JUNE 2017 | MassTransitmag.com | Mass Transit | 25
Th e possibilities this next-generation
internet communications
network holds for cities extend
far beyond helping people stay
on schedule.
Scratching the Surface
Consider the benefi ts to businesses.
Retailers can engage
with their target customers while
they’re waiting at bus stops or
during their bus rides because
they’ll know they’re on routes
that will eventually take them
near a specifi c store or restaurant.
Also, government agencies
can send real-time alerts with
relevant news and information
about a broken water main on
Main Street that includes upto
date information.
Deploying networks of contactless
technology beacons
based on open standards such
as NFC, Bluetooth Low Energy
(BLE) QR codes and Wi-Fi turns
passive, urban assets into smart
interaction points, which are
able to initiate two-way communications
with residents’ and
visitors’ smartphones, tablets,
smartwatches and other mobile
devices. That may sound like
science fiction, but cities across
Europe and Asia are making that
happen today.
No “Walled Gardens”
We’re in the early days of the development
of the Internet of Th ings
age. As manufactures rush to build
new connected devices, they tend
to do so within “walled gardens”
that make them incompatible with
their competitors’ products.
For that reason, municipal offi
cials should insist on only partnering
with technology developers
and integrators that agree to leveraging
universal communications
and interoperability standards.
Th at’s how you build a mass transit
system that people want to use
not just to check emails on the way
to work, but so they can be more
engaged with their communities.
And it all starts with connecting
buses with their travelers.
Laetitia Gazel
Anthoine is
the founder
and CEO of
Connecthings.
ENHANCING
MASS TRANSIT COMMUNICATIONS
INFORMED. SAFER. SMARTER.
The Communications Control Unit enhances the passenger’s travel
experience by providing GPS-controlled next stop and service related
messages in both audible and visual format.
To learn more, visit www.telephonics.com/transit-communications
© Telephonics I www.telephonics.com
For more information, visit www.MassTransitmag.com/12327045
Connecthings