A Fresno Area Express bus at its stop .
How FAX Implemented a State-of-the-Art CAD / AVL System
By working closely with Vontas , Fresno Area Express ( FAX ) successfully implemented a CAD / AVL solution that met the needs of their ridership , providing them with new capabilities that were not possible with their legacy hardware .
Fresno Area Express dates all the way back to 1889 when it was powered by horses . They ’ ve been active throughout the years , from electric streetcars to buses . Their experience and longevity in the transit industry help them play a key role for Fresno , California ’ s ridership . With a 20-year old CAD / AVL system , FAX was in need of upgrading their old vehicle hardware and out-of-date software . But upgrading their fleet meant they had to replace the system and hardware , which provided a challenge . Since FAX was on version 15 of Vontas OnRoute ( TransitMaster ), they wanted to upgrade to version 21 and their maintenance agreement allowed them to do so . However , due to the legacy hardware onboard , they faced an uphill battle . “ They were stuck ,” said Andy Wakefield , director of transit operations at Intueor . “ They couldn ’ t move forward and take advantage of the new things that TransitMaster was capable of performing in its latest software release until they took the upgrade path on a lot of that hardware .” This acted as a catalyst for FAX to work with Vontas on upgrading their system centered around 5G cellular data infrastructure . “ We did use the newest Sierra Wireless 5G Mobile Gateway Router available in the market . In fact , we ' re the first agency in the US to have it implemented , so that ' s a big deal ,” said Sandy Cetti , project manager at FAX . “ It ’ s going to provide us with the capability of allowing us to have public Wi-Fi across the whole fleet .” According to Wakefield , by utilizing cellular data , FAX now has volumes of real-time information that they didn ' t have before , including :
“ The volume and access to data that they now have has completely changed how they can manage their operations and communicate with passengers ,” said Wakefield . “ Another aspect of the project that we are extremely proud of was the integration of TransitMaster with EAM , which now pushes fault data directly to maintenance so they can decide if they need to move it to a work order ,” said Cetti . And more exciting prospects are just around the corner with full expansion of on-board Wi- Fi throughout their fleet . “ On-board public Wi-Fi is a very important initiative to the City of Fresno and we ’ re glad that we were able to provide that service to the public through this project ,” Cetti said . “ We have a large ridership so providing that service is very important and valued .” FAX also viewed this upgrade as a new opportunity for training . “ Fresno , in a really intelligent fashion , didn ’ t look at this project as an upgrade but a re-implementation ,” said Wakefield . “ They took this opportunity to refocus and dedicate resources to training . Even though the system was being upgraded , they actually went back and trained on features and functions that were already in place , which ensured they were utilizing the system to the best capability they could . They trained on all components of TransitMaster so it really brought that capability up across the board in the Operations Control Center .” “ The capabilities are endless really ,” said Cetti . “ The ability to manage unscheduled detours is a major highlight . This capability creates a lot of flexibility in how we can manage our daily operations .” The ability to communicate detours is important to both the riders and operators . Wakefield said they can “ push that information over cellular data so the MDT is updated automatically and the new trip plan is sent directly to the operator . Real-time information gets sent to the customer , OTP and vehicle performance data is preserved , based on that new detour which would ' ve been lost in the legacy system .” A project of this magnitude can be very time-consuming . FAX was able to get it done in 10 months . “ It was a big change for us ,” says Cetti . “ It involved a lot of people on our end , but we had a wonderful , seasoned project manager on the Vontas end . We had a combination of strong Vontas resources including the account manager , project manager , and engineers . There was almost not a question they couldn ' t answer .” That level of responsiveness of the team is what Cetti is particularly proud of . As always with large-scale projects , problems are natural and will occur . “ There were missteps along the way on both sides ,” said Wakefield . “ And it wasn ' t about letting that stuff negatively impact the project . We always found ways to move through it .” Wakefield further elaborated how anytime there was an issue , “ we did feel that there was value in Vontas as a true partner to solve those issues and make sure that FAX was getting what they expected on the delivery side and held to budget , schedule , and everything else .”
20 | BUSRIDE . COM | APRIL / MAY 2024