Photo: Johan Höglund
The ferry company Färjerederiet is part of the Swedish Transport Administration and operates 40 ferry routes across the country with approximately 70 ferries. Precise and reliable traffic information is an essential part of the service to reduce stress for passengers and make it easier to plan their journey. The information is provided through various channels, including digital signs for all ferry routes informing about upcoming departures and potential disruptions. Infracontrol has recently been assigned the continued delivery of the information system used to manage these signs. The system consists of local control computers at each ferry berth, controlled and monitored by Infracontrol Online.
Erik Arnalid, business manager for ITS solutions at Infracontrol, is happy to have won the procurement:
– We are pleased to receive continued trust from the ferry company to deliver this important system. We put the current system into operation back in 2012, which has worked consistently and fulfilled an important function. The new system is based on the existing one, but new hardware and added functions make it an even more future-proof, easy-to-use and reliable system.
A new overall solution for traffic information
The ferry company’s road ferries operate throughout Sweden, ranging from seas, rivers, fjords and lakes in sparsely populated areas to metropolitan areas. Annually, one million port entries are made with 69 ferries operating on 40 routes, including 12 million vehicle transports and 22 mil´. passenger journeys.
Traffic information is a vital part of the service provided to road users through the app Trafikinfo Färjerederiet and digital information signs on all ferry routes.
– Clearly communicating departure times and information about disruptions in real-time reduces stress and simplifies planning a trip, states Erik Arnalid.
Recently, a procurement was carried out for an overall solution of managing and distributing traffic information as well as calling for ferries. The procurement included several parts: A new database, an app for passengers, an app for the ferry personnel, a voicemail service and a system for controlling traffic information signs on ferry routes that Infracontrol has now been entrusted with delivering.
– Today, the signs are controlled by a solution that we delivered in 2012, says Johan Höglund, CEO of Infracontrol. The system now operates 80 signs on 40 ferry routes as more signs have been connected. We look forward to continuing the good cooperation with the Swedish ferry company for the next eight years.
Secure functions
The system collects information about departure times from the ferry company’s database and distributes it to local control computers on the ferry routes, which display the information on the signs. In addition, the system contains functions so that ferry personnel can enter disturbance information in the event of e.g. severe weather, technical problems or ambulance transports.
The demands on this type of information system are high regarding the quality of information and its operational reliability.
– The solution is based on Infracontrol Online, which means that the ferry company gets a very reliable and secure system, says Per Andersson, product manager at Infracontrol. An essential part of the service is effective operation monitoring and handling technical alarms to detect any errors automatically and send them to the right person to rectify them quickly.
Disturbance information directly from the ferry
The ferry personnel can access web-based user functions and easily post urgent or scheduled messages.
– It is a great advantage that the personnel on the ferry can provide information if there are problems with the ferry or if passengers have to wait for an urgent ambulance transport, says Erik Arnalid.
The app Trafikinformation Färjerederiet is part of the overall solution recently procured by the Swedish ferry company and delivered by Rely IT in Norrtälje. The app makes it easy to plan your trip and get real-time traffic information. In the app, you can choose your favourite routes, find timetables for all ferry routes, see the upcoming departure times, receive notifications of disturbances in real-time and find current information and facts about the ferry routes.
