Expanding the system beyond the yard would mean undergoing an extensive planning and evaluation process in order to accurately survey the facility and gauge how and where the technology would be installed.“ The first step is a very complex process of planning where everything is going to be installed based on that mapping and architectural layout,” Costa said.“ That helps us come up with an initial concept of how many antennas we will need to achieve the maximum amount of coverage. We also need to make sure that there is a clear line of sight between all antennas and all tags. It’ s a very comprehensive process.” Once the surveying and mapping phase is complete, Vontas creates a detailed installation guide for experienced third-party installers who ensure that the technology is correctly installed. Throughout the project, WeGo’ s ultimate goal has been to accurately monitor the location of all vehicles from both the transfer facility and bus garage while simultaneously tracking when they arrive and depart from the main transit center in downtown Nashville.“ What interested us about the new solution was that it was a true vehicle tracking solution where we could see where vehicles were at all times on a map as well as see whether they were occupying a particular parking spot or a particular bus bay,” Freudberg said.“ And so, for us, having that level of information we felt would really allow us to achieve what we needed to in terms of pinpointing when vehicles were entering and exiting the transit center.” Once the antennas and tags were successfully installed, Vontas was able to begin integrating the new software into WeGo’ s existing CAD / AVL solution.“ Vontas had already done a couple of projects before, implementations of OnSite specifically for tracking vehicles at garage facilities, transit operational facilities,” Freudberg said.“ But for tracking vehicle adherence to schedule and tracking their progression along a route and tying that into the CAD / AVL system, that was a little bit different.” According to Costa, integrating the software requires multiple levels of customer training. The first phase begins during the project’ s initial kickoff, by introducing the customer to the technology that has been purchased, how it works and what is needed to maintain it. Then, during the installation phase, rather than installing the technology to the entire fleet simultaneously, Vontas designates a small number of vehicles to utilize as a training tool for key members of the project team.“ Not the entire staff, but just a few key members are getting introduced to the product,” Costa said.“ Then we expand and install more antennas and tag more buses as we go on, and as the fleet grows and the coverage in the facility grows, so does that person ' s knowledge of the system.”
12 | BUSRIDE. COM | APRIL / MAY 2025