Effectively managing transport operations can be uniquely difficult, with operators facing a wide range of safety and organisational challenges related to the complex nature of transit.
Alongside safely navigating other vehicles, operators must be prepared to handle customer disputes, unruly behaviour and medical emergencies, with safety incidents often requiring clear and efficient communication with external personnel to enact an appropriate response.
As in many other industries, professionals in the transport industry are increasingly turning towards modern technologies to help optimise and refine incident responses. In this post, we explore how transit operators are using smart solutions to modernise incident management.
The Challenges of Incident Management in Transportation
Safety incidents can occur at any moment, often with little or no warning, during normal operations in the transport industry, meaning it’s difficult to prepare operators to face all kinds of situations. Major challenges faced by transport operators during incidents include:
- Operational Delays: A single incident can negatively impact operations across entire services and transport networks, causing widespread confusion and delays.
- Communication Gaps: Many operators only have access to legacy communications systems that can be prone to service disruptions and limited in practical functionality.
- Critical Safety Risks: Vehicles, heavy equipment and physical infrastructure can pose significant hazards to bystanders while waiting for incidents to be addressed.
- Siloed Technologies: Key insights can be easily overlooked during emergencies when security, reporting and communication systems are built to work independently.
How Transport Operators are Modernising Incident Responses
To help transport operators better-address critical incidents and safeguard the public during emergency situations, many organisations are leveraging innovative technologies designed to improve incident responses and ensure all stakeholders are informed of emerging events.
Intelligent Infrastructure and Analytics
Smart security and physical infrastructure connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) enable on and off-scene personnel to better-identify potential threats and respond to emergencies.
IoT sensors and cameras installed at intersections, along road and rail networks and inside vehicles can detect risks like broken-down vehicles, pedestrians entering hazardous areas and physical altercations, then send real-time, data-rich alerts to operators and authorities.
Live and historic data may also be analysed using AI-powered software to identify patterns and trends that operators may have overlooked. These insights can be used to help predict novel incidents and inform appropriate responses to more effectively address future hazards.
Crisis Management Software
Crisis management software enables operators to optimise incident responses by capturing and displaying all information relevant to safety incidents within a single, accessible platform.
On-scene operators can update wider personnel in real-time about emerging incidents and engage in crisis communications via multiple in-platform messaging channels, with live data displayed across custom dashboards to ensure all stakeholders have up-to-date information.
In addition to helping transport operators address events in the moment, crisis management software also helps to streamline post-incident reviews. Users can review insights related to specific incidents and wider emerging trends to inform long-term operational improvements.
Mobile Reporting and Communication Tools
Networked communications devices and specialised smartphone apps are helping transport operators overcome longstanding incident reporting challenges related to legacy equipment.
Cyber-secure, internet-connected devices enable operators to communicate insights to first responders swiftly and consistently, even in environments with poor mobile service, as well as access wider tools like crisis management portals to help improve situational awareness.
As these mobile tools can be used to reliably access a wide range of secure, cloud-based applications, they can help to eliminate technology silos. Personnel across all aspects of the organisation can receive the same insights at the same time to enact synergistic responses.
Summary
Effectively managing safety incidents can be uniquely challenging in the transport industry, with unpredictable risks, complex logistics and legacy technologies introducing inefficiencies that prevent transport operators from reliably communicating insights to off-scene personnel.
To help operators overcome these issues, many organisations are adopting smart hardware and software solutions designed to improve situational awareness and streamline responses. Guided by IoT-enabled infrastructure, AI-driven analytics, smart crisis management software and networked mobile devices, transport operators are modernising incident management.
