Yesterday, my colleagues and I had an opportunity to tour the Carris Traffic Control Center, responsible for managing bus and tram operations in Lisbon.
Photo Gallery
The center is very new (opened in September 2009) as this boards shows:
We had a very nice overview of the facility, including the history of Carris and the Traffic Control Centre by Ana Sousa, and José Manuel Godinho Maia (coordinator of Network Planning and Operations Control). Both were very eager to answer questions!
After, we got a tour of the control center itself.
The system was specifically designed for Carris by a Portuguese consortium of companies. Similar systems have since been deployed in Porto (STCP) and in other cities around Portugal.
Easy Improvements
One of my question remained largely unanswered: Why is real-time arrival information not available on the web? This info is available at stops around the city, and, supposedly, by SMS and email, although I have been unsuccessful in getting this info that way. Carris website lists stops for each line. Why can't the two be put together?
While smartphone proliferation is not great here, the people that have it are the ones, who are more likely to put a higher value on their time and would be more likely to ride a bus if they did not have to wait for it. I have noticed that in San Francisco, such a system has cut down my waiting time to almost zero. I leave my origin 2 minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive. I can check this info online or by phone.
I will try to convince them that this is a worthwhile investment that costs next to nothing and is likely to increase patronage of Carris.
Moving in the Right Direction
I really enjoyed this visit and I can see that this company is moving in the right direction. Compared to ten years ago, they have renewed their fleet and have increased the amount of information inflow, which allows them to know where their problems are. They also proudly display their ISO certifications.
They are continually making their fleet greener and their operations better.
I have a few gripes about the system: too many stops which increases travel time, route network that is a bit confusing, with some lines that seem to meander through neighborhoods, poor customer information (it exists, but it's not as clear as could be), and lack of real-time arrival info. All easily-solvable problems.
Photo Gallery
The center is very new (opened in September 2009) as this boards shows:
We had a very nice overview of the facility, including the history of Carris and the Traffic Control Centre by Ana Sousa, and José Manuel Godinho Maia (coordinator of Network Planning and Operations Control). Both were very eager to answer questions!
After, we got a tour of the control center itself.
The traffic control center has nine controllers during most of the day, each of whom has 6-10 lines to manage. There is also one to two incident managers, who manage breakdowns and other incidents. I was really surprised that nine people is all it took to run such a complex system
Dispatchers
Dispatchers are responsible for maintaining separation between vehicles, and keeping the system running reliably. They are also assisted by field teams and field dispatchers.
The system has AVL (automatic vehicle location) capabilities, which allows the dispatchers to know the position of each vehicle in real time. The computers compare the vehicle position to the timetable and display it as "very early" "early" "on time" "late" or "very late."
The dispatchers can use a number of ways to keep the vehicles on schedule, such as short-turning a bus or a tram (turning it around before reaching the terminal) to fill in a gap in service. The system allows them to make this decision and to relay instructions to drivers.
Two-way communication with drivers is possible via text messages or by voice. The driver must request voice communication and the dispatcher will initiate the conversation. There is no driver-to-driver communication, everything has to go through the dispatcher. Driver-to-driver communication can be helpful for various reasons, but can also be abused by drivers. I saw this system in use in Hannover, Germany and it proved to be quite helpful in resolving some matters without involvement of dispatchers.
Here is a typical screen of a dispatcher. She is in charge of 3 very busy lines, such as 28E (right screen, middle), which is very hard to control due to narrow streets, parked cars on tram tracks and other problems. the system runs on Windows. It would be cooler if it ran on Linux!
Incident Management
In a system so complex, multiple incidents are always going on. From security issues, to collisions, the incident managers are always busy. If a driver needs to request assistance for a security problem, he or she can trip an alarm (with various levels of severity) and a real-time video feed will start broadcasting to the control center. The dispatcher can then work with the driver to provide an adequate response.
Because maintenance at Carris is outsourced, breakdowns are referred to the maintenance company. The incident manager (or one of them) manages breakdowns or problems. It is his responsibility to communicate with the maintenance personnel to ensure the vehicle is taken care of.
"Huge Improvement"
The system provides a huge improvement in operations management. Compared to ancient systems of having dispatchers out in the field, and going from organized chaos to organized traffic, the system is a HUGE improvement. One curious thing, though, was a large amount of paperwork that was still required to be completed, such as comparison of scheduled vs. actual departure times from terminals. I was told that this was going to change in the next few months and that the goal was to go completely paperless.
A part of Carris Network:
Dispatchers
Dispatchers are responsible for maintaining separation between vehicles, and keeping the system running reliably. They are also assisted by field teams and field dispatchers.
The system has AVL (automatic vehicle location) capabilities, which allows the dispatchers to know the position of each vehicle in real time. The computers compare the vehicle position to the timetable and display it as "very early" "early" "on time" "late" or "very late."
The dispatchers can use a number of ways to keep the vehicles on schedule, such as short-turning a bus or a tram (turning it around before reaching the terminal) to fill in a gap in service. The system allows them to make this decision and to relay instructions to drivers.
Two-way communication with drivers is possible via text messages or by voice. The driver must request voice communication and the dispatcher will initiate the conversation. There is no driver-to-driver communication, everything has to go through the dispatcher. Driver-to-driver communication can be helpful for various reasons, but can also be abused by drivers. I saw this system in use in Hannover, Germany and it proved to be quite helpful in resolving some matters without involvement of dispatchers.
Here is a typical screen of a dispatcher. She is in charge of 3 very busy lines, such as 28E (right screen, middle), which is very hard to control due to narrow streets, parked cars on tram tracks and other problems. the system runs on Windows. It would be cooler if it ran on Linux!
Incident Management
In a system so complex, multiple incidents are always going on. From security issues, to collisions, the incident managers are always busy. If a driver needs to request assistance for a security problem, he or she can trip an alarm (with various levels of severity) and a real-time video feed will start broadcasting to the control center. The dispatcher can then work with the driver to provide an adequate response.
Because maintenance at Carris is outsourced, breakdowns are referred to the maintenance company. The incident manager (or one of them) manages breakdowns or problems. It is his responsibility to communicate with the maintenance personnel to ensure the vehicle is taken care of.
"Huge Improvement"
The system provides a huge improvement in operations management. Compared to ancient systems of having dispatchers out in the field, and going from organized chaos to organized traffic, the system is a HUGE improvement. One curious thing, though, was a large amount of paperwork that was still required to be completed, such as comparison of scheduled vs. actual departure times from terminals. I was told that this was going to change in the next few months and that the goal was to go completely paperless.
A part of Carris Network:
The system was specifically designed for Carris by a Portuguese consortium of companies. Similar systems have since been deployed in Porto (STCP) and in other cities around Portugal.
Easy Improvements
One of my question remained largely unanswered: Why is real-time arrival information not available on the web? This info is available at stops around the city, and, supposedly, by SMS and email, although I have been unsuccessful in getting this info that way. Carris website lists stops for each line. Why can't the two be put together?
While smartphone proliferation is not great here, the people that have it are the ones, who are more likely to put a higher value on their time and would be more likely to ride a bus if they did not have to wait for it. I have noticed that in San Francisco, such a system has cut down my waiting time to almost zero. I leave my origin 2 minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive. I can check this info online or by phone.
I will try to convince them that this is a worthwhile investment that costs next to nothing and is likely to increase patronage of Carris.
Moving in the Right Direction
I really enjoyed this visit and I can see that this company is moving in the right direction. Compared to ten years ago, they have renewed their fleet and have increased the amount of information inflow, which allows them to know where their problems are. They also proudly display their ISO certifications.
They are continually making their fleet greener and their operations better.
I have a few gripes about the system: too many stops which increases travel time, route network that is a bit confusing, with some lines that seem to meander through neighborhoods, poor customer information (it exists, but it's not as clear as could be), and lack of real-time arrival info. All easily-solvable problems.
And to finish, here are some pictures of an old tram and bus outside the control center.
Thanks to Carris for hosting us!
