Wabtec now offers an artificial intelligence system that prevents bus passengers from getting hit by a closing rear door while entering or exiting the vehicle. One video camera, centrally mounted above the door, can detect passenger movement within a few feet inside and outside of the bus. AI decides when to leave the door open based on what it sees, which can improve passenger safety.
Typically, bus doors are controlled by the driver, who may not have a clear view of the rear door, said Justin Millikan, North American sales manager for Wabtec Bus Solutions. On most buses, if a passenger attempts to get on or off as the doors are closing, most doors will retract upon contact. But Wabtec’s VaporVision AI system is different.
“The way this system works, the doors are open, and as long as there is a passenger flow that goes through there, it keeps the doors open for that period of time,” Millikan said. “And then after a programmed delay, it will close the doors.” That avoids passengers coming into contact with the doors.
The AI-powered door also helps keep buses on schedule by understanding when the boarding area is clear, said Jim Stewart, central regional sales manager for Wabtec Bus Solutions. Sometimes a driver will leave the door open longer than necessary. “If you have a door open for a few seconds extra at every single stop, by the time you get to the end of the route, you could be a few minutes late.”
Bus rapid transit systems generally allow both front- and rear-door boarding. That’s why Via Metropolitan Transit in San Antonio, Texas, chose Wabtec’s VaporVision system for its first bus rapid transit line, Stewart said. York Region Transit in Ontario, Canada, is another customer, and Wabtec is testing the system with four other undisclosed transit agencies in North America.
Millikan said the company expects to deploy another 20 test units over the next six months. He said most agencies want to try the new technology first before upgrading from earlier systems or investing in it.
“The future for this system is really almost limitless,” he said. “As we continue to train and the system learns and gets smarter, there's a lot of opportunity to improve the safety of transit.”
Pittsburgh-based Wabtec is a supplier to the freight rail, transit rail and transit bus industries.
