DonutUK:
We were talking about “Traffilog” which isn’t a “ticket machine”.
It is a system whereby Nat Ex can monitor how (and where) you are driving, and it is tied into the digi tacho. Previously you had to enter a number, and then use a key fob, so the system knew who was driving. Now it just takes the data straight from the digi tacho apparently.
Hope this helps.
Ok. I shall say this in another way in the hope that you understand what I am attempting to communicate with you. I have this from FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE having worked for NATIONAL EXPRESS driving SERVICE BUSES. OK so far?
TraffiLog was brought in during the period when other companies were investing in the ‘drive green’ system. The way the system was setup was that EVERYTHING was tied in through the ticket machine.
- GSM Modem (Comminication)
- TraffiLog (Tracking)
- Trunking Radio System (200Mhz Trunked radio)
- Ticket Machine/Wayfarer
- CCTV tracking
- GPS Tracking
Everything was linked together. There are no working tachographs fitted to service buses and the driver work in ‘Domestic Hours’. Coach drivers are different.
Imagine it as a tree with the trunk being the ticket machine. The ‘root’ of the tree would communicate over GSM to the data receiving centre in London (for all NatEx/TWM vehicles) where it would be sent to the individual controlling centres. The information transmitted would include.
The buses in service have a running board or slate, and would have the number like 18-20. This would be bus 20 on the 18 service, but could run on lots of other services to fit in with the schedules. So one run it could be an 18 to City, then a 24 back out going a different way, then a 18a back to the city via an industrial estate/housing estate/trunk road etc to however the planners have set it up for keeping everything to schedule. The drivers need to know these routes and variations before they area allowed out on the run.
Each part of a route would have a fare stage, which could be active or not for that route, which the driver needs to know and need to be advanced or retarded on the ticket machine, to see possible trends in their behaviour on a route, problems with fare stages, where passengers without tickets or invalid tickets were getting on, if there was other fraud issues going on, it could all be recorded into the ticket machine and
With Traffilog they were able to see that certain buses did certain parts of routes faster to get an orange light or dawdled on other sections. They were able to see areas of harsh braking and acceleration to see where the problem spots where.
Still with me? So the info from the Traffilog would goto the ticket machine. Swipe cards, fares issued, money taken. All kept together. The bus company could identify patterns and use smart cards where possible, with the smart card reader.
The driver logs into a ticket machine with a 5 or 6 digit employee number, it has to be valid on the system to allow things to work, for the driver to issue tickets and for the staff in the office to see what driver is on what bus wherever. The driver can also log in with their ID swipe card but that is slow and often fails 
It is the same swipe pad that pensioners use, if they are ‘in area’.
Let me reiterate again that service buses DO NOT HAVE digital tachographs, and like I said I don’t know the system with N/X coaches but I could probably find out if I wanted to, but I don’t. As far as I know Traffilog was bought in in Birmingham first in one garage (Central) and then rolled out including the coaches. The only coaches I have seen do have a more compact ticket machine and a small module on the dash with the lights on, so I would think it is the same system.
Do you understand the system now? Is there anything that you are unclear about that I can bore you with more information about them? Perhaps you would like to reveal your source for this information, because it doesn’t sound like you’ve worked at N/E either on buses or coaches.
