Regular bus riders know the saying: “You wait ages for a bus, then two turn up at once!” This shared experience highlights the issue of bus headway—the time interval between vehicles on the same route. Transit operators strive to manage this timing because irregular headway can lead to rider frustration and operational inefficiencies.
While frequency indicates how many buses operate within a specific time period—such as six times an hour—headway focuses on the actual wait time between those buses. For instance, if a bus route serves a stop six times an hour, the ideal headway would be ten minutes. However, real-world complications like traffic congestion, ticketing delays, accidents, and unfavorable traffic signals often disrupt this plan, resulting in longer wait times and unpredictable service quality.
To combat these challenges, agencies can now leverage Vontas Headway, a cloud-native solution designed to monitor and orchestrate vehicles in real time, addressing the persistent issues of vehicle gapping and bunching.
Solutions for Headway Headaches
When buses fail to adhere to planned headways, they can arrive too early or too late. This disruption leads to an unpredictable flow of passengers—some buses may become overcrowded while others leave stops underutilized. Such headway deviations not only inconvenience riders but can also erode their confidence in the transit system.
Unfortunately, many agencies lack the tools to manage headway effectively, especially on high-frequency routes. Typically, technology is limited to Central Dispatch or historical reports, providing little room for driver feedback. This technology gap is where real-time headway management becomes essential.
Vontas Headway empowers agencies to monitor and orchestrate vehicles in real time, effectively reducing route gapping and bunching. By combining the capabilities of Central Dispatch and Field Supervision, the solution directs tasks to the most appropriate level of management. Vehicle operators benefit from continuous real-time headway feedback, utilizing actual and historical travel time statistics to optimize their operations.
Additionally, Vontas OnRoute Real-Time complements Headway by generating service alerts, ensuring riders are informed of any impacts to their travel plans.
How It Works
Vontas Headway streamlines bus headway management by providing the tools agencies need to monitor and orchestrate vehicles in real time.
Real-Time Vehicle Spacing
The platform displays real-time spacing between front and back vehicles, giving drivers the spatial awareness needed to operate as a cohesive unit rather than as isolated entities on high-frequency routes.
Operations Management Improvements
At critical moments requiring manual intervention, Vontas Headway equips agencies to monitor, analyze, and influence vehicle gapping and bunching from any browser-enabled device, ensuring timely and effective decision-making.
Leveraging Vontas Automation
With Vontas Headway Automation, agencies can set predefined vehicle hold points, target spacing across multiple routes, and establish system-calculated terminal departures. These features enable better alignment of service delivery with operational goals.
Agency Benefits
Vontas Headway empowers agencies by bringing the power of Central Dispatch directly onto the road, allowing for the effective distribution of tasks between Dispatch and Field Supervision.
Quick and Easy Implementation
As a cloud-native solution and standalone module, Vontas Headway can be implemented without requiring a complete CAD/AVL update, simplifying the agency transition process.
Meet Headway Goals & Reduce Gapping
With Vontas Headway, agencies can significantly reduce vehicle gapping and bunching on high-frequency routes, ensuring the number of vehicles per route aligns with established headway goals.
Operator Benefits
Operators appreciate the ease of managing headway with up-to-date information at their fingertips.
A Mobile-Ready Solution
The platform features a responsive, human-centric user interface accessible on any phone, tablet, or desktop device, enabling operators to stay connected and informed.
Real-Time Feedback & Access
Using any browser-enabled device, operators receive real-time feedback for spatial awareness and gain insights from a “birds-eye” view of their route and schedule.
With Vontas Headway, agencies can effectively manage gapping and bunching, reduce the number of vehicles per route, and enhance rider satisfaction through improved service updates. This innovative solution transforms how transit agencies approach bus headway challenges, paving the way for more reliable and efficient public transportation.