Connexionz to help track Washington buses

Christchurch-based company Connexionz, which provides real-time passenger information for public transport, has announced its second international sale this month.

The company today said it had secured a follow-up order from Arlington Transit (ART), in Washington DC, to install tracking equipment on the remainder of ART's bus fleet.

"This sale is exciting as Connexionz will now have a fully operational system within 16km of the White House. We could not have landed a better site as it is ultimately politicians that want, and drive the purchasing of these systems," Connexionz managing director Robert Burke said.

Last year, Connexionz was commissioned to provide ART passengers with real-time information on two routes and 10 stops as well as report to management on schedule adherence.

The new order would equip the remaining 32 buses in the ART fleet with tracking equipment, provide a website giving real-time passenger information (RTPI) updates for every ART stop and see an additional 40 BusFinder touch screen displays installed, Connexionz said.

In December a telephone voice system would be operational so passengers could phone in and activate spoken arrival information for their bus stop.

The Arlington expansion closely followed Connexionz' first sale in Britain. Connexionz had supplied the Southampton City Council with 10 BusFinder touchscreen displays, to trial across six of the city's bus routes. The six-month trial began in early November. If successful up to 300 further displays could be installed.

"Connexionz has now demonstrated with the Arlington sale that an RTPI system can be installed, and operational in a few months and within a short space of time passengers can experience information they can trust. Only 10 weeks elapsed from the time the order was received to the time the system was fully operational," Mr Burke said.

"The underlying value for Connexionz is that we now have a high profile site with full functionality in the US. Connexionz has shown that if the initial trial system works, expansion will naturally follow."

The technology involved came from Connexionz' BusFinder RTPI system operating in bus fleets in Christchurch, Auckland and Sydney.

In June Connexionz posted a net profit of $116,199 for the year ended March, up from a loss of $871,363 the previous year.

The company more than doubled its sales over the period, from $1.228 million the previous March year to $2.903 million, although chairman Craig Boyce said sales had been strong in the first half of the year but fell off in the second half.

Shares in the company last traded on Tuesday at 40c on the stock exchange's alternative market, the NZAX.

- NZPA