NextBus Inks Major Transit Pact with Toronto Transit Commission

Filed Under AVL Systems, Municipal Transit, Real-time Passenger Information Systems, Transportation Trends

$9.9 Million Contract for Implementation of Real-time Passenger Information System

The Board of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) approved the recommendation for award of contracts for the Next Vehicle Arrival System to Grey Island for its NextBus System. Total value of the contracts is $9,920,000.
The TTC operates the third most heavily used transit system in the USA and Canada serving over 450 million customers annually in the Greater Toronto Area. The TTC provides this service to the City of Toronto with an extensive network of subways, streetcar lines, bus routes, and a specialized service, Wheel-Trans, for people with disabilities.

The purpose of the NextBus project is to develop and implement a system to provide TTC riders with vehicle location, vehicle arrival time, and other transit related information.

The system will consist of a collection of computer hardware, software, and GPS technology, used for capturing, managing, analyzing and displaying projected vehicle arrival times. The system will be installed to work with existing Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) tracking systems and communications infrastructure.

The NextBus project has been initiated by the TTC as a measure toward improving customer service, TTC service visibility and increasing ridership. This initiative will provide TTC riders with real-time, reliable and relevant passenger information.

Brian Boychuk, Executive Vice President for Grey Island said:

“NextBus is dedicated to the public transit industry and its riders. Its mission is to enhance the experience of using public transit by providing high value information to both passengers and managers of public transit. We provide actual arrival times, not schedules. Bus and streetcar locations are tracked via an automatic vehicle location system; NextBus processes the information, calculates predicted arrival times and transmits arrival time predictions to electronic displays at stops and stations, IVR (interactive voice response) systems, PDA’s, cell phones and to the Internet. Because passengers can plan to arrive at the bus stop within moments of the bus’ actual arrival time, the time spent waiting at stops on day-to-day basis is minimized. This is especially more valuable to riders in unfavorable conditions such as inclement weather or waiting alone at night”.

Owen Moore, President of Grey Island added:

“This implementation of NextBus, in one of the most prestigious public transit agencies in North America, further exemplifies Grey Island’s leadership position in Government based vehicle tracking, telematics and predictive arrival systems. Factors such as increasing fuel prices and increased funding for public transit will continue to drive demand for our products and services, which in turn improves service, and increases ridership and revenues for public transit agencies”.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information based on management’s best estimates and the current operating environment. These forward-looking statements are related to, but not limited to, Grey Island’s operations, anticipated financial performance, business prospects and strategies. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, business risks, changes in market and competition, technological and competitive developments and potential downturns in economic conditions generally. Therefore, there can be no assurance that the expectations of the management of Grey Island will prove to be correct.

About Grey Island, NextBus, and InterFleet

Grey Island, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, InterFleet Inc., Grey Island Systems Inc. and NextBus Inc., develops, markets and hosts real-time Internet based automated vehicle location systems, real-time
passenger information systems and vehicular telematic systems for public and private fleets in the United States and Canada. For more information please
visit our websites at www.interfleet.com and www.nextbusnews.com.

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