Project Description
The Smart Bus System (SBS) project is initiated in response to course ELEC 399 Design Project I at the University of Victoria (UVic) in May 2012. The project is supervised by three faculty members at UVic's Engineering Department - Dr. Fayez Gebali, Dr. Kin Li and Dr. Michael McGuire. By late July 2012, a presentation and a project report featuring a product definition and a detailed system design will be delivered to the department. Due to limited time, a prototype of only one component of the entire system - a smart bus stop - will be implemented by April 2013, in response to course ELEC 499 Design Project II.
Team Connec4 is a group of four undergraduate students from the University of Victoria's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering who are enthusiastic in applying communication technology to improve public transit user experience.
Project Goal
The project goal is to explore ideas of integrating the Victoria Regional Transit System with appropriate communication technologies and to develop a corresponding Smartphone app. In a SBS, users can access real-time passenger information such as schedules, trip planners, bus capacity estimates, bike rack availability and bus stop locations, via Smartphone, on computers and at bus stops. This system would be inclusive to all users including people with special needs.
The project objectives include
a. To explore wireless technologies to connect buses, bus stops and users;
b. To propose buses and bus stop infrastructure to support the desired functionalities;
c. To develop user-friendly interfaces for accessing real-time transit data;
To assist people with special needs in travelling independently by public transit systems.