Real Time Bus Arrival Predictions and Alerts Services

The Vendor is required to provide real time bus arrival predictions and alerts services for include:
- Technical requirements
• The service shall accept general transit feed specification (GTFS); the proposed solution should shall consume big blue bus (BBB’s) data feed automatically and daily if changes have occurred.
• Real-time data shall be made available in GTFS-real-time (GTFS-RT) format (synced with the BBB’s GTFS data).
• The system shall be capable of ingesting static bus route and stop arrival schedule data in order to generate customer-friendly route maps and to inform the public in the event that location data is not available, e.g., during an outage or when service has been disrupted.
• Real-time data shall also be available in a human readable format such as well as other formats like xml, txt, GEOJSON, KML, and zip.
• Solution shall include publicly accessible API(s) that allows third party web and mobile application developers to use the real-time transit data and ensures consistency of predictions across multiple platforms, regardless of the app used.
• System shall function in any standard web browser, using any third party smartphone application (app) that helps customers plan their transit trips (e.g., transit, google, and others), via SMS, and through interactive voice response (IVR).
• Display maps of “live” bus locations of all buses that can be viewed online by customers who visit BBB’s website and the proposer’s website
• The map views should include standard map display features (zoom in/out, panning, etc.).
• The system shall display route schedule and bus stop location that can be viewed online by customers who visit BBB’s website and the proposer’s website
• Customers shall be able to access real-time transit information via SMS and IVR.
• Predictions shall be available via API to BBB’s network of real-time arrival information signs at bus stops and shelters.
- Website support for BBB customers
• Provide and host a responsive mobile-friendly website that is compatible with all major operating systems and web browsers for customers to use to obtain real-time bus arrival, schedule adherence, and trip planning information.
• The website shall include clear instructions for users on how to use the app and navigate the site, as well as answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).
• The website shall also allow customers to access (BBB’s and the proposer’s, as specified in the contract) customer support via email, phone, live chat, or other means of communication.
• The website must comply with applicable Americans with disability act (ADA) as well as sections 504 and 508 of the rehabilitation act of 1973.
- Solution for customer information alert system
• The solution shall seamlessly integrate with other BBB systems such as the CAD/AVL or other systems to automatically generate alerts using the GTFS-alert specification in the event of service disruptions such as detours, cancelled service, bus stop closures, construction or event impacts, or ad-hoc bus trips along a specified route.
• The solution shall automatically or with minimal intervention publish a variety of service alerts via email and SMS to those who have opted in, as well as social media, RSS, and APIs directly to third-party applications without the disruption details being entered more than once by staff.
- Customer service support of system
• Provide a dedicated account manager and ongoing technical and administrative support for BBB.
• Other ongoing support to include live chats with customer service representatives when the designated representative is unavailable by telephone and other communication channels such as email.
• Solution shall include system health monitoring with automatic distribution of SMS and email notifications to a select group of BBB staff during system outages more than 30 minutes in length to enable BBB to provide proactive customer notifications.