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Reliability issues with RTPI

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    #92
    devnull
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 11,601 Mod ✭✭✭✭devnull


    Every Journey matters to Dublin Bus now, and will for the next few months at least, so I really advise you to get your complaints and queries into the company right no because now more than ever they want to be seen as pleasing their customers and doing the right thing.

    You'll be seeing the phrase that "Every Journey Matters" a lot over the next few months I would suspect as the company tries to market itself in a positive light as a cuddly customer focused forward thinking business, like they tried to do a few years ago with "My Dublin Bus Experience" but quickly abandoned that project when it became obvious they didn't have an impending loss of contract

    I predict that they will try and portray themselves as a company who is passionate about every customer, saying how efficient they are, giving priority to a great customer experience, exceeding performance objectives, investing in newer technology etc. Thing is it shouldn't take an impending loss of contract to start saying and promising to do these things, it's just a whole PR exercise.


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    #93
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,167 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    Did I miss it or was it ever clarified whether or not the GPS data isn't provided for contractual reasons? I know other "fleet operators" have situations where GPS can be monitored but its excluded from any disciplinary actions.

    I'm abroad at the moment and the busses here provide a GPS map integrated into the stop so you can watch your bus approach without removing your phone from your pocket. Predective minute figures can only ever do so much, a map lets the passenger make their own observations: is it stuck in the middle of a road where you know there's no light, probably something wrong; not left the terminus, don't trust the driver to show. The human brain is a strong analytical machine, its ok to use it. If this is a contractual thing id really love to see somebody in DBHQ to stand up to the unions and resolve it.

    Regarding the current system, do we know the polling rate and how successful they are at delivery? The RTPI algorithm may be sound but if the positional updates only get through periodically it becomes pretty useless.


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    #94
    cdebru
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,761 ✭✭✭cdebru


    Graham wrote: »
    Continuing your analogy, RTPI rarely spots the horse died before the race started.

    Surely it should be a very exact science to ascertain that a bus that isn't running is most definitely not going to be arriving.


    That is the human element, some controllers are better than others and at times when the sh1t hits the fan they are simply snowed under trying to manage stuff that it just isn't possible, no matter how good they are, they are juggling multiple different possibilities.

    In theory if a bus is 20 minutes away from a terminus it is due to depart then it clearly isn't going to make that journey, however if you automated the system so the RTPI automatically removed the bus, it would not work either, as there are multiple possibilities that a controller might possibly be able to intervene so that the journey actually happens, a spare bus, the bus in front also running late but in time to do the later journey, a bus on a nearby route due to finish with a driver willing to work overtime etc etc etc. So just because the specified bus won't be able to do a particular journey doesn't necessarily mean the journey won't operate.

    Sometimes the controller may think he has it covered but then some other unforseen event happens and knocks everything for six again.

    Also just because the RTPI isn't getting information that a bus has started a journey doesn't mean it hasn't, a bus can be offline but still operating away


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    #95
    cdebru
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,761 ✭✭✭cdebru


    ED E wrote: »
    Did I miss it or was it ever clarified whether or not the GPS data isn't provided for contractual reasons? I know other "fleet operators" have situations where GPS can be monitored but its excluded from any disciplinary actions.

    I'm abroad at the moment and the busses here provide a GPS map integrated into the stop so you can watch your bus approach without removing your phone from your pocket. Predective minute figures can only ever do so much, a map lets the passenger make their own observations: is it stuck in the middle of a road where you know there's no light, probably something wrong; not left the terminus, don't trust the driver to show. The human brain is a strong analytical machine, its ok to use it. If this is a contractual thing id really love to see somebody in DBHQ to stand up to the unions and resolve it.

    Regarding the current system, do we know the polling rate and how successful they are at delivery? The RTPI algorithm may be sound but if the positional updates only get through periodically it becomes pretty useless.


    I have never heard of any union objection to it the information is available to DB, that is what their controllers see, I have also seen DB on twitter give out information as to exact location, or exact time a bus passed a particular point.
    I have no idea why that information isn't shared but I wouldn't jump to the usual tired presumption that is anything to do with unions. There may well be reasons why it wouldn't suit DB management to provide that information.


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