Public transit plays an important role in most parts of the United States. Every day, tens of millions of people use buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation to get where they need to go. It helps cities thrive economically and is good for the environment too. Cleveland, Ohio, is no exception, and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) provides transportation services for 150,000 to 200,000 customers on a typical weekday. However, the service recently experienced a major challenge in managing its onboard devices, and Vontas OnRoute remote device management offered the solution.
What is Remote Device Management?
Remote Device Management in transit operations is the ability to remotely control and monitor devices on board fleet vehicles while they are in service. Through the use of special software and technology, transit agencies can stay connected to the devices and perform tasks like checking their status, making changes to their settings, and fixing any issues that arise.
This way, administrators can make sure the devices are working properly and keep them secure, even while on the move. It saves time and resources by allowing tasks to be done remotely without needing physical access to the devices. It also helps collect important data about the devices’ performance and allows for better management and maintenance.
Confronting the GCRTA’s Challenge
In 2021, with nearly 500 vehicles in its fleet, GCRTA faced the mammoth task of ensuring the smooth operation of all onboard devices. Every day, intelligence transportation systems (ITS) manager Juliana Schultz found herself swamped with reports on vehicle issues. Although updating route and bin files and mobile software was able to resolve many of the issues, the lack of enough visibility and access to the in-vehicle network made it difficult to troubleshoot effectively. This resulted in longer periods of expensive downtime.
Vontas OnRoute provided an optimal solution for GCRTA. The agency implemented a remote device management solution as a pilot program. This enabled swift access to in-vehicle data, comprehensive device oversight, and the chance to address issues proactively from a single platform. The Vontas product team worked closely with GCRTA to design intuitive interfaces that enabled the latter to easily evaluate device performance, identify and rectify problems, and implement solutions and updates inside a secure environment.
Reaping the Benefits of Transformation
With Vontas OnRoute, GCRTA’s operations underwent a significant transformation that delivered the following benefits.
1. Better System Visibility
The platform’s dashboard improved system visibility by providing an overview of connected vehicles’ health. It displayed how many vehicles had maintenance warnings, required software updates, or were showing failed deployments. Users could zoom in to view the logs for individual vehicles, track them using GPS, and see details about subsystem breakdowns, malfunctions, and warnings. This made it easy to understand what went wrong and fix it. Agency workers could also check the vehicle’s history of changes and set up alerts for future problems.
2. Faster Configuration Time
Implementing remote device management dramatically reduced the time workers needed to install hardware and software updates. The system had the capability to configure several devices at once and schedule updates to be made at specific times.
3. Improved Performance Tracking
Staff could easily pull up reports to review performance and pinpoint where problems occurred, resulting in improved precision, efficiency, and output of vehicle operations for GCRTA.
4. Superior Consolidation Capabilities
Instead of alternating between FTP Explorer, raw log files, phone calls, emails, and other components, Vontas OnRoute system consolidated all the elements into a single dashboard. This feature enabled the agency to filter out distractions and focus on actionable data.
5. Easier Issue Resolution
Operators could immediately identify which vehicles require route file updates and deploy updates from the same software, saving substantial time and complexity. This simplified the process of understanding and resolving issues. Staff could also easily generate reports to check how vehicles were running and identify any problems.
The Verdict: A Multitude of Benefits
Choosing Vontas OnRoute Device Management enhanced the GCRTA’s operational accuracy, efficiency, and productivity. The collaboration with the Vontas product team resulted in a system tailored to GCRTA’s needs. Schultz praised the experience of working with Vontas, stating that the entire experience had been a great collaborative effort.
Using this system made GCRTA’s vehicle operations better, faster, and more productive, and this success story underscores the potential of remote device management in revolutionizing public transit operations.
Discover how Vontas OnRoute’s remote device management platform can help your transit agency improve operational efficiencies and deliver a more streamlined, profitable service.