Digital Signage Takes A Ride

“The result is a series of ongoing displays or mini-reports that passengers are able to view and are updated every minute or so. These reports appear on LCD displays or LED electronic message boards,” says Chun.

Passengers who are trying to make travel plans before they leave their home can access NextBus transit alerts on their home computer to get a ‘next-up’ predicted arrival alert on their intended route.

San Francisco Muni

One NextBus client, the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency (Muni) employs more than 830 NextBus digital signs that are deployed throughout its system. All of Muni’s buses, LRV platforms and many of its bus shelters have an LED display that transmits route messages and the next two estimated vehicle arrival times for the stop. Also on the Muni LRV platforms are ruggedized large LCD ceiling displays which show off a complete San Francisco LRV track map with real-time indicators of where trains are in their approach to each platform stop as well as arrival predictions. Within the LRV train stations, as Muni passengers approach the ticket booth, there are RTPIS displays facing outwards that provide up-to-the-minute LRV updates even before they enter into the system.

Daktronics

Daktronics provides LED sign systems for a wide variety of applications and the company’s transit customers typically apply its message centers to inform people waiting on rail station platforms. In appropriate bus terminal locations, Daktronics can also deploy large arrival/departure scheduling displays. In bus transit, Daktronics offers passenger alert signage, as well as scheduling displays which play an important role in bus shelters and terminals.

For these applications, Daktronics recommends its Galaxy series message centers, which are offered in sizes that show single or multi-line text in an 8 or 12 mm pitches. These sizes facilitate ADA-required character sizes from 2 to 9.6 inches tall. Transit agencies have the choice of utilizing either amber-only or tri-color (red, green and amber) displays.

Recently, D.C.’s Union Station awarded a project to Daktronics in which the company replaced an antiquated scheduling display with a tri-color Daktronics Galaxy message center which serves as the centerpiece to the station’s grand hall.

Journeys and Destinations

Agencies are developing transit signage as elaborate way-finding systems to help passengers move from point A to point B in the best way possible. Given the arrival of digital signage and its transit content on route and destination information services, one could say that the journey to the destination will be as interesting as the destination itself. MT

Louis M. Brill is a journalist and consultant for high-tech media communications.