Updated Internal Bus system?

[DeliveryNrse]

I read on the DIS that WDW was updating the internal bus system in April so that it would be more efficient and were also adding music. Does anyone know if that came to pass? How has it been working? Is there an improvement in efficiency?

DeliveryNrse

 

[bradk]

well, I didn't notice anything bad per se.

about half the buses I rode on this past trip had been upgraded. the bus going to DAK/BB played African/Asian music. Going back to POP was pop music. Going to MK was disney music.

the only thing that sorta irked me was that music appears to be a set list. so you'll hear the same music over each time.

 

[seashoreCM]

Someone mentioned, on these boards, June as the start date for a group of improvements to the internal bus system (Disney Transport). Music and announcements ("por favor mantengase se alejado de las puertas" etc.) were mentioned.

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

>>> the only thing that sorta irked...

Around the holiday season it gets kinda monotonous to hear "Sleigh Ride" every hour while in the parks.

 

[bradk]

June might be the end date. it started in April. as I mentioned, half the buses I rode in May already had the modifications.

 

[cranbiz]

It's being turned on hub by hub. All of the buses that are not going to be retired have the system installed. I'm thinking that MK will be partially on line by this weekend.

This is a computerized dispatch system with vehicle locators and computerized maintenance monitoring. Safety spiels, park and resort info and background music (in english only) is triggered by GPS points. The hope is to ultimately enhance the guest experience with background music, park and resort information and lower wait times.

It's still in the first of three testing phases.

One of the things being addressed is the music rotation. Many of us drivers have been complaining about the fact that the sound track always starts at the beginning. There is 6 hours of music for each destination. I'm sure that the randomization can occur with a little tweaking.

Full implementation of the system, including the automated dispatches is tenetively set for Sept/Oct. However, It can be delayed is there are problems during testing.

 

[bradk]

i guess we're talking about the tracking/dispatch for MK as I rode a bus from POP to MK which played Disney music. it didn't play the spiel as we left the property, but it did once we arrived at MK. every other bus that had it played it when we left the resort property and when we got there.

 

[cranbiz]

If you rode from Mk this week, It may be partially working. Last weekend we were testing the codes but it was not live. Anything after Sunday night, I don't know about.

The CAD system won't be online for a while. It's scheduled for later this summer. Right now, It's just the spiels and music testing phase.

 

[bradk]

yeah, it was monday that i rode it.

I had the system on POP -> BB/DAK, Epcot -> POP, POP -> MK, MK -> POP

what upset me is on MK -> POP, the music started out the same as Epcot -> POP but I knew the MK ride was longer so I was hoping to hear more of it, but at some point the driver did something weird and it started announcing spiels for Pleasure Island and the music stopped. He was also messing with the volume a bit. He turned it up during the star wars disco song, then lowered it, then turned off the music and that's when it started making PI announcements. but it was always saying it was going to POP.

another thing I noticed, many of the marquees were blank until the bus settled into the spot. so you couldn't identify your bus as it came into the loading zone areas.

 

[cranbiz]

Yup, part of the system is that it now controls the marquee. If the bus doesn't hit within 50' of the GPS coordinates (right now) it is off route and blanks the marquee.

The driver does have some control over volume and spiels and where it's new, some drivers may play with it more than others. The resort and park music and spiels (and the marquee) can only be changed if the bus is travelling less than 2 mph. Manual spiels and volume can be adjusted on the fly.

 

[mexican-mouseketeers]

I know they were testing the system when we were there from april 28 until may 5th, but definetly there was a huge glitch in the system on may 5th when we waited almost 45 minutes for an Epcot bus at All Star Music. I arrived at the stop around 8:20 (with plenty of time to make it to park opening at 9) and the bus arrived around 9:05, there were some angry people in that line, especially since 5 Blizzard Beach buses came and went empty (same line as Epcot).

 

[bradk]

i believe what cranbiz is pointing out is that the GPS has not been used for tracking and distribution as of yet. i didn't really have any problems with buses this time around. of course, buses are rarely there when you want them to be.

 

[DeliveryNrse]

Thanks for the info! We were there in February and stayed at WL and GF and the bus system was efficient and uncrowded. We are staying at CSR June 4th-11th and have never stayed there or experienced the bus system in the summer, but I have read and heard of long waits for busses and standing room only situations. I was just hoping that with the upgrade more busses will be dispatched if there are a bunch of people are waiting to come or go to our resort
DeliveryNrse

 

[bradk]

my theory is deluxe level buses are rarely close to being full. most guests staying at that level may not be comfortable with the concept of a bus. when i stayed at AKL, i always got a seat with plenty more to spare. i've also taken the bus from DTD to CR and saw very few on it as well as took the BC bus to somewhere (probably DTD too) and same thing, even after visiting every area resort, very few people on it.

conversely, at POP, most often it's full and the mods often get full at night as well.

they have always done a decent job at keeping bus flow going, especially at park close. i understand (and feel free to correct me on this), that there has always been an issue with a small percentage of drivers occasionally taking unscheduled breaks on property to put it lightly, so the GPS should help quite a bit with that.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

From what I have read this new bus system sounds very intresting, so I hope that it's up and running with no problems when my family and I are there this coming August.

 

[seashoreCM]

There are still two boundary constraints:
1. Minimum level of service, maintaining a 20 minute headway, say at 1 PM.
2. Maximum level of service consisting of all the available buses and drivers, say at 9:30 PM.

Does this system have any general commercial value, say Disney could make money selling it to city transit operators? (Or did somebody else sell it to Disney?)

 

[Laurabearz]

Seems like a lot of fancy gadgets to play music and change the bus signage...

 

[Starr W.]

Seems like a lot of fancy gadgets to play music and change the bus signage...

We were down at VWL at the beginning of the month. Seems like the fancy gadgets don't change the signage properly. Learned to ask where the bus was going because they weren't changing automatically. About got on a bus that said "MGM" but was going to DTD.

Also the one morning we were planning on Epcot, we waited about 5 min. and here comes an Epcot bus . The rest of the crowd groans as this is the 4th bus to stop and they were all headed to Epcot.

So I don't think they have the bugs worked out yet, hopefully they do by Thanksgiving(though we stayed at SSR last year and the bus situation was great, never waited more than 15 min).

 

[bradk]

short of location oriented advertising which is an interesting concept in itself, i don't see a true practical application in the real world. especially with unions to deal with all over. i don't know the background, but i'd be surprised if it was just that easy for disney to start implementing it themselves. GPS systems are often seen as babysitters.

in fact, there's a big thing going on here right now with taxi drivers and a requirement to install GPS systems. a good part of it is that they need to pay for it themselves, but it's always mentioned in the same breath that they don't want big brother tracking them.

 

[cranbiz]

Actually, this system is a commercially available system that is in service in several major cities and was sold to WDW. The long range goals is to utilize the existing fleet better as well as to enhance the guest experience. When fully implemented, the dispatcher will be able to reroute an empty bus to a nearby stop that has guests.

The current system has buses assigned to a specific hub and the hubs do not communicate with each other. That is because now it's impractical to run your own hub and then try to manage others too. so, it POFQ has guests going to MK and there is an empty MGM bus that just finished the POR circle then that bus can be reassigned by the Ops Center to now pickup FQ for MK.

Because the bus will be tracked, the Ops Center will able to reroute around traffic problems (and monitor trip times )

It's more than a lot of fancy gadgets to play music and change signs. And like all complex systems, it needs time to work out the kinks. In the long run you, the guest will benefit from shorter waits, entertainment and information and more buses available due to automatic maintenance monitoring.

 

[ParrotBill]

First of all, thanks to cranbiz for reading and posting here and giving us all the behind the scenes detail on a fun new thing like this. We really appreciate the castmembers who participate and make us all insiders!

Second,
I would gladly pay more on my resort stay if this system will send a bus to a stop that has not seen a bus in 30 minutes. woohoo! That once in a while breakdown in transportation really leave you steaming... it's one of the things that can really irk you!