Biz Briefs: The Routing Company, HDR, and More

The Routing Company, HDR, Moxa, Vicinity Motor Corp., and Allison Transmission recently announced news from their respective companies.

TRC’s New Partnership with ODOT

The Routing Company (TRC) announced it has received a five-year contract from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). 

TRC was chosen from over a dozen different vendors to provide new scheduling and dispatch software across the state of Ohio from Oct. 1.

Under the contract, TRC, in partnership with Optibus, will deliver the entire range of mobility software services included in its full suite of on-demand Pingo features. 

TRC’s Pingo platform includes the Drive Pingo and Ride Pingo apps and the Pingo Dashboard operations management tool, which together provide on-demand, paratransit, fixed, and flexible transit that enhances ridership of existing transport networks. Pingo has moved over 500,000 passengers to date. 

HDR Establishes Economic Methods

HDR Principal Economist Chris Behr completed a multi-year research initiative to determine how economic analysis can contribute to equity assessments of infrastructure projects, according to the company’s news release.

Funded through HDR’s Fellowship Program, the work culminated in an economic method, called Social Equity Value Analysis, which better accounts for the value of projects to disadvantaged communities and people with lower incomes. 

The SEVA method was reviewed and endorsed by an advisory panel of subject matter experts including academics and federal, state, and local agency economists and engineers.

“SEVA reveals a more complete measure of the value of projects in ways that BCA cannot, especially for people with lower incomes,” Behr said. “The results add important new perspectives on projects for infrastructure owners, and state and federal funding agencies, which aim to account for equity in implementation decisions.”

Moxa Enables Onboard Data Processing of Condition Monitoring 

In the railway industry, Condition-Based Monitoring (CBM) is a maintenance strategy that uses data from onboard sensors and other sources to monitor the real-time state of railway assets. 

CBM detects potential issues before they become major problems, allowing for more efficient maintenance and improved passenger safety. 

Despite the numerous challenges of setting up a system for continuing, real-time monitoring, Globiz, a South Korean IT consulting firm, saw an opportunity to make a difference in the railway business with CBM. 

The issue for Globiz was that while the concept behind CBM was valuable on a global scale, its actual application and standards were still in their infancy. 

Globiz successfully developed the first CBM system for South Korea's rail system (KORAIL).

As with any AI system, preprocessing the data gathered aboard the train is essential for CBM data analysis.

To achieve real-time analysis, Globiz found a partner in Moxa.

Moxa's V2406C Series industrial computer, compliant with global railway EN 50155 standards, performs as the local server to preprocess data collected from onboard sensors and other sources before sending it onto a web server. 

The onboard diagnostic system powered by Globiz's CBM utilizes Moxa's computer to enable edge computing. 

Vicinity, ADASTEC to Deploy Automated Transit Buses

Vicinity Motor Corp. announced that it has entered into an agreement to deploy an SAE level-4 vehicle, the Vicinity Autonomous Lightning Electric transit bus, at Michigan State University in conjunction with automated driving software platform provider ADASTEC Corporation.

Per the terms of the agreement, the vehicle deployment will take place at the MSU East Lansing Campus in the second quarter of 2024.

ADASTEC's journey at MSU began in August 2021 when the company initiated passenger services using SAE Level-4 automated driving software technology.

Allison, B-Metro Partner on Electric Hybrid Technology

Allison Transmission announced it will partner with B-Metro, the public transit system in Brownsville, Texas, to provide the Allison eGen Flex electric hybrid propulsion system for 35-foot GILLIG buses. 

The city recently received a $4.7 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) 2023 Low or No Emission Program. Brownsville named Allison’s eGen Flex electric hybrid technology in its application for the grant. 

The city is one of 125 communities across the U.S. to be awarded this funding for modernizing bus facilities and purchasing new vehicles that help reduce emissions.

“Receiving the FTA grant is a significant win for the city of Brownsville and our residents,” said Gennie Garcia, deputy director of Multimodal Transportation, City of Brownsville. “The new vehicles will be safer, more reliable, and better for the environment. We’re eager to update our fleet with fully electric-capable alternatives in order to achieve our goal of reducing carbon emissions.”

The eGen Flex system’s electric-only mode is activated through geofencing technology, which will enable the new buses to automatically switch into engine-off mode in pre-defined zero-emission zones including densely populated areas of the city. This technology will allow Brownsville to modernize its fleet and expand access to public transit.