Company did not warn passengers.
One week after Carris guaranteed the full operation of your application (after months of unavailability), it is back on down below for users and should remain so for "at least three weeks". This time, Carris passengers will not be able to resort to alternatives as the SMS service or even the panels at the bus stops because these will also be no information on waiting times.
According to a response from Carris to a passenger, surprised by the unavailability of real-time bus and streetcar timetables, the municipal company is doing a migration of "features for real-time service monitoring and management, line certification and supply accounting" for a new platform, a XTraN Passenger from the Portuguese technology company Tecmic.
XTraN Passager is a Passenger Information and Operating Support System (SAEIP), which can monitor the location of the fleet in real time, determine the estimated time of arrival of the next buses at stops, display up-to-the-minute waiting time information on panels, apps, SMS, etc., and produce automatic service reports. The platform can also be used for on-board video surveillance and driving control, for communication between an operations center and each vehicle, and for automatic design of schedules and maps at stops.
The migration process began on October 11, according to Carris. The company says this technological migration is an "necessary maneuver" and estimates that the process will last "at least three weeks". The operator also mentions that, despite this technological transition, the time estimator (which feeds the panels, the application, and the SMS/e-mail service) will not be migrated, since it is already inside the XTraN platform - however, it will be affected during the process.
Between 2019 and 2020, Carris has invested about 3.4 million euros in hiring the XTraN system from Tecmic, according to the Base portal. The purchase included, among other things, the acquisition of new on-board computers for Carris' fleet.
Lisboa Para Pessoas received, in the last days, several complaints of new unavailability of the Carris app, as well as the remaining passenger information services. In the first few days, some people noticed wrong wait times on the stop signs and in the application, and then a total unavailability of this data.
"We apologize in advance for the inconveniences that may occur over the course of the next few days in seeking information on wait times"Carris said in its response to the complaint, to which Lisboa Para Pessoas had access.
On Carris' official communication channelsno warning was given to passengers that this technological migration would take place and that it would have a negative impact on the daily life of those who travel by bus and streetcar in the city of Lisbon.
Updated 10/15/2022: one day after the news from Lisboa Para Pessoas, Carris warned its passengers for "occasional failures in the availability of information about waiting times in the online and panel media", through its website.
