Destination Shuttle Services’ (DSS) LAX shuttle buses transport more than 2.5 million people annually to and from the airport and surrounding hotels, according to a press release from Omnivex Corp. Omnivex, a provider of enterprise software for digital signage networks, deployed its Moxie software and Microsoft Windows 7 location-based services to send GPS coordinates via a cellular network to the server in real time, indicating the buses’ real-time locations.
“The hotel industry as a whole is known for its hospitality. Our goal is to extend that hospitality to the curb at the airport,” said Brian Clark, managing partner of Shuttle Smart, in the release. “Omnivex allows us to know exactly where each bus is in real time, so our dispatchers know where each bus is and our clients know when the next bus will arrive.”
Ten years ago, Los Angeles was looking for a “trip reduction solution” for people traveling to and from LAX that would reduce traffic congestion and vehicle emissions, while being convenient for passengers. It put out a request for bid, and the DSS was awarded the contract.
The DSS has since created a “green” transit system that consolidates the airport shuttle services of 13 individual hotel properties in the LAX area. Consolidating these services has reduced 55 percent of hotel shuttle trips through LAX, and eliminated more than 100,000 hours of idling buses each year and more than 6.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide annually, according to the release.
The shuttle service also wanted to communicate better with its passengers, “welcoming them to town when they arrived and thanking them for their visit when they departed,” the release said.
The screens inside the shuttles display information the company has deemed appropriate for travelers, and information changes based on whether the shuttle is going to or coming from the airport. The display will also feature ads, Omnivex spokeswoman Elizabeth Cartan said.
Additonally a large touchscreen running Omnivex software will deliver content and information inside hotels to guests. Omnivex GPSLink — which uses location information to determine the most appropriate content to display on the buses based on current location — will deliver information to Omnivex Moxie to show the locations of shuttles in the area on a map and estimated wait times. Also included in the content is flight departure status and advertising about local businesses, sites and attractions.
“We wanted to give our customers an effective tool to set up routes, identify points of interest and manage their fleet with ease,” Omnivex President Jeff Collard said in the release.
Photo by kla4067 Creative Commons 2.0 Generic
