ACTIA is a global player in public transport, and we can make a great contribution to this growing demand for performance. We are talking not only about the technical performance of the vehicles, but also about economic and ecological performance. Performance in the services offered to users is just as important, with the prospect in sight of a passenger journey which is as smooth, pleasant, and safe as possible… ACTIA’s approach therefore falls within this goal of all-round performance.”
Jean-Louis Pech, CEO of the ACTIA group
Passenger loyalty and the appeal of public transport require improving the passenger journey
ACTIA helps improve the passenger journey. Transport must provide a safe, positive, and inclusive experience. ACTIA systems contribute to the passenger experience by offering services focused on reliability, speed, punctuality of service and accessibility to information in real time.
More than ever, users’ needs focus on:
- On-board services with passenger information (PI), ticketing and the payment method or the real-time traffic situation
- Safety
- Transport intermodality…
ACTIA: solid expertise in Passenger Information (PI) systems
ACTIA’s experience in on-board information management enables the group to offer highly innovative, comprehensive, and efficient systems that provide quick access to all information about the journey. ACTIA develops and produces audio and visual Passenger Information (PI) solutions suitable for all train, tram, or metro configurations.
The ACTIA group has particular technical PI expertise in the railway sector.
To date, no fewer than 6,000 ACTIA monitors are in operation on the tracks.
ACTIA equips trains, metros and trams in Australia and South America, such as the Medellín metro and the Sydney tram. But among the group’s customers we also have large European public transport and rail companies, which represent a large market in the midst of change.” This concerns cities like Edinburgh, Brussels, Amsterdam, Nice and Paris. Not to mention Russia and the Asian continent with Istanbul, Taiwan, or Qatar…
Improving safety on board transport
Passenger and driver safety is a major issue in the world of transport.
ACTIA video-surveillance solutions are chosen to equip many vehicles and over 9,000 vehicles are equipped with them worldwide.
On the railway market, the group innovates by offering rear-view and video-surveillance systems connected to the ground. This means that security stations are able to track events in the rolling stock as well as on platforms and in stations, in real time. This connected video-surveillance system is a great leap forward for passenger safety.
The system has recently been deployed on the TER trains in the AUVERGNE-RHÔNE-ALPES region (by SNCF) and is poised to win over other regions as there are significant safety benefits.
On 1st July, ACTIA acquired the software business of HYMATOM, a company specialising in Video Management Systems (VMS). This acquisition consolidates ACTIA’s safety and video-surveillance offering for public transport.
Traffic management in vehicles
The occupancy rate of vehicles is crucial for passenger comfort. The pandemic has heightened passengers’ aversion to overcrowded transport!
ACTIA is developing passenger counting systems to adapt the service in real time. Transport operators can provide users with updates on the network status (bus, metro, tram) so that they can adapt their route.
ACTIA also innovates in smart ticketing systems
Ticketing solutions contribute to improving the efficiency of public transport networks and the service offered to the user. ACTIA’s smart ticketing system is the first to offer four types of technology for validating or purchasing a ticket: RFID (or radio-frequency identification), by credit card, including contactless payment, by Bluetooth reader or QR code. Passengers therefore have the option of validating their ticket with their smartphone by automatic detection.
This innovation supports the development of “contactless” accelerated by the pandemic.
This module has got off to a promising start on the market, having been selected as the Prize Winner of the 2019 Embedded and Connected Objects Trophies event at the MtoM Embedded trade fair and given that it is already fitted in a fleet of 250 school buses travelling all over Normandy.
ACTIA supports changes in user practices
A major player in multimodality, ACTIA supports travellers at every stage of their journey. Indeed, its solutions, products and services are at the heart of all the vehicles we use to get around: personal (or rental) vehicles that can integrate ACTIA connectivity and be maintained and repaired by the group’s diagnostic equipment, buses, coaches, metros, trams, trains, planes, and now micromobility…
Whatever the mode of transport, ACTIA solutions incorporating 35 years of know-how contribute to ever more efficient mobility.
ACTIA contributes to the technical performance of vehicles
Relying on four historic technological building blocks – embedded electronic architecture, telematics, electrification and vehicle diagnostics – ACTIA develops solutions that help enhance the technical performance of vehicles. These solutions are based on the interoperable architecture and increasing connectivity of vehicles.
The interoperability of the vehicle’s embedded architecture is central to the issues of more efficient mobility. The aim is to offer vehicles that can easily integrate new functionalities to benefit both operators and users.
In this field, ACTIA’s investment in the European Bus System of the Future (EBSF) project has been crucial in helping to define a new generation of vehicles in which “plug & play” equipment can be embedded. Today, ACTIA is able to equip vehicles with fully interoperable architecture with an extremely wide range of ITxPT certified solutions.
ACTIA works for the economic and energy performance of fleets
For fleet performance: ACTIAFleet
ACTIA helps operators take care of their fleet. The group offers fleet management solutions for urban buses and coaches to combine the imperatives of safety, comfort, environment, and management.
These solutions rely on embedded equipment: telematics gateway units and displays linked to the MyACTIAFleet telematics portal.
The MyACTIAFleet portal allows the operator to read and manage indicators and dashboards in real time. In particular, the system provides data on the vehicle’s health in order to anticipate maintenance and prevent possible breakdowns. The ACTIA solution therefore helps to maintain the operating rate of the vehicles.
Of course, the platform includes new energy vehicles: NGV, electric, hybrid and soon hydrogen. It therefore enables public transport network administrators to better manage the energy transition of their fleet.
Tested and adopted the first time by TISSÉO Collectivités, on the Toulouse network, this solution marketed by ACTIA in Europe was chosen by networks of major operators such as RATP, TRANSDEV, KEOLIS, TISSÉO, RTM, and more.
It is used (in different versions) by more than a dozen other cities such as Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nîmes, Avignon, Dijon, Mulhouse, Angers, La Rochelle, and Villepinte.
For performance in driving vehicles
Bus drivers are the vehicle’s primary users, and their on-board duties change. They must handle an increasing number of factors to ensure the safety of passengers and other road users, deal with traffic, sell tickets, and sometimes even serve as a guide to users, whilst adopting eco-driving practices and techniques.
ACTIA develops integrated driver assistance systems to help them with their duties, such as:
- The ACTIA Eco Drive, a solution, successfully tested by TISSÉO Collectivités.
- ISA (Intelligent Speed Assistance), for adjusting the vehicle’s speed to the area’s speed limit, particularly in LEZ (Low Emission Zones). This system is approved by Transport For London (TFL).
- Interfaceable driving aids on the ACTIA dashboard: PODIUM 2.
The ergonomics of the Podium 2 dashboard contribute to more efficient driving. ACTIA’s flagship product, Podium 2, is manufactured at the Colomiers plant near Toulouse. It is fitted on the IVECO Bus and HEULIEZ buses that run on the TISSÉO network in Toulouse, and on buses in the Paris network.
The dashboard has also attracted international bus manufacturers. It has been fitted on vehicles in circulation in many European cities and around the world such as: Madrid, Brussels, Rome, Prague, Warsaw, Quebec, and New Delhi, and has penetrated the Chinese market with Beijing and Shanghai.
Moving towards a digital cockpit
ACTIA displays and dashboards are designed with the user in mind. This user-oriented approach is aimed at improving the driving experience (UX), gradually bringing the group closer to the digital cockpit. This dashboard with its fully digital and interactive display will gradually replace the traditional analogue dials with a screen which simulates the functioning of the dials.
This technology has already proven successful in cars. In fact, in terms of improving the driving experience, the digital cockpit is experiencing rapid growth. This trend is also being driven by the development of semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles, building a solid platform of opportunity for ACTIA’s electronic equipment activities.
The proof is clear: ACTIA develops solutions to make mobility smart, seamless, responsible, accessible, cost-effective, and ever more efficient.
The group therefore supports development in the public transport sector by proposing innovations addressing the major challenges of mobility. These include the passenger experience, passenger safety and comfort, driver safety and comfort, environmental protection and management imperatives that allow manufacturers to stand out in the eyes of their operator and integrator customers.
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