Grand River Transit

[ijmorlan]

I believe the signs at the LRT stations are off-the-shelf INIT models, just like GRT uses for their bus stops. The last time I looked at the INIT specs (admittedly several years ago) the sign model used for the LRT stations didn't have a wired version, it was made with an integrated cell modem. I actually believe the cell service was provided through INIT as a part of a service contract.

So although there is definitely wiring to every station, if you're using an INIT real-time schedule system, you're going to be constrained by what models of display they offer (unless you want to spend a lot of money on a custom solution). I'm not surprised the premium for something wired and custom exceeds the costs of some cell data.

Thanks for this information. I agree sticking with something commercially available is, unfortunately, usually the best way to go. No organization can be a research and development organization for every one of their inputs.

I’m disappointed if wired Ethernet isn’t an option. I wonder if they could even be POE (Power Over Ethernet), based on the power requirements? One can imagine making a choice at purchase time whether or not to have the cell modem incorporated into the case or instead to just make the ethernet port available. It seems like poor modularization if this isn’t an option.

And providing the cell service as part of the display contract is clearly poor design. Display manufacturers should stick to manufacturing displays. Yes, I know everybody wants to provide integrated solutions, but it’s just not good design for customers to be unable to build their own system out of well-defined modules that each do one simple thing.