Today marks the launch of the electronic display units that the Société de transport de Laval (STL) has installed at the 80 busiest stops on its network.
This large-scale roll-out—unprecedented in all of Canada—is the first phase of an ambitious customer information program that has been named STL Synchro.
By means of the data sent by the GPS (global positioning systems) with which all STL vehicles are equipped, these new display units indicate, in real time, in how many minutes the next two buses will pass by the stop. This information is updated an average of every 20 seconds, based on the exact position of the 235 STL buses.
This real-time display unit project is a first in Greater Montréal and no other public transit system in Canada has as many of them.
Alphanumeric, the display units make it possible to announce messages of interest in order to alert transit users of a detour due to roadwork, for example, or to explain a delay or remind riders of the applicable bus schedule on a holiday.
Internet users may also benefit from the advantages of STL Synchro for all the 2580 stops on the STL's network: All they need to do is register on the STL's site and indicate which stops they use most often: From that time on, the STL's Home page (at WWW.STL.LAVAL.QC.CA) will automatically provide them with the schedule for the next three times that the buses will pass by their stops on the bus routes they have selected. In addition, the user will be able to view the progress of each bus along its route: The position of the vehicle will be updated every 20 seconds on a dynamic map of Laval. This service is available starting now.
Smartphone users may download the application and sign up to receive alerts, notices and detours. An iPhone application is now available, free of charge. Later on in the spring of 2010, they will be offered a text messaging system.
At the same time, other display units—this time aboard the buses—will be activated as well: They will announce the upcoming stop and the transfer options.
An explanatory multimedia document is available at www.stl.laval.qc.ca.
The STL Synchro program costs a total of $4 million. A grant corresponding to 75% of this amount has been paid by Ministère des Transports du Québec.