The Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore has invested S$68 million (US$54 million) in a new unified Intelligent Bus Management System for operations control, fleet management, passenger information and business management.

Currently, the two public transport operators - SBS Transit and SMRT - use separate bus fleet management systems to manage their daily bus operations and provide bus arrival information to commuters.

This unified system, which will be implemented by ST Electronics (STE-InfoComm) and Trapeze Switzerland, will manage all buses, regardless of which transport operator they belong to.

The newest on-board computers and touch terminals will be installed on all buses to aid bus drivers with traffic information and advisories on adherence to route schedules within the transport network.

The system will be implemented progressively from end 2015.

Ultimately, this would mean better operated bus services for the benefit of commuters, who should experience more consistent performance of bus services.

Group Director, Innovation and Infocomm Technology, LTA, Rosina Howe said, “Since early 2013, we have been working with both SBS Transit and SMRT to define a unified transport control system which is able to relay real-time information to the operation control centres, bus drivers and commuters. This will be an intelligent system capable of providing timely advisories to bus drivers through touch screens, enabling better optimisation of the fleet resources by despatching buses to where they are needed and disseminating more accurate bus arrival timing to benefit commuters. With more accurate bus arrival information, commuters can better plan their journeys and travel options.”

Based in Singapore, STE-InfoComm provides infocomm technologies and electronics and intelligent transportation systems to commercial, government, defence and homeland security sectors. STE-InfoComm has implemented LTA’s i-Transport system, arterial roads monitoring and analysis system, and traffic junctions CCTV surveillance system.

Trapeze specialises in the supply and implementation of intermodal transport control systems for the public transport industry with its notable implementation for the Transport for London’s fleet of 8,500 buses.