User guide | Transit Ops

Getting started

For everyone · Signing in, who can do what, and finding your way around.

Transit Ops runs in a web browser. There's nothing to install on buses or computers. Your administrator gives each person their own sign-in.

Go to Operator sign-in.
Enter your email address and the access code your administrator gave you.
You land on the control room. Drivers land on the driver screen.
Use the menu along the top to move between tools. Sign out from the right-hand end of the menu.

Administrator: Everything a user can do, plus adding people, changing settings, timing points and on-time definitions, and agreeing the bus count.
User: Controllers and other staff: the control room and every analysis tool. Can't change settings.
Manager: The performance dashboard only: results at a glance, without the operational tools.
Driver: The driver screen only, on the driver device.

You only ever see your own operator's data. Every page opened and every change made is recorded in your operator's audit trail.

Performance dashboard

For managers · How the operator is performing, on one page.

Managers sign in straight to the dashboard and see only this page. Administrators and users find it under Dashboard in the menu.

The headline gives on time at stops for the last 7 or 28 days, the change on the period before, and your rank among SEQ bus operators.
Five measures: on time at stops, departed on time, arrived on time, trips run against the timetable, and cancellations, each with the change on the period before.
A chart of on time day by day, with the previous period as a dashed line. Show as a table gives the figures.
Routes needing attention (lowest on time, 20 or more trips) and the best routes.
Today so far, and safety and control room activity: incidents, stand-downs, open defects, help requests, actions, diversions, passengers counted and disruption claims.

Choose Last 7 days or Last 28 days, and Print for a copy. Yesterday is the latest full day. Your administrator adds managers in Users.

Control room

For controllers · Live exceptions, worst first, with a suggested fix for each.

The tiles across the top count what needs attention now: on time, not departed, late, early, layover risk, bunching, no position, cancelled and trips starting soon with no bus.

Work down the Exceptions list. The worst is at the top.
Open an exception to see the bus's next trip, the predicted arrival and a suggested fix.
Press Acknowledge so others know you're on it.
Choose Action taken to record what you did. One tap fills the shift log.
Add a Note for anything else, or press Map to see the bus.

Sound on plays a tone for new critical exceptions.
Wall mode is a large-print view for a screen on the wall.
Daily summary opens yesterday's results.
Drivers opens the driver panel: help requests, sign-on checks waiting for a supervisor, and messages.

To message a driver, open Drivers, choose the driver and type or pick a quick message. The driver must acknowledge it, and you see when they do.

When a driver asks for help, an alert appears with a sound. Choose Calling them now, Reply by message or Resolved.

In Drivers, the light beside each driver shows whether their device is reporting: Live, Weak signal (nothing for 25 seconds) or No update for a number of minutes. The Drivers button counts devices not reporting. A driver drops off the list after 15 minutes without contact or when their trip ends.

Diversions

For controllers · Diverting a route around a crash, closure or event, and getting every driver to acknowledge it.

Open Diversions and choose the route. Pick both directions, or just one.
Click the route where buses leave it.
Click the streets buses should take. The path follows the roads.
Click the route where buses rejoin it. Drag any point to change the path.
Check the stops not served. Untick any that buses can still serve.
Set when it starts and ends (1 h, 2 h, 4 h, 8 h or the end of today), choose the reason and add a note.
Press Send to drivers, or Schedule diversion if it starts later.

Every driver on the route gets the diversion on their screen, read aloud, and must acknowledge it (by voice while moving). Their turn-by-turn directions follow the diversion and skip the stops not served. Drivers who start the route later get it when they connect.

The list shows who has acknowledged and who hasn't. Extend 1 hour or End now; drivers are told when it ends. Every diversion is in the shift log and the audit trail.

Closed stops: when a diversion means buses can't serve a stop, a notice for each closed stop is made straight away in your brand: what's closed and when, the routes, why, where to catch the bus instead with the walking time, a map and a QR code to live departures. Your email recipients get a link. Open Closed stop notices on the diversion, check the wording (click any outlined text to change it), choose the design and paper size, and print, or save as PDF. A passenger alert to copy for your website and social media is on the same page.

Set your logo, brand colour, phone, website and design once in Settings (administrators).
Create the diversion as usual.
Press Closed stop notices on the diversion, then Print.
Put a notice up at each closed stop, and take them down when the diversion ends.

Breakdowns, crashes and incidents

For drivers, controllers, managers · Step-by-step reporting on the driver screen, and the written incident report.

On the driver screen, press Need help, then Report a breakdown, crash or incident. Stop the bus somewhere safe first. The screen takes the driver through it one step at a time:

What's happened: crash, breakdown, passenger hurt or unwell, assault or threat, fire or smoke, or something else.
Safety first: is anyone hurt, is there danger? If so, a Call 000 button. Control is alerted as soon as these are answered.
Make it safe: hazard lights, triangles, engine off and evacuating for fire, first aid.
Passengers: how many on board (from the counts), whether it's a school service, and telling passengers what's being arranged.
For a crash: exchange details with the other driver, witnesses, and whether anyone refused. The screen says when police must be told within 24 hours.
Photos and a few words on what happened.
The bus: can it continue, or does it need a replacement or a tow.

In the control room the report appears as an alert with a sound, updated as the driver goes. Reply by message, call the driver, or mark it resolved.

Open Incidents for the full report: what the law and your incident management plan now require (police within 24 hours, WHSQ for a serious injury, telling the school), the photos, and the written incident report to complete within 24 hours. Print it and keep it for audit.

Driver screen

For drivers · Sign on, the guided trip, passenger counts, voice commands and end of shift.

Open Transit Ops on the driver device and sign in with your own details. The device should be fixed in a cradle where you can see it without holding it.

Answer the fitness and vehicle check. A yes to drugs or alcohol means stop work and report to a supervisor.
Enter your bus number and speedometer reading, and report any defects with photos.
If a supervisor needs to clear you, wait. The screen moves on by itself once they do.
Choose your trip from the list, or type the route.
Follow the screen: on time or late, the next stop, turn-by-turn directions and any hold.

At each stop, tap + for every passenger on and every passenger off.
Running late? Tap Late and choose a reason.
Need help? Press Need help (not for emergencies: call 000).
Messages from control must be acknowledged.

Above 8 km/h the screen locks and can't be tapped. It unlocks 3 seconds after you stop.

The light at the top shows the link to control: green Live, amber Weak, red No link. When it's red, a banner says so and it's read aloud: messages and help requests can't get through until it reconnects, so use the radio if you need control.

Mic on: Turn the microphone on once at the start.
Transit, acknowledge: Acknowledge a message, even while moving.
Transit, repeat: Hear the last instruction again.
Transit, need help: Ask control for help.
Transit, three on, one off: Passenger count, once stopped.
Transit, late, heavy traffic: Late reason, once stopped.

At the end of your shift, report defects, enter the closing speedo and tell us how the shift went. Tick Practice on the trip list to try the screen without a bus.

Live map

For everyone · Every vehicle, coloured by punctuality, with departures and alerts.

Search for a stop, route or vehicle with the search box.
Colours: purple early, green on time, orange 5 to 10 minutes late, red more than 10 minutes late, grey no data.
Select a stop for its next departures; star it to keep it under Saved.
Alerts lists TransLink's current service notices.

Performance

For managers, planners · On-time results by operator, route, hour and day.

Choose the period: today, yesterday, 7 or 30 days, or your own dates.
Choose your operator, then a route to see it in detail.
Use CSV to download the route table, or Print / PDF for a report.

On time: No more than 1 minute early or 5 minutes late at every observed stop, or your own definition from Settings.
Departs on time: On time leaving the first stop.
Arrives on time: On time at the last stop.
Mid-point on time: On time at the timing stops your administrator has turned on.
P90 arrival delay: Nine in ten trips arrive within this.
Tracked: Trips seen in the real-time feed against trips in the timetable.

On a single route, Timing points shows departure, each mid-point stop and arrival in order, so you can see which section loses time. Results are indicative, not TransLink's official contract figures.

Timing points

For administrators · Choosing mid-point stops to measure along a route.

Every trip is measured at its first and last stop automatically. Mid-points add stops part-way along.

Open Settings and go to Timing points.
Choose a route. Every stop is listed for both directions.
Tick Measure as mid-point next to each stop you want.
Results appear in Performance from that day on.

Pick stops where the timetable has a timing point, or where you suspect time is lost. Untick a stop to stop measuring it. Every change is in the audit trail.

Interventions

For operations managers · Whether each control room action worked.

Each action recorded in the control room is checked afterwards: did the bus recover time, did its next trip leave on time, did the gap close. Use it to see which fixes work on which routes.

Driver behaviour

For operations managers · How trips were run, bus by bus and driver by driver.

Driver behaviour looks for patterns that point to the driver rather than traffic or the timetable. Each finding is evidence to check against the roster and talk through, not a verdict.

Early in, late out: Arrived at the end of a trip early, then left late on the bus's next trip from the same place. The extra time taken at the terminus is shown.
Ran early: 3 minutes or more early before the end of the trip, at two or more stops.
Didn't reach the end: Last seen two or more stops before the end. Checked against GPS so a gap in the feed isn't blamed on the driver.
No passenger counts: A driver-screen trip with no passengers counted.
Message not acknowledged: A control-room message not acknowledged within 5 minutes.

Choose the period.
Select a bus or driver in the tables to see only their findings.
Check the Control room column: an action recorded on the trip may explain it.
Press Download CSV to keep a record.

Most operators' drivers aren't on the driver screen yet, so findings are shown by bus: match the bus and time to your roster to find the driver. Trips you've excluded are left out.

Exclusions

For operations managers · Taking trips delayed by things outside your control out of your results.

Find the trip and choose the cause: crash, road closure, police activity and so on.
Explain what happened and attach photos or notices.
The trip leaves your own results straight away, and the network ranking once Transit Ops approves it.

Insights

For managers, planners · Problems that keep coming back, ranked.

Insights ranks recurring late trips, early running, weak times of day, repeat cancellations, hold-up locations and buses that stand out. Each comes with a suggested action and links to the evidence.

Running times, bunching, speed and stops

For planners and schedulers · The analysis that fixes the timetable.

Running times: Timetabled against actual time by section and time of day, with suggested times and a CSV for your scheduling system.
Bunching: Buses arriving together and the long gaps behind them, by stop and hour.
Speed map: Average speed on every 200 m of road, before and after a change.
Stops: Dwell and on-time results stop by stop.
Efficiency: Time moving, crawling, held and at stops, and distance run.

Workings and playback

For controllers, managers · Which trips each bus ran, and a replay of any day.

Workings shows each bus's trips in order and traces a late start to the trip before.
Playback replays any bus on any day. Choose the date and bus, then press play or drag the timeline.

Data quality and prediction accuracy

For managers · How complete the data was, and how close the predictions came.

Missing from the feed: Timetabled trips that never appeared in TransLink's real-time feed.
No stop timings: Trips in the feed with no stop times.
GPS coverage: Share of each trip covered by bus positions. Patchy is below half.
Departure or arrival not captured: Trips with timings but none at the first or last stop.
Feed and collection: Minutes sampled each day, failed samples and the longest gap.

Choose the period and, if you like, a route.
Use the problem list filters to find one kind of problem.
Press Download CSV and send the file to TransLink as evidence.

Prediction accuracy compares arrival predictions made 8 to 12 minutes ahead, ours and TransLink's, with the time the bus passed the stop. A negative bias means predictions ran early.

GTFS accuracy: stops and route lines

For managers, planners · Stop pins and route lines checked against where buses really stop and run.

Passengers' journey planners, TransLink's arrival times and our own results all rely on the timetable data (GTFS). Transit Ops compares it with where your buses actually go, and lists what looks wrong. It's at the bottom of Data quality.

Wrong side of the road: Buses stop well to the left of the stop pin, so the pin is across the road.
Not where buses stop: Buses stop 30 m or more along the road from the pin (60 m at stations), or the pin sits well back from the road.
Away from the route: The pin is 40 m or more from the route line.
Buses run a different way: Most trips run more than 50 m from the route line for a stretch. If only some trips do, it's shown as a variant or a regular diversion.
No buses on this part of the line: 600 m or more of the route line no bus has been near, on a route with 40 or more trips.

Open Data quality and scroll to GTFS accuracy.
Check each finding with Pin in Google Maps and Where buses stop, or in Street View.
Press Download CSV and send the list to TransLink with the suggested positions.

The check uses at least the last 7 days and needs 8 trips stopping at a stop before it judges it. It works for operators with stop-by-stop recording.

Settings

For administrators · On-time definitions, timing points, plan, bus count and emails.

Closed stop notices: Your logo, colours, contact details, design (colour banner, bold colour or clean) and paper size (A4 or A3) for the notices printed when a diversion closes stops.
On-time definitions: When a bus counts as early, late or very late, and when the control room raises alerts. Back to TransLink standard resets them.
Timing points: Mid-point stops to measure. See Timing points.
Plan and price: Your plan and what it costs. Email us to change it.
Peak buses: The bus count you're billed on. Agree it, or propose a different number with a reason. Request a review at any time.
Recipients: Who gets the 5:30am summary and live alerts. Send test checks an address.

Users and audit trail

For administrators · Adding people, roles and access codes.

Open Users from the menu.
Add a person with their name, email and role: administrator, user or driver.
Give them the access code shown. It's shown once.
Reset a code, change a role or disable someone at any time. The audit trail shows sign-ins, actions and changes.

Troubleshooting

For everyone · Common questions and what to do.

Feed error, retrying: TransLink's feed didn't answer. The page retries by itself; results catch up within a minute or two.
A bus isn't on the map: It isn't logged on to TransLink's system, or isn't sending positions. Check Data quality for that trip.
The driver screen won't respond: The bus is moving. Stop, and it unlocks after 3 seconds. Voice commands still work.
Emails aren't arriving: Check Settings for the email service notice and the email log, and send a test.
Our numbers differ from TransLink's: Ours are measured independently from the real-time feed and are indicative, not the contract figures.
Your access has changed: Your role or access code was changed. Sign in again or ask your administrator.

Getting support

For everyone · How to reach us.

Email dunncr@me.com with your operator, what you were doing and a screenshot if you can. We reply on business days. For anything to do with safety on the road, follow your operator's procedures first.

Can't find the answer? Email dunncr@me.com.