NextBus
XML Integration
Problem
NextBus uses satellites and advanced computer modeling to track transit vehicles on their routes and provide accurate real-time arrival information — not just bus schedules — to passengers and managers of public transit, shuttles, and trains. Recently, NextBus was contracted by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to provide this service for the Metrobus system consisting of 1,500 buses, 337 routes, and 12,400 bus stops.
NextBus needed to extract relevant data for their tracking system from WMATA’s existing information systems. WMATA’s Trapeze Scheduling system, which integrates automated routing and scheduling with daily dispatch, timekeeping, workforce management and more, was the ideal source. Still, a significant amount of data transformation was needed between the Trapeze source data and the proprietary XML-formatted data consumed by the NextBus system. This transformation would need to be automated and repeatable each time routes or schedules change. Even more challenging, some values were unavailable in the Trapeze data and had to be added from an unrelated source.
NextBus had its own experience with Trapeze on a smaller scale, but was looking for extra help with this very challenging project. They knew of TeraTech’s prior experience working with WMATA, and hired our knowledgeable developers to handle the data integration. "With TeraTech’s experience working with both Trapeze and WMATA, it was exactly what we were looking for and filled one of our concerns on the project," according to Joe Monaco, Regional Sales Manager of NextBus.
Solution
To implement this system for NextBus, TeraTech first conducted a thorough analysis of WMATA’s relevant data sources. We identified all data fields, formats and values needed by the NextBus system. TeraTech programmers then wrote code to efficiently convert the data on demand into a specific XML format required by the NextBus system.
Results
After rigorous testing, the software was installed on the NextBus server. Joe Monaco states, "with TeraTech on board, we ‘hit the ground running’ on the project which was extremely productive." WMATA customers can now obtain real-time arrival/departure information via their choice of telephone, text messaging or website, and on display boards installed at certain bus terminals.
Map