Innovating the Delivery of Information in Transit Systems

Rick Wood, President and CEO, Connectpoint, Inc.

Once used only by retail stores to enhance their sales, digital signage is now utilized as a medium to deliver dynamic messages through images, video, web pages, or text. Digital signage provides numerous benefits to a myriad of industries, particularly to the mass transit sector, where the sign offers real-time information on aspects such as arrivals, delays, hazards, or dangers. This allows commuters to make the required adjustments to their travel plans. However, the biggest hurdle in the deployment of mass transit digital signage is the lack of an electrical infrastructure grid. California-based Connectpoint, Inc. bypasses this challenge by offering the first solar-powered ePaper digital signage solution along with a backend software packagethat enables the effective management of deployed signage. “Connectpoint’s solution allows customers to deploy signs anywhere within their operating area despite the lack of electrical infrastructure and manage all their assets through our backend,” says Rick Wood, president and CEO of Connectpoint. 

Connectpoint’s patented solar-powered solution is the realization of a four-year developmental phase, where the company conducted extensive R&D and built working prototypes to deploy in the field. It is an outcome of Connectpoint’s effective collaboration with fabricators, designers, and industrial engineers, who have together developed the right solution for their clients. One of the reasons that makes this solution a preferred choice for many is the fact that it uses ePaper instead of LCD and LED screens considering the heightened environmental impacts of traditional digital signage solutions. 

“Our signage solution is environmentally friendly and aesthetic. It avoids the invasive light pollution associated with bright LED and LCD screens,” explains Wood. 

Additionally, with Connectpoint’s asset management solution (CPAM) client organizations can monitor the condition of the deployed signs, schedule messaging, change screen layouts, and program advertising campaigns. Widely used by mass transit agencies, Connectpoint’s digital signage solution and backend services allow the communication of arrival information to travelers at the bus stop level.

“Our units can update data every minute to deliver real-time information and help transit agencies deliver crucial messages in areas that they could not reach in the past due to the lack of electrical infrastructure,” states Wood. Moreover, Connectpoint’s signage minimizes the cost of electricity consumption by avoiding the cost-intensive and time-consuming process of laying down electrical infrastructure wherever the customers plan to deploy digital signs. 

Unlike other outdoor digital signage units, the signs utilized in mass transit systems have to be managed and maintained efficiently due to the need to make periodic changes in messages to ensure that the displayed service information is up-to-date. To ensure this, Connectpoint’s backend capabilities offer transit agencies the ability to eliminate the conventional process of continually providing customers with current information at the bus stop or train station. “The idea of having solar-powered digital signs that can change the service information with a push of a button and send dynamic messages to customers from the comfort of their offices rather than posting notices manually in the field is our unique value proposition,” states Wood. 

"Connectpoint customers can deploy signs anywhere without the need for electrical infrastructure and manage them through our cloud-based content management system"

In order to drive the usage of their digital signage solution in additional markets, Connectpoint aims to collaborate with organizations in other industries, especially for emergency messaging in government-related enterprises. In addition, the company’s content management system integrates messages and information not just from ePaper displays but LCD and LED as well. “We will deploy our solution into other verticals and make it easier for customers to manage all their signage, and not just ours,” concludes Wood.