31, 2025
    The communications system will allow customers to have convenient access to reliable real-time locations for buses on their smartphones, enhanced audio and visual announcements on every TARC bus for easier navigation of the system and overall improvements to TARC’s operations.
    Related To: Transit Authority of River City (TARC)
    TARC
    TARC bus.
    TARC bus.

    The Transit Authority of River City (TARC) will be installing a computer-aided dispatch (CAD)/automatic vehicle location (AVL) system on all TARC buses this winter to allow customers to have convenient access to reliable real-time locations for buses on their smartphones, enhanced audio and visual announcements on every TARC bus for easier navigation of the system and overall improvements to TARC’s operations.  

    TARC notes federal grants are supporting the majority of the new equipment and installation and that this specific type of funding cannot be spent on general transit operations costs such as more bus service on the street. 

    “While TARC keeps navigating the fiscal cliff facing our operations funding, we will keep doing everything we can to improve the daily experience of our customers,” said TARC Executive Director Ozzy Gibson. “This new system will be top of the line and get TARC customers the information they need, better than ever before.” 

    TARC says its previous CAD/AVL system was over a decade old, causing reliability issues and frustrations for TARC customers looking for reliable real-time bus-location information. The agency expects installation to take a couple of months but has already completed it on 41 TARC buses. Some customers have had a sneak peek into the improvements, as 11 of the 41 buses have been in a pilot phase while continuing to deliver service since December.  

    According to the agency, one of the most noticeable improvements with the upgrade is on-bus screens that display and announce upcoming stops. Adding these screens will give TARC customers access to improved information, similar to what transit customers in hundreds of other cities already have, including regional peers like Indianapolis and Cincinnati. 

    TARC says the switch between real-time providers requires a down period where parts of the existing real-time system will become unavailable, and buses that are on schedule may not appear on existing real-time applications until the changeover is complete.  

    “Once the new system is fully installed, TARC customers will see close to 100 percent reliable real-time data all day, every day,” Gibson said. “That’s the kind of good news we’re excited to deliver to our customers.”   

    TARC