Smart Bus Project

Current Project State

All regular ETS buses are equipped with Smart Bus technology and are providing real-time information to customers and ETS control.

Benefits of Smart Bus Technology

Smart Bus technology dramatically changes the way ETS plans and delivers service and responds to incidents. By providing real-time information directly to riders and third-party app developers, the technology also improves the city’s transit experience for those making the nearly 90 million transit trips every year. Transit users are now able to:

• Plan trips while minimizing wait time and missed connections
• Access real-time Trip planning and next bus departure information via takeETS.com
• Use web based tools such as Google Transit to display real-time transit information

Smart Bus helps ETS to improve:

1. Reliability. With a fleet of nearly 1,000 buses, it’s no longer possible to effectively manage incidents such as service delays and disruptions using two-way radios. The Transit Control Centre needs technology tools such as automatic vehicle location (AVL) and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) to keep service running on time.
2. Predictability. Citizens take about 400,000 trips on ETS on a typical weekday and with over 7,300 bus stops throughout the city, new technology is needed to keep riders informed about the status of their bus in real-time.
3. Accessibility and safety. Automated stop announcements (ASA)  let passengers know which stop is coming up and provides assistance to persons with disabilities. Enhanced security features such as automatic vehicle location and live look-in capability for camera-equipped buses, allows Transit Control to investigate and appropriately respond to unplanned events quickly and effectively.

Furthermore, the Smart Bus technology contains the necessary telecommunications and infrastructure to handle the upcoming City Council-approved electronic fare payment system, known as Smart Fare.

Project History

Smart Bus technology was first introduced to ETS in January 2011 when City Council approved the initial $3.4 million to start the project. Smart Buses provide customers with a variety of features including automated stop announcements, automated vehicle monitoring, and GPS location services. Meaning, ETS riders can track their bus in real-time. No more standing at a bus stop wondering if a bus already came or is stuck somewhere in traffic. Smart bus technology delivers up-to-the-minute bus departure information for every bus stop in the city.

During the first phase of the Smart Bus project, 45 buses were equipped with Smart Bus technology. When nine new buses were purchased in 2013, they came equipped with the technology. Since then, all new bus purchases have included Smart Bus features. 

ETS began to retrofit the rest of the fleet in 2014 using funding from the Council-approved Smart Fare project, starting with 250 buses. By December of that same year, Council approved additional funding to equip another 500 ETS buses with the technology.

The final phase included Council approving the remaining funding in December 2015 that was needed to complete Smart Bus installation on the remaining 125 buses in the fleet. 

Total project cost is $20 million. Significant portion of the project is funded by the Government of Alberta Municipal Sustainability Initiative grant.