From first unit to full rollout: A simpler way to deploy passenger information displays

When assessing passenger information display technology, capability is only part of the equation. The rest is how easily it can be evaluated, deployed and scaled.

That’s often where timelines can drag. Not because of the technology itself, but because of what’s required to prove it in a real environment. It comes down to a few practical questions: what’s involved in installing and supporting it? How quickly can we get a unit live with our data? How does it perform day-to-day? And if it works, what does rollout actually look like?

Here we explore how different deployment models shape that journey, and why some technologies make it easier to get from first test to rollout.

Different technologies, different paths to getting live

The very nature of some display technologies directly affects how quickly they can be tested and rolled out.

Some depend on fixed power and communications infrastructure. Even for a single unit, that can mean coordinating civil works, permissions and installation resources before anything can go live. Others are more self-contained and can be deployed with far fewer dependencies.

Essentially, the level of effort required to get from “nothing installed” to “something live” varies significantly – and that can slow evaluation, internal alignment and the momentum from initial test to pilot.

Where e-paper simplifies things

E-paper doesn’t change the evaluation criteria, but it does reduce what’s required to get to that point. Because the displays are fully standalone, they don’t rely on connecting to mains infrastructure. A typical unit is:

• Solar or battery powered
• Wirelessly connected (cellular or Wi-Fi)
• Installed onto existing poles or shelters
• Deployed as a single, self-contained unit

In practical terms, that removes the need for trenching, cabling or mains power. This means a unit can be installed by a single person within an hour, without waiting on site-specific works.

What a first unit evaluation looks like

At the initial stage, this is simply about getting a single unit up and running.

A display can be ordered, delivered pre-configured with your data and standard layouts, and brought online quickly. A typical setup includes:

• A 13” or 23” e-paper display
• Solar power module or long-life battery
• Cellular connectivity (SIM provided)
• Real-time content integration (e.g. GTFS-RT or SIRI)
• Basic interaction, such as turning the display’s front lighting on

In practice, it’s a self-contained unit that can be taken out of the box and used straight away.

It can be run in an office environment to review how information is presented and managed, or installed on an existing pole or shelter to see how it performs in situ.

The objective at this stage is to get something up and running so you can understand how the technology works and behaves in practice and get valuable customer feedback.

Deployment location suitability

Site surveys must be performed to verify that each e-paper installation location has:

• Sufficient cellular coverage
• Appropriate conditions for solar-power (sufficient solar exposure, adequate solar panel orientation & structural suitability)

From first unit to pilot project

Once a single unit has been tested, the next step is to expand that into a small pilot project.

This is where evaluation becomes more structured, with a focus on how it performs across different locations and conditions: visibility, reliability, passenger interaction and day-to-day management via the cloud-based Content Management System.

The important point is that this stage builds directly on the initial evaluation.

The same setup used for a single unit – self-powered, wirelessly connected and installed onto existing infrastructure – is simply repeated across a number of stops. There’s no change in approach, just a change in scale.

Because of that, moving from pilot to wider rollout is largely a question of volume rather than complexity. The process used to get a single unit live – and then a small number of units across a pilot – is pretty much the same process used to deploy at network scale.

Getting to a decision point faster

So, to summarise! Getting started with Papercast e-paper is simple: get something live, understand how it performs with your data and in your environment, obtain feedback, and see what it takes to deploy more broadly.

Learn more  and how to get in contact with the team.