LED SIGNS MAY BRIGHTEN AD REVENUE FOR BUSES

The LEDs that are transforming vehicle lighting are expanding into a new area: bus advertising. Lighted displays installed on buses can change messages often, even linking to GPS systems to pinpoint ads as buses travel into different neighborhoods. Sign makers are employing LEDs to create signage that offers far more eye appeal and versatility than signboards or even whole-bus wraps. They are targeting transit operations and universities that have large bus fleets and income needs that are growing as states trim funding.

A new entrant, US company Multimedia LEDs, is offering a flat-panel LED scheme that it says provides low power and brightness needed for buses. Though the 31-year-old company has not previously targeted the transportation environment, it has already produced a number of LED-based signs that operate in fairly harsh outdoor conditions. A number of them are in New York’s Times Square, where they run nonstop.

LED suppliers are just beginning to focus on this segment of the advertising world. British supplier Litelogic is already testing the technology on 300 LED panels on buses in Chicago and New York. They are also tied to GPS so messages can be changed in different areas.

That GPS connection could provide important revenue opportunities for cash-strapped transit agencies. They can sell prime-time ads to large companies when viewership might be higher, charging extra to target regional messages.

The brightness of LEDs should also help attract attention. To work in full sunlight, the Multimedia display generates 6000 nit, which is a measurement of the light output per square meter. At night, that can drop to 600 nit.

The LEDs are protected by a clear polycarbonate cover that is hard enough to hit with a hammer. Lifetime for the signs is expected to be around five years. The power budget for the signs has to be around 12 kW or less. That is a challenge when LEDs must be bright enough to attract attention on a sunny day. These power supplies convert the vehicle’s 24-V output to the 5 V needed by the display. If there are power shortages or other power issues, the sign will dim or shut off.

Multimedia patented a cooling technique that lets it fit this fanless power conversion system into the flat sign. Other systems have large boxes that take up space on the bus. The signs will cost from $30,000 to $40,000. That price is for 8-mm LEDs that provide high resolution. Scaling down to 10-mm LEDs will save buyers around $10,000, he noted

INTELLIGENT CCTV SYSTEM FOR BUSES TO PREVENT CRIME
Threatening behaviour on buses could soon be tracked and confronted by remote security analysts to protect the public from assaults and other criminal activity. This is the hope of researchers at Queen’s University Belfast who are developing intelligent software to recognise anti-social behaviour from real-time CCTV feeds. Working in collaboration with the Applied Criminology Centre at Huddersfield University, the team plans to use the software to stream live footage to security operators who will then be able to communicate directly with the offender via on-board screens.

The researchers claim the software will make a significant impact on preventing crime on public transport. Dr Paul Miller, head of the research programme, said that currently the UK’s four million CCTV systems fell short of doing this.

‘My personal view is that this type of smart technology has to be a differentiator in future security systems,’ he added. ‘There are concerns at the moment with the quality of cameras on buses… I wouldn’t invest in a CCTV system right now because I know it wouldn’t work.’

Miller said the industry was struggling to manage the large quantities of data that existing CCTV systems produced. As a result, recordings are often used to prosecute criminals following an event but are rarely able to prevent a crime before it happens.

The team at Queen’s believes its algorithms could tackle this problem. The algorithms work by analysing a passengers’ profile and combining their data with information about their movements, the bus’ location, the area’s crime statistics and the time of day.

Miller explained that the system would only be activated once the sum of the smaller events added up to establish a high-risk threat. Potential triggers could include loitering on stairwells, a group moving towards an individual and a passenger falling over on the bus. ‘The system will not necessarily say there is an incident occurring,’ said Miller. ‘But it will push that video to the top of the queue. The security analysts will then make a decision as to whether there is a situation and if they want to intervene.’As well as on-board camera and screen technology, similar technology deployed at bus stops will capture an individual’s gender.

For city buses a drain interval of 6000 hours should be possible with synthetic oil, Allison says. For operators looking to improve transmission reliability whilst extending drain intervals switching from mineral to synthetic oil would be the way. British operator Plymouth City Bus, with a fleet of over 170 buses, took this step, increasing drain intervals by over three times.

Transmission fluid is a critical element in the performance and longevity of every automatic transmission. Responsible for transmitting power and torque between the engine and final drive, it protects, lubricates and cools key components. Conventional transmission fluids are petroleum-based, can oxidize quickly and in turn undermining the effectiveness of the additives, viscosity enhancers and detergents. Over time, this causes a sharp reduction in viscosity and degrades the ability to provide adequate lubrication. Moreover, sludge and varnish deposits erode shift quality and increase component wear, leading to costly downtime and maintenance.
With Castrol, Allison developed TranSynd oil as a synthetic oil for automatic transmissions, but states that any TES295 fluid, approved by Allison, can deliver maintenance, environmental and operating benefits experienced by Plymouth City Bus.  Two thirds of the fleet are equipped with Allison’s fully automatic transmission and are now running on synthetic oil. Historically, they changed oil every 40,000km; that is approximately every 12 months. Since the switch to TranSynd and the use of oil testing she now changes the oil every 120,000km (6000 hours), which equates to every three years. TranSynd also offers the operator additional environmental benefits; with oil lasting longer there is a marked reduction in the amount of oil being disposed.
Allison Transmission recommends that customers use fluid analysis as the primary method for determining fluid change intervals. Analysis will look at oxidation, contaminant levels and viscosity.  Glycol and water are probably the most common and harmful contaminants found in a transmission.  Water is a poor lubricant and can cause corrosion. Glycol can attack the bonding material used to join the clutch friction material to the steel plates.
The recent addition of Allison’s new advanced prognostics capability to its entire range of automatic transmissions provides operators with a electronic fluid and filter change indicator.  This feature monitors the specific operating conditions for each bus which allows both fluid and filter changes to be optimized when using a TES295 certified fluid.