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 drivers 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.

The Onboard App is available on the Google Play Store as a native application. 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.

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. 

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 the 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.