In July, Hanover Displays / Parts Supply Solutions (PSS) and the Pulitano Group presented Hanover’s duress button system to PTV as a way of making bus travel safer for drivers and passengers
It’s a situation not many riding on or driving a bus enjoy. A troublesome passenger hops on at a stop and immediately looks for trouble, refusing to pay a fare and disrespecting the driver. Soon a war of words breaks out and all passengers are uncomfortable.
Back in the day, buses were preferred over trains due to their safety. Now, in situations in which the driver’s safety is at risk, innovative approaches are needed to prevent harm.
But what if modern technology could cut this tension at the source before it spills over into cases of abuse?
At a recent presentation to the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning (PTV) at the Cranbourne Transit depot in July, the Australian subsidiary of the UK-based Hanover Displays, along with Parts Supply Solutions and the Pulitano Group, showed off its new driver duress button system as a new way of keeping bus drivers and passengers safe.
“This Safe Rider system was born as a result of a high rate of assaults on passengers and drivers on the Cranbourne bus network,” Hanover Displays Australia and Parts Supply Solutions company director Fiona Watson told ABC.
“Technology has come a long way and our first driver duress button system ‘Safe Rider’ has been installed at an Australian operator in Cranbourne Transit.”
The Safe Rider System is a project forged between Hanover, Parts Supply Solutions and the Pulitano Group, who owns Cranbourne Transit. The operator and passenger display systems/ CCTV company have spent a long time working on this driver duress button system that is designed around the premise of retaining drivers and preventing dangerous incidents from breaking out on public transport buses.
Instead of leaving the responsibility of defusing aggressive incidents to the bus driver, the Safe Rider allows an external participant to intervene and prevent volatile situations from worsening.
The latest Hanover and PSS safety system uses all of its previous technological nous to ensure everyone onboard buses feel safe at all times.
“Safe Rider is a two-way audio communication system between the operation centre based in Queensland and the speakers onboard the Cranbourne Transit bus in Victoria,” Fiona says.
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“If a dangerous situation presents itself, the bus driver can press the duress button next to their right arm, allowing a controller from the Central Control Room (CCR) to open up our CCTV cameras in live view onboard the bus and talk to the unruly passenger through the speakers to take over the management of behaviour onboard.”
Once the driver presses the inconspicuous red duress button, the current system between Hanover/ PSS and the Pulitano Group means the CCR in Queensland sparks into action. The alert goes direct to the CCR and allows them to use both the CCTV cameras and speakers onboard to see and hear the situation before deciding to intervene.
Controllers at the CCR can either use the two-way speaker that goes through the Hanover Transport Computer (HTC) to speak directly to the troublesome parties and defuse the situation or call the police immediately so that the bus driver can safely pull the bus over.
“The system is designed to make passengers feel safe, as if a voice comes from nowhere then passengers will feel like the driver and other people are actively working to keep passengers secure, most importantly allowing the driver to continue concentrating on driving,” Fiona says.
Over four speakers on the bus, passengers can be instructed to leave the bus or be informed that police are on their way, increasing the likelihood that they will get off at the next stop and deescalate the conflict. The access to CCTV cameras allows the controller in the CCR to identify passengers by their voice so that passengers are reminded that they’re being watched.
Although it sounds like next-gen technology, it’s only another step in Parts Supply Solutions and Hanover’s evolution. Hanover Displays Australia managing director Grant Watson says the duress button system uses Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) connections via the Hanover Transport computer that amplify with the bus’s speakers to link the technology.
“This system is unique as it integrates the passenger information system and CCTV systems onboard the bus so that controllers can hear and see everything on the bus,” Grant told ABC.
The CCTV-linked duress button two-way audio network uses connections already in place through Hanover’s passenger information systems onboard a bus. The current Hanover TFT screens display high-resolution onboard stop announcements and next stop signs. Now, these voiceover systems are also being used to keep passengers and drivers safe.
From an operator standpoint, Cranbourne Transit and the wider Pulitano Group network see numerous advantages to trialling this system. On the presentation day to PTV, everyone piles onto a Cranbourne Transit bus and head out on a route, where a mock display of a passenger conflict showcases the capability that the duress button system has to override tense scenarios and deescalate any potential abuse.
Pulitano Group chief operating officer Paul Davies says this safety system is badly needed on Cranbourne Transit routes.
“Safety statistics from the past two years show a significant increase in assaults, with at least 74 instances during this time,” Davies told ABC.
These incidents include robbery onboard buses, security threats, objects thrown at buses and verbal assault against drivers. In 2023 alone, Davies says Cranbourne Transit has recorded more than 15 instances of drivers being seriously verbally abused, well above the average compared to other bus contracts that Bus Queensland run.
“There’s not a singular perfect solution to this problem as it’s a significant cultural issue where the driver now doesn’t have the same authority or power that they used to,” Davies says.
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“The idea of the duress button system is to take the pressure off drivers from instructing passengers, so the driver can concentrate on driving and not become a target or victim.
“It won’t be the answer to every situation on the bus, but there are plenty of moments where drivers can press the duress button and not draw attention to themselves in the conflict management process.”
For operators, the system also streamlines the report incident process, as buses now no longer have to be out of action for days on end as hard drive footage is downloaded to submit to police. Instead, the Parts Supply Solutions CCTV system allows for live viewing, historical playback or footage tagging that can be downloaded automatically, even when the bus is still out on a run or when a bus returns to the depot before heading out on its route again.
The system was on full display to PTV in July, as attendees of the presentation got a taste of what is to come in the sphere of bus driver safety technology. It’s only the start of Hanover/ Parts Supply Solutions and the Pulitano Group’s collaboration, yet already there are grounds to see why this technology could be so vital to the retention and recruitment of Australian bus and coach drivers.
“The duress button system is a new way of protecting drivers and passengers from abuse,” Fiona Watson says.
“Hanover Displays, Parts Supply Solutions and the Pulitano Group are passionate about enhancing bus safety and this duress button will continue to evolve as a way of doing so for years to come.”