Here is a summary of some of the key features:
- Geofencing capability and monitoring of driver’s behaviour to detect dangerous bus driving situations to prevent accidents and to protect against theft.
- Live data evaluation on a per-bus basis allows optimization of driving and route plans and improves fuel consumption.
- Predictive remote detection of damage or wear and tear of consumable items compatible with real-world bus configurations as well as diagnosis and secure "over the air" updates to reduce downtime.
ZF Bus Connect is developed for city buses and coaches with both electric and combustion engines or hybrid systems also in a mixed fleet. It offers a live view of vehicle locations in real-time, observe current energy or fuel consumption, check the status of battery charge or maintain status of the vehicles parts, brake wear and other system messages.
“With ZF Bus Connect we are helping the bus operators with their difficult change to all-electric fleets,” explains Florian Freund, responsible for the ZF Bus Connect development. “With the power of data analytics of in-vehicle data, we are helping operators to manage their fleet efficiently by reducing the energy or fuel consumption whilst giving a clear overview to the CO2 footprint of the fleet.”
The system comprises three elements: an On-Board Unit in the vehicle, cloud services and the web-based portal for data analytics. Fleet operators have the possibility to purchase this all-in-one solution from ZF as a package or to connect to the cloud solution with their own compatible On-Board Unit and access the information via the portal as a third-party solution.
To date, five fleets have converted to the new generation of ZF Bus Connect digital solution solution.