Alexander Dennis takes 12 Enviro500EV order from Foothill Transit
Alexander Dennis has taken a further order for its battery-electric Enviro500EV tri-axle double-decker in the United States, with California agency Foothill Transit returning for 12 more of the type.
They will be members of the manufacturer’s latest generation battery-electric range and complement two earlier pilot buses that were delivered in 2021.
The new examples will be used to upgrade Foothill Transit’s Silver Streak bus rapid transit (BRT) route between downtown Los Angeles and cities in the San Gabriel Valley. They will enter service in 2026. That route uses the El Monte Busway and operates 24/7, currently with articulated vehicles.
Success with Foothill Transit for Alexander Dennis follows a deal announced recently with Sound Transit in Washington state for 33 Enviro500EVs. The Sound Transit buses will also be used on BRT services.
Like the members of the latest-generation Alexander Dennis battery-electric range introduced in the UK, the Enviro500EV in North American specification will utilise the Voith Electrical Drive System.
Foothill Transit has already purchased zero-emission buses from Alexander Dennis sister company New Flyer, including 33 hydrogen fuel cell-electric examples. The Enviro500EV deal “aligns with our vision for a sustainable future,” says Foothill Transit CEO Doran Barnes.
Adds Mr Barnes: “We are proud to partner with Alexander Dennis to bring these cutting-edge double-deck electric buses to our communities. This marks a significant step forward in our commitment to providing reliable, eco-friendly and efficient transit services.”
The buses will be built by Alexander Dennis partner Big Rig Manufacturing in Nevada. Alexander Dennis North America Vice-President Stephen Walsh has welcomed the latest order. “After trials with two earlier Enviro500EV pilot buses, Foothill Transit’s selection of Alexander Dennis's next-generation technology for its Silver Streak is a huge vote of confidence for us,” says Mr Walsh.
“With increased energy storage, revised drivetrain configuration and modular battery configurations, the Enviro500EV with next-generation technology will improve range and other capabilities vital to the mixed profile of inner-city roads and freeways that are the features of the Silver Streak.”
UrbanThings: Putting technology into the hands of operators
The advance of technology is greatly being felt in the coach and bus industry by both the customer and service provider. Nowadays, even the smallest of operators have branded apps, with live bus data readily available elsewhere too.
UrbanThings has been at the forefront of this revolution, capitalising on the success of the popular, public-facing Bus Checker app and moving its focus towards working directly with operators and local authorities to provide customisable apps and websites, on both the customer and back-end sides, offering real-time transport information and ticketing solutions.
Founder Carl Partridge last year handed over the reins as Chief Executive Officer of the Paragon ID subsidiary, with former Arriva Digital Director Adam Toone announced to take over in November 2023.
Adam, who led all of UK bus digital, commercial, and IT systems at Arriva, as well as launched several digital demand responsive transport services (DRT), is clear the mission he received is one of growth. He says: “The big focus is to continue to collaborate with our customers to give them improvement and innovations, and ultimately, help them grow patronage and adoption of their customer apps and websites."
Adam will concentrate on rolling out the UrbanHub platform, which brings together passenger apps and websites, back-office portal, ticketing and payment systems and Mobility-as-a-Service application programming interface, to more operators. For Adam, strengthening UrbanThings’ collaboration with other transport technology experts will foster UrbanHub's growth and enhance passenger access to transport information.
“We’re excited to be working with our partners to support operators with a better product, whether that be working with scheduling companies like Optibus and how we can collaborate with them, or whether it's through a much richer set of advanced journey-planning capabilities that are preference-based.” Among the innovations, UrbanThings has worked with Littlepay to recently launch a feature that allows the passenger greater sight of transactional data when using tap-on tap-off.
Adam sees another avenue for growth in boosting the success of its customers — the operators and local authorities. He says that might involve helping to create marketing assets or arranging on-site training days for drivers or engaging better with the drivers’ trade unions.
LibertyBus in Jersey is among the operators with which UrbanThings works. That is with great success — in January, it announced the LibertyBus app had passed 20,000 downloads, a figure representing 20% of the island’s population. South Yorkshire TravelMaster, Newport Transport, TrawsCymru and Ipswich Buses are other transport providers for whom UrbanThings has provided customised passenger and operator apps.
The issue of fraud in digital ticketing, including the exploitation of contactless technology, has been closely watched by UrbanThings. For example, it has introduced anti-fraud animation, which sends “bubbles” across mobile screens to show the driver it is a genuine ticket rather than a copy. The bubbles respond to hand movements, using the phone’s accelerometer, to further combat fraud.
“There are obviously multiple parties in the process of digital ticketing and mobile ticketing,” says Adam. “But we work with the likes of Ticketer, Vix Technology, the electronic ticket-machine providers, Littlepay and Visa. I think we've made some big steps forward in the industry around fraud prevention.”
That includes, for example, using artificial intelligence to help combat age-verification fraud. He adds: “There are other ways that you can identify where fraud may be taking place quite quickly so that you can react and deal with it.”
Adam has been deeply involved during his career with DRT. While he stresses that DRT was never the “silver bullet” some once presented it as, he says: “What DRT can do is allow you to effectively operate your network at less cost, whether that be through using different vehicles, using different types of driver licenses, whether it's connecting journeys into fixed lines to make them more efficient, which therefore drives more patronage.”
He adds: “I think it will always require an element of funding to support DRT, in most scenarios. But that funding can be utilised from different areas, such as Section 106 funding, social funding, dial-a-ride replacements or school transport.” Offering what he admits is an “extreme” example, he even suggests that home package delivery could potentially be combined with DRT.
Given data plays such a big role for UrbanThings, Adam recognises the challenges of complying with Bus Open Data Service (BODS) and of adequately meeting the requirements of businesses such as his.
“Bus data is no easy task,” he says. “The Department for Transport (DfT) probably underestimated the complexity of bus open data and how it was going to get that off the ground.” He says this may have contributed to some “frustration” on behalf of operators and that DfT needs to work to gain more co-operation. “I think it needs to probably define the end goal a little bit clearer in terms of what BODS will give operators,” he says.
The increase in passenger data availability created by digital has led to many advantages for the operator, stresses Adam. “From an operator point of view, you're using it for personalisation to craft a better passenger experience,” he says. “Whether that's being able to display the right ticket to repurchase, buy now, buy again, quickening up that purchase flow, you're trying to personalise the app for them. It might be recommending favourite stops or providing alerts around kind of cancellations or late journeys.”
He adds that data also facilitates longer-term decisions for operators, such as the move away from weekly tickets towards carnet pricing during and since COVID-19, or a changing of routes and services.
UrbanThings has been at the head of innovation and operators are increasingly willing to follow its lead, feels Adam. He says: “In the last four years, the industry has had to go on a very quick journey. And since the pandemic, they are a little bit more forward-thinking.”
However, he adds: “There's still, at the moment, though, a perceived salvo that it's expensive to do digital or to do new ticketing methods. One thing we’re trying to show operators is that it actually doesn't have to be expensive; it just needs to be right.
“What we're trying to demonstrate at UrbanThings is that we can do things affordably and we can drive patronage and put passenger data back into the hands of the customer, which we believe will make them travel more.”
TransMach grows team and looks to ticketing anti-fraud tool rollout
TransMach has named Kirsty Darby (pictured) as Sales Account Manager. Her appointment comes as the smart ticketing and contactless solutions provider targets growth and looks to the deployment of a what it says is a "revolutionary" anti-fraud tool.
Ms Darby joins from Ticketer and brings over 15 years’ experience in transport customer support and data management to TransMach. She will lead initiatives to grow existing client relationships and engage with operators that seek to upgrade their ticketing and Bus Open Date Service compliance systems.
A primary objective for TransMach in Q1 2024 is the rollout of a software anti-fraud tool that it claims “will redefine and fortify contactless security.”
That work is being delivered in partnership with payment processing company Littlepay and other ticketing device vendors. TransMach has developed a cross-sector Payment Account Reference (PAR)-based deny list protocol that it says has been designed to protect against emerging security threats such as mobile wallet 'flipping'.
That action occurs when passengers avoid paying by re-registering cards to deliver a new primary account number, which bypasses existing card deny list mechanisms. By using the PAR token, the new protocol includes an additional blocking feature based on the PAR to block cardholders at account level, preventing fraudulent transactions.
TransMach adds that PAR “links all the cards in an account and does not change when a mobile wallet is ‘flipped’, which prevents any re-registrations.”
Speaking about both the additional security tool and Ms Darby’s arrival with the business, TransMach Director Minesh Vandra says: “TransMach is proudly at the forefront of ticketing innovation within the public transport sector, consistently developing solutions that anticipate and address evolving industry demands.
“We are therefore delighted to welcome Kirsty onboard in the key role of Sales Account Manager, which underscores the company’s dedication to exceeding client expectations.
“Being part of a cross-industry group in the development of the PAR deny list project sets a new standard in safeguarding critical data and systems, and this important work will continue during 2024.”
Ms Darby describes the latest anti-fraud project as “a significant leap in enhancing security measures and ensuring our clients’ operational resilience and peace of mind.” She adds an expectation that operators will wish to understand more as they look at options for ticketing systems upgrades.
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