Automation of bus transport on a regional scale “Bus Station”

TAIS has decades of experience in the automation of sales of tickets on intra-region and intercity bus routes. Since 1991 the system “Bus Station-1” has been working at the central Moscow bus station “Shchelkovo”. In 2004 it was replaced by the new contemporary system “Bus Station-2”.

Unlike its predecessor, oriented towards automating routes leaving from the given station, the new system “Bus Station-2” is able to serve complex routes, that is to automate the technological process of the sale of tickets and dispatch of busses at all the bus stations and stops of a region, both for intra-regional and inter-regional bus routes, and on international routes.

The network of automated ticketing desks, connected to the Data Processing Center of the system, allows for speeding the service of passengers, bringing greater order to accounting and financial reports connected with the commercial activity of large bus stations.

The sale of tickets for buses can be undertaken not only by the traditional method — through the ticket agent of a station, but also by remote agencies. In the near term outlook lie sales of transport through a so-called “electronic ticket”, that is through use of paperless technology.

Another property of the system meets the needs of the times — the possibility for selling tickets listing last names and passports. This becomes especially important within the framework of solving the unitary problem of increasing transport security.

The system’s data base contains differentiated technological information including data on:

• routes and schedules of routes with up to 32 intermediate stops;
• passenger and baggage fares, discounts and fees, and also about automated rules for their application. Moreover these data can depend on season, day of week and have differing prices on differing routes;
• types of busses with a description of the seat configuration in their cabins, load norms, including the possibility for selling “standing places”;
• norms for sale of seats from the station of departure and from intermediate stations for different routes which take into account reservation of seats for the driver and the reservation of the stationmaster, as well as a reserve of seats for “ongoing” sales;
• regarding agencies, terminals, and operators (ticketing agents, reservation agents, et al.), working in the system along with their functional authority levels;
• about bus companies and their drivers.

The system provides users with the following opportunities:

• differing procedures for ticket sales (on-going and advance, at the ticket windows of the bus station and in transport agencies, by a designated recurring reservation, with a special seat block, et al.);
• supervisory support of the entire cycle of work with a trip: from opening the trip for sale to transfer of the load data to the driver;
• the preparation of data for the accounts department concerning the sales of ticketing agents and for settlement of accounts with bus companies which are served by the automated network of bus stations (summary of statistical reports, summary of distribution of revenue by sales points, et al.);
• receipt of archive information about all operations performed by system operators, both from ticket sales terminals, and from control terminals;
• users of the system can be any number of bus stations and bus companies. Moreover each of the users can independently manage information belonging to them and receive summary reports from the system.

The system offers a new level of possibilities in the sphere of inter-city bus transport — the sale of tickets outside of the departure station. Next up is the application of the technology of “electronic ticket” sales by remote agencies thanks to the presence in the “Bus Station-2” system of paperless transport reporting.