Amtrak Uses Iphone As A New Tool

By Author: Duane Carothers
Total Articles: 1
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conductors finally give up their ticket punchers for a new gadget.Amtrak, the government-owned corporation that runs the nation's railroad train services, has been teaching conductors since November to use the Apple handset as an electronic ticket scanner. By late summer conductors will be using the equipment on Amtrak trains across the country. With the new program, passengers will have the ability to print tickets or download a special bar code on their smartphone screens (preview here) for conductors to scan, and conductors will be able to keep track of passengers on board. Amtrak joins an increasing number of businesses that are using mobile devices to enhance operations. Some pilots are using iPads to replace flight manuals in the cockpit, a few police departments are testing using iPhones to identify suspects, and doctors are using iPads to obtain patient information and X-ray charts. A scanned check-in process for trains seems past due in a world of online concert tickets and flight reservations. But the sector faces a certain challenge in that passengers get on and off at ...
... different platforms at different times, unlike at an airport, where people check in once to board a flight, and then stay there until the flight arrives. The previous manual ticketing process — punching a hole in the ticket, putting it in a pouch and then sending it to a central location, where it is ultimately scanned and inserted into a database — was not very good at tracking passengers on board because of the delay between when the ticket was checked and when it was processed. With the new iPhone-powered system, conductors can keep track of passenger check-ins in real time. This will help them control seating: if there are passengers who don't show up, for example, it will be easier to fill vacant seats with other travellers. Each conductor's iPhone is equipped with a case that contains an extra battery and a bar-code scanner, and has a special app to scan tickets but also to do a great deal more. For example, with the app, conductors can indicate to the engineer if a disabled person is getting on at a certain stop so that the train staff members can be prepared to organize the track and the wheelchair lift. The app also allows conductors to report apparatus failures, like broken equipment, to mechanics. For passengers, the new system means it will be easier to book or change reservations. For example, if a rider found at the last minute that he had to take a train at a different time, he could make the change online or in Amtrak's iPhone app, whereas in the past he would have had to refund a ticket and buy a new one at a machine or by means of an agent. The iPhone system cost Amtrak $7.5 million — $5.5 million for the software improvement and $2 million for the hardware. Amtrak's smartphone app for passengers is currently available only for iPhones, but the company said it was implementing a version for Android devices, expected for release by early fall. Users of other kinds of smartphones can still fill their tickets through Amtrak's mobile Web site.