Background
Transport for Cornwall (TfC) partners came together in 2015 to pledge to provide the best possible bus services in Cornwall. These partners include:
- Cornwall by Kernow
- Go Cornwall Bus
- Stagecoach
- Hopley's
- OTS
- Travel Cornwall
Back in 2023, they identified the need to move away from manually creating the at bus stop publicity and looked for a more automated solution.
The Problem
With many services changing each year, the labour intensive task of keeping bus timetable information updated at every stop was becoming unsustainable. With over 4,000 stops to update and services changing at least twice a year, it was not a simple or quick task.
With the legal requirements to also supply the data in TransXChange format for journey planning, the team were struggling to keep the data updated for the various outputs required.
The Requirement
Transport for Cornwall wanted to replace it’s existing labour intensive production process with an automated system that utilised TransXChange data (along with NaPTAN (the national dataset for uniquely identifying all public transport access points in England, Scotland and Wales)to identify each stop).
The Solution
Pindar Creative proposed using their existing CARI (Completely Automated Roadside Information) solution, to meet Transport for Cornwall’s requirement.
CARI is an established process that has been used by the likes of Arriva and Stagecoach to help them with the automation of bus stop publicity.
Providing a fully automated bus stop display system with auto generation of linear maps and stop-specific timetables from TransXChange and NaPTAN data direct to PDF.
Using pre-designed templates at multiple sizes, each stop can be allocated the correct size template, allowing the system to automatically generate a panel at the correct size. During this process, CARI can also calculate any white space left on the panel allowing the automatic placement of fillers, adverts and maps.
We were also able to replace abbreviated or incorrect destination names within the TransXChange data with an alternative name, automatically, making the information more user friendly for bus users.
QR Codes can also be added to panels either from pre generated versions or created on the fly.
When planning for print and placing the panels up at stop, CARI can also be used to print panels in the required running order for the roll out of panels.
CARI has transformed the way Transport for Cornwall produce at stop panels, providing a streamlined production process, reduced production costs and freeing up internal resources.