Riga bus stops go real-time with Papercast® low power e-paper displays

Rīgas Satiksme partners with Papercast to help improve satisfaction during passenger journeys with live travel information at bus stops

Rīgas Satiksme SIA “Rīgas acs” has upgraded the travel experience for Riga’s bus users by providing real-time information at bus stops using Papercast® low power e-paper displays.

Rīgas acs is a municipally-owned public transportation and infrastructure company serving Riga, Latvia and the surrounding areas. Following a competitive tendering process, Papercast was selected to supply 23” e-paper displays to replace legacy LED flag bus stop signs and paper timetables. The displays are incorporated within the existing bus shelter design across 50 sites and integrated with street light power.

With a mission to provide public transport users with the most comfortable and safe movement possible, this project delivers on the operator’s commitment to deliver high-quality information, which is necessary both when planning and during a trip. Providing the traveling public with live bus arrivals and other valuable information, Rīgas acs wanted an innovative low power, sustainable technology that can operate within a wide temperature range.

Papercast leading edge e-paper technology is perfect for outdoor signage due to its excellent sunlight visibility and ability to withstand extreme temperatures and can be battery powered due to its industry leading power efficiency. In fact, energy consumption is so low that displays can operate on a long-life battery for over 2 years or solar powered rechargeable batteries.

Although solar panels are most commonly used with Papercast displays, Rīgas acs saw value in leveraging street lighting infrastructure to charge the Papercast display batteries when lights are activated overnight, enabling 24/7 operation.

Rīgas acs is the leading public transport operator in and around in the city Riga and manages combined bus, trolleybus and trams that carry almost 180 million passengers a year. The operator constantly increases investment in the complex development of public transport, helping to ensure the city can be easily and quickly reached and that its transport system is made safe and comfortable for everyone.

Using E Ink technology, Papercast e-paper bus stop displays are well proven around the world, and this projects joins other prominent deployments across the European region including Finland, France, Spain, Poland and UK, as well as others further afield such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand and USA.

Papercast’s range of solar powered, wireless e-paper bus stop displays provide excellent visibility, even in direct sunlight, and have been engineered with leading design principles of superior functionality and exceptionally low energy consumption. Completely stand-alone, the displays can be easily installed ‘off-the-grid’ within hours and the cloud-based data management platform provides complete control and real-time data integration.