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    1. Technology
    2. Miscellaneous

    In A Blink launches ultra-fast data transfer technology for public transit vehicles, command centers

    Nov. 8, 2021
    The technology allows transit agencies to facilitate the transfer of vehicles’ recorded onboard data to their command center in order to accelerate the search and analysis of all stored data.
    Related To: In A Blink

    IN A BLINK is launching its ultra-fast data transfer technology between public transportation vehicles and control centers at the APTA TransFORM Conference and EXPO.

    IN A BLINK's technology allows transit agencies to facilitate the transfer of vehicles’ recorded onboard data to their command center in order to accelerate the search and analysis of all stored data.     

    “Our technology is a major step forward for the safety of users and employees, as well as for the protection of transportation vehicles, as it allows data recorded aboard a vehicle to be transmitted 10 to 100 times faster than current technologies,” said Éric Garzon, president and CEO of IN A BLINK. “The growth of public transportation depends on enhanced safety for users and on optimized vehicle maintenance that reduces the risk of service breakdowns.”    

    Currently, in-vehicle technology uses the Wi-Fi in garages to transmit information to centralized servers, but the more buses there are, the slower the transfer. This situation potentially leaves valuable data in the buses’ servers due to slow transfer speeds. IN A BLINK's technology individualizes the data transfer between the vehicle and the command center, allowing for maximum data transfer speed.

    IN A BLINK's transfer technology offers advantages to transportation agencies thanks to virtual fiber optics. Since data is transferred at a speed of at least 1.5Gbps to each organization's analysis servers, it allows for the entirety of stored data to be moved each day. Currently, the speed of data transfer is limited. In addition, IN A BLINK's technology enables real-time monitoring via the 5G network.

    By offering the ability to transfer the entire data set in seconds, IN A BLINK facilitates and shortens the time needed to retrieve video data.

    “Searching for video clips is a very laborious job for transportation agencies right now,” added Garzon. “It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. It can take days, even weeks. Therefore, it requires a lot of resources that could be allocated to doing other value-added tasks."

    With data being transferred daily, transportation companies no longer need to purchase large, expensive hard drives. IN A BLINK says its equipment installed in each bus saves approximately $3,000 per vehicle compared to current technologies. For a transit agency with a fleet of 2,000 buses, the savings would be approximately $6 million, not including the time saved.

    This solution is the result of research work that began in 2020. The company was accelerated at CENTECH during the winter of 2021 and received financial support mainly from PME-Montreal-West-Island and BDC.