Montreal Commuters and Dispatchers Get Bus Info Via RFID

In addition to mounting Motorola EPC Gen 2 readers on lampposts near the station entrances, the agency is also installing interrogators along the bus docks. The readers are installed inside existing utility boxes, at the center of each dock (buses approach either side of a dock), and up to four antennas are wired from the reader (two on each side), so they are positioned closer to where each bus approaches its dock.

The agency is using Motorola's EPC Gen 2-compliant UHF passive weatherproof Cargo tags, mounted on a right-side window of each of the 400 buses serving the two transit terminals. The tags are positioned such that as a bus stops at the dock, its tag is close to the reader antenna. The antennas mounted at the station entrances have a 15-foot read range, similar to the range of the dock-mounted antennas. However, Malboeuf says, the power levels and orientation of the dock antennas needed to be optimized so they read only the area directly in front of them, and not the IDs of tags on buses at adjacent docks.

The tags are adhered to the windows with double-sided 3M tape, certified as being able to withstand high-power bus wash cycles and temperatures ranging from -40 to +40 degrees Celsius, as well as with ice and high moisture and humidity.

The interrogators mounted along the dock were easily added to the local area network at each station via Ethernet cables. To collect tag data from those mounted at the station entrances, however, Eminencia installed Motorola Wi-Fi access points on the building's exterior, as close to the entrances as possible, then installed Wi-Fi signal extenders at each location, so that the readers could transmit their data, via integrated Wi-Fi radios, to the servers over a wireless link, Malboeuf says.

In the future, he notes, the transport agency hopes to extend its RFID infrastructure by adding Motorola readers (along with Internet connectivity) to utility posts throughout the streets the buses service, so it can monitor their location en route. It also intends to work with the city's transportation department so the readers will trigger changes in the traffic lights to favor the movement of buses through intersections.