The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) has launched ACT RealTime Rider Capacity Feature exclusively on Tempo Line 1T.
The Rider Capacity Feature offers live and real-time onboard crowding information 24/7, and is being introduced in beta mode.
The automated passenger counter (APC) sensors, embedded on each door of all 27 Tempo buses, power the Rider Capacity Feature. The APC sensors are digitally linked to ACT RealTime technology – the transit district’s GPS tracking of each bus and refreshed every 15 seconds – which processes and transmits data each time a rider boards or exits the Tempo coach.
Tempo’s onboard rider count is then digitally sent to the AC Transit website and third-party partners Transit App, Google, 511 and Moovit.
Tempo Line 1T is serving as the fleet for the beta launch because its buses are some of the newest in the fleet and manufactured with APC sensors.
Tempo has also consistently attracted new riders along its 9.5-mile corridor, and accordingly, is in high demand, particularly during peak travel hours. Although Tempo’s 60-foot hybrid technology coaches create the fleet’s second-highest seating capacity, onboard seating is diminished to a maximum of 16 riders as a result of social distancing mandates by county public health. These health guidelines are resulting in onboard crowding.
To address Tempo rider capacity demands, software engineers initiated proof-of-concept trials that spanned three months. The trials separately tested APC sensors, in-person manual rider counts and video-based rider counts. The results overwhelming demonstrated APC sensors consistently and reliably captured onboard crowding data each time the Tempo bus docked at a station.
As the agency proceeds with evaluations in beta mode, AC Transit’s engineering team will able to evaluate the APCs scalability for potential activation across the AC Transit bus fleet. Rider feedback is also essential to the success of this feature and can be offered through customer service channels.
Although onboard computers have been installed throughout the entire fleet, most AC Transit buses still require APC sensor retrofitting, which is forecasted for completion in late 2021. The APC retrofit is also costly. As a result, while in beta mode, AC Transit will actively pursue funding sources to modernize the entire fleet with the Rider Capacity Feature.
To access the new feature, Tempo riders should log onto AC Transit's website using their mobile device, which provides a list of arriving Tempo coaches and onboard capacities.
The onboard capacity icons use green to indicate “not crowded”; yellow “some crowding”; and red represents “crowded” or at maximum capacity.
