Photo: KD Autotrolej

In December 2022, Penta and KD Autotrolej concluded a Contract on the procurement of an information system for announcing the arrival of buses at a bus stop and a software solution for a mobile and web application for the public transport of passengers, while the procurement was carried out as part of the Call for Project Proposals in the procedure for the direct allocation of grants for the strategic project "Strengthening the public transport system". The project is ongoing, and the completion of the system implementation is expected in September this year.

The transportation of passengers in public city and suburban traffic should be accompanied by an appropriate passenger information system, therefore, an information system as a whole has been defined that will provide precise, credible and timely information (announcements) about the arrival of buses at bus stops.

The complete information system that Penta will implement in Rijeka, based on automatically obtained information about the current georeferenced position of each bus, calculates the planned arrival time at the bus stop and transmits that information to the information displays at the bus stops. The software support of the system includes an API, an application for managing information displays, a back office application and a reporting system, a prediction of the arrival of public transport vehicles, a web portal and a mobile application for informing passengers. The project will also deliver the equipment for the traffic centre, communication equipment for the connection between the traffic centre and the external network of variable signs, the necessary equipment in buses, information displays at bus stops and equipment in the server centre.

The obligation to inform passengers in public transport stems from the general public goal of reducing the use of private vehicles in order to increase flow and improve environmental indicators, i.e. increase the share of use of all forms of public transport. Carriers find a clear interest in increasing the attractiveness and competitiveness of their offer in providing information, i.e. introducing such systems.