HOME | ARTICLE ARCHIVES | ENTERTAINMENT | JOBS | CLASSIFIEDS | NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES | YOUR OPINION | ABOUT TLN | Email Us
Over the past week, you’ve probably noticed electronic signposts installed at some of the busiest bus stops across the city featuring real-time information. The Société de transport de Laval (STL) plans to unveil their new Synchro system are currently underway and are expected to be completed by February 2010.
“We want to test out the new system and give the public a taste of what to expect,” explained STL executive director Pierre Giard at STL headquarters the morning of December 8. “It should be fully operational the end of next month.”
STL Synchro
The STL Synchro system includes the installation of electronic signposts at a total of 80 of the most frequented bus stops across the city. The weather-proof signs will feature real-time information on the estimated minutes left to arrivals of the next two buses and be used to relay other important information to users concerning reminders, delays, or detours.
Users will also be able to have access to the information through an iPhone app, Blackberrys, cell phones, and the web. It will be possible to save information on the routes taken most often, see if a bus is delayed or running ahead of schedule, and plan your route into Montreal by combining information from both the STL and the Société de Transport de Montreal (STM) transit system. “Our goal is to decrease the wait time for users,” explained Giard. “That is the number one complaint we get from users. This system will allow users to plan ahead and utilize their time.”
A first in Quebec
The real-time information is received from a vehicle scheduling control system that the STL acquired this past year, which makes it possible to locate all 235 of the STL’s vehicles through GPS (global positioning system) and update their location every 30 seconds.
The high-tech STL Synchro system is the first of its kind in the province, with the first public transit authority to install electronic displays at its stops using GPS technology. The STL is also the only one in Canada to put so many into operation. The project is estimated to cost $2.2 million.
By next spring, electronic display units will also be installed aboard all STL buses to indicate the next stop and possible transfers’ users can take. For users without access to the Internet on-the-go, the STL telephonic information system Chronobus is still available. Users can find out the arrival times of the next three buses and by the end of January, it will also be updated with real-time information.
For more information on STL Synchro and to sign-up for text message updates, visit the re-vamped STL website at www.stl.laval.qc.ca.
