Onboard App Basics

Swiftly created the Onboard App specifically with vehicle operators in mind. Displayed on a mounted tablet or mobile device, Onboard App gives operators access to their schedule or headway adherence while on the road. This gives operators more control over their performance, reduces the need for dispatchers to manage timing, and ultimately helps deliver better service. The Onboard App also serves as a high-quality source of vehicle location and assignment information, which makes all of Swiftly’s products more accurate.

For simplicity, we refer often to ‘tablets’ in our documentation, but the app will work just as well on other mobile devices. The optimal experience, however, will be on tablets that have larger screens.

Technical Requirements

• The Onboard App is an Android app that must be installed on an Android device
• Swiftly supports versions of Onboard App released within the last 3 months. Please enable auto-updates of this app
• Please contact your Account Executive for a list of supported devices and mobile browsers for Onboard App

Onboard App Basics

Overview: Vehicle operators can sign into the app with their operator ID, vehicle, route, and trip to access their own real-time schedule or headway adherence. 

The Swiftly Onboard App is designed to work with tablets or mobile devices. If you want recommendations or help picking a tablet please contact [e-mail].  

Main View: This minimalist screen displays performance information and headsign direction - either as on-time performance or headway status. You can also add upcoming timepoint or stop information to your screen. This is the same schedule adherence information that users can find in Live Operations for that vehicle. 

On-Time Performance

Performance Colors: 

For on-time performance, green is on-time, red is early, and gray is late. 

For headway status, green is expected, red is bunched, and gray is gapped.

 Map View: Click the map tab in the menu to show the map, route, timepoints and real-time position of the bus:

Within the Maps View, you can also see real-time performance feedback. A small circle at the top of the screen offers the same at-a-glance "on-time", "early", or "late" performance information as the main Onboard App interface. The default setting of the map view has this information minimized and out of view so that operators can focus on navigating correctly and safely with minimal distractions. Any service adjustments made through Swiftly will also display on the map:

Detours in Onboard App: If your agency has purchased the Service Adjustments Tool, detour information will also show in Onboard App to help orient your operators when a route change is in effect. When a detour is approached, Onboard App will automatically switch to the map view and return to the operator's preferred view once it's complete.

In the Map View of Onboard App, operators now see the path of the detour in blue, the scheduled path will be grayed out, and any closed stops as a result of the detour. 

In the Timepoints View of Onboard App, Operators can see detour-related information including when to turn onto the detour, skipped stops, and when to turn back onto the scheduled route. 

How to Use Onboard App:

If you are setting up a tablet with Onboard App for the first time, learn more about installing the Onboard App. If you are an operator using the Onboard App, follow our step-by-step guide on how to use the app.

FAQs

On the map, does Onboard App show all stops or timepoints only?

Either one can be configured for your agency. Please contact [e-mail] if you would like to update this.

What happens if the app loses Internet connectivity?

If you lose connection before sign in to your block:

1. The app will display a transient "Internet connection lost. Reconnecting…" banner.

2. After 60 seconds, it will switch to a full-screen "No Internet connection. Please check device settings."

3. If connection is restored, Onboard App will go back to the normal Sign In screen.

4. While you must have Internet connectivity to log in to your block, if you lose connection after that:

• The app will display a transient "Lost connection" in the status header.

5. If in Map view, the map will continue to be shown along with the status header “Lost connection” message. If not in Map view, after 60 seconds it will switch to a full-screen "Lost Internet Connection" screen with an option to log out.

• If connection is restored at any time, Onboard App will go back to the normal live feedback view.
• After your scheduled block end time, it will log out automatically.

Why does the app log out after every trip?

The app will stay logged in for the duration of a GTFS block (the set of trips that a vehicle will do in a day). This symptom suggests that your GTFS file may not include block-level information or that the blocks are incorrect.

What is "Timing Unavailable" and how do I fix it?

If a vehicle goes off route, is extremely off schedule, going the wrong way, or otherwise just unpredictable, Onboard App shows "Timing Unavailable".

When the vehicle becomes predictable again, Onboard App shows performance feedback again, and Swiftly’s cloud will begin generating predictions for that vehicle.

As a note, Swiftly is able to provide timing feedback when vehicles are operating in a predictable manner - driving on-route, and within striking distance of the schedule (note these thresholds are configurable).

If you believe "timing unavailable" is happening in error, please contact [e-mail] for more assistance.

What headway does Onboard App show when there is only 1 vehicle on a route?
Headway is measured as the spacing that a rider at a given stop would witness between a vehicle and its leader. Onboard App reflects that definition: The vehicle running the first trip of the day has no leader, so Onboard App shows “Timing unavailable”.
On subsequent trips, if a route only has 1 vehicle, then Onboard App will show headway as a rider at a stop would experience it: the time between the vehicle’s two passes of the stop.

If the app is in headway mode, what happens when I reach a timepoint?

In Onboard App, when headway mode is enabled:

• Onboard App shows the countdown clock for the start of the trip
• Onboard App does not show the countdown clock for any operational timepoints
• Onboard App shows the countdown clock for any trip with a service adjustment that modified the departure time.

In Onboard App, when headway mode is disabled:

• Onboard App shows the countdown clock for the start of the trip
• Onboard App shows the countdown clock for any operational timepoints

Onboard App shows the countdown clock for any trip with a service adjustment that modified the departure time.

“Oops! There was an unexpected problem.”

If you are encountering that error message, please file a support ticket with [e-mail] describing the device, trip, and vehicle used in the login process to replicate it.