CHK America and E Ink Partner to Deliver Advanced Digital Wayfinding Solutions

CHK America and E Ink Holdings have announced an agreement for CHK America to deliver advanced digital wayfinding solutions utilizing E Ink technology, providing more flexibility to transit agencies and better information to customers. Digital Bus Stops are the first products introduced. They provide transit riders with easily readable, up to date information at bus stops, under all lighting conditions. Transit agencies welcome the solution because they can be easily deployed almost anywhere without requiring electrical infrastructure at bus stops. 

“CHK’s Digital Bus Stops, utilizing E Ink technology, provide a cutting edge solution to a long-term problem that all transit agencies face—how to deploy and keep service information current and user friendly at bus stops,” commented Rick Wood, CEO of CHK America. “Traditionally, at-stop information has been static, making update costs prohibitive, and the lack of electrical power at the vast majority of bus stops has made digital options impossible, until now.

Together with E Ink, we are replacing traditional static signs with high contrast, sunlight readable displays operated via battery or solar. The solution enables transit agencies to deliver service change updates to bus stops everywhere effectively and efficiently from one central location without expensive electrical infrastructure improvements, and at the same time provide improved service to riders with real-time departure information.”

“CHK America’s innovative wayfinding solution using E Ink’s thin and lightweight displays, is easy to deploy within existing infrastructure,” said Harit Doshi, head of the Signage Business Unit for E Ink. “The large area signage displays are ultra-low power and provide exceptional outdoor readability making them the ideal solution where power availability is a premium.”

CHK America has been providing award-winning wayfinding solutions to transit agencies for over 15 years, and two clients are set to test prototypes of the Digital Bus Stops.

Matthew Freidman, director of marketing, Lynx-Orlando, commented, “CHK has been a great partner during our wayfinding redesign. The natural next step for us to explore is their digital bus stop products, which are based on E Ink technology. We want to look at all amenity options for our current and new riders. After all, Orlando is the number one tourist destination in the world and we want to provide our customers what they expect as far as bus stop information without us incurring expensive infrastructure improvements.”

Scott Vetere, director of service planning and evaluation, Pittsburgh’s Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAAC), added, “This is the kind of game-changing infrastructure that will make our system easier to use and provide riders with information right at their fingertips.  We are excited about this technology and look forward to testing it in the field.”

Digital Bus Stops are an important development for transit agencies whose customers do not want to, or are not able to, rely on mobile technology to receive updates.  Of note, USA Today recently reported that a November 2015 HNTB Corporation study revealed that 38% of Americans would be motivated to take public transit more often if real-time schedules were displayed on location. 

Furthermore, a Pew Research Center study in October 2015 revealed that only 52% of adults with a household income of less than $30K own a smart phone. Other barriers to using a smart phone for this use can result in expensive data and text charges; correctly inputting locations; small screens to decipher text, among other things.

CHK America is in development on additional products utilizing E Ink technology across various industry sectors including transit agencies and smart city developers.