Detroit Mass Transit Takes a SMART Route to Safety
CASE Wireless Emergency Communications Comes to Even More Bus Shelters
What They Needed:
As downtown metropolitan areas and the surrounding suburbs become more populated, public transportation becomes a greater necessity for easing traffic and simplifying commuting for thousands of people. However, for people to utilize mass transit, riders must feel safe and secure – not only when onboard public transportation vehicles, but also when waiting or arriving at stops along the service route. Near Detroit, the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) wanted to make sure emergency response could be contacted from bus shelters… and CASE Blue Light Towers and CASE e-Phones were the right solution.
How CASE Responded:
In June of 2017, Detroit SMART initially asked which CASE product was best suited for bus shelter installation. Our team was happy to share the simple no-trenching, completely wireless capabilities of CASE Blue Light Towers and e-Phones. The ability to rely on a solar, cellular unit, was an attractive benefit – especially considering it offered connectivity for even the most remote bus stops along the route… ones that may have been difficult or cost-prohibitive to connect through hardwiring.
By mid-July, SMART had ordered an initial unit to test under real-life conditions, including ease of installation and day-to-day functionality.
Since the initial test unit was ordered – SMART now (at the time of writing) operates 23 units to serve existing stops and shelters. What’s more, SMART continues to grow their CASE Emergency network as new shelters are built and added around the metro-Detroit area it serves, totaling close to 100 units.
CASE Blue Light Towers and CASE e-Phones offer simple one-button activation of voice connectivity to the local police and emergency dispatch center. The operator can then assess the need and deploy the necessary first responders to the scene.
Units remain active even when power is out – a major advantage during Detroit winter storms.
Cellular units onboard the latest CASE equipment models come 4G ready and will be ahead of the 3G sunset already underway by many cellular carriers.
An optional feature of Blue Light Towers and e-Phones from CASE is public address broadcast – which allows for announcements to be made to the entire network or a portion of the network in case of transportation interruptions.