Ticketer has launched an additional driver alert feature on its Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs), which it says will bring further benefits to public transport operators and drivers.
“Due to changing schedules, road closures and rail replacement services, drivers can often find themselves along unfamiliar routes where restricted access, such as width and height limitations, may prevent the safe passage of some buses,” the firm explained.
Ticketer’s new Road Restriction feature aims to address these issues, alerting drivers when they are approaching a restricted access area that cannot safely accommodate the vehicle and warning them that it would be inadvisable to cross under or through.
Utilising a regularly updated national gazetteer of restricted roads across the UK, together with the dimensions of each vehicle, the ETM can detect when the bus is approaching any restricted roads and warn the driver via a visible and audible alert.
Jason Mann, Head of Product at Ticketer commented: “Extending the Ticketer ETM to deliver this functionality means there are no additional hardware needs or additional installation requirements, cutting down on unnecessary costs and ensuring immediate rollout to operators.
“Furthermore, as with all Ticketer upgrades, the RRA feature can be simply uploaded to the ETMs over the air without the need for a site visit to deliver this much-needed solution.”
A pilot of the system is already underway at a number of operators, including First Bus. Simon Pearson, Commercial Director at the operator, said: “Ticketer’s enhanced driver alert functionality improves our drivers’ access to critical information. The seamless implementation of this customer-focused technology will allow us to introduce the update at pace and with ease, right across our UK-wide fleet.
“We look forward to working with Ticketer over the coming months to integrate learnings from the pilot and support the wider rollout of this important ETM update.”
