TETRA  |  2015-03-19

Powertrunk receives best use of TETRA for Transport Award for New Jersey Transit Superbowl Expansion

Source: MCCResources

At the 4th Annual 2015 International TETRA Awards ceremony held on March 5th at the prestigious Landmark Hotel in London, UK, PowerTrunk Inc. received the "Best Use of TETRA for Transport" award for its NJ Transit TETRA network Super Bowl expansion.

The award was with respect to the 2014 expansion of the existing New Jersey Transit (NJT) TETRA network provided by PowerTrunk Inc. in order to directly support NJT bus and light rail transportation operations in the days leading up to and on the day of Super Bowl XLVIII last year. “The Super Bowl XLVIII has been an excellent case to demonstrate TETRA’s outstanding capabilities, speech quality, and reliability during the most important annual sport event held in the United States”, said Jose Martin, CEO of PowerTrunk.

In addition to augmenting TETRA network capacity in the areas surrounding Newark and New York City, special attention was also given to assuring indoor TETRA network coverage for NJT’s Secaucus Junction Station, as well as across the Hudson River in New York City for NY Penn Station and the Port Authority Bus Terminal, since these were the major transit hubs for thousands of spectators traveling to and from MetLife Stadium.

The Academy Bus Company, which provides service to New York City and New Jersey in cooperation with NJ Transit, also acquired and installed a TETRA base station in central Manhattan and which is also integrated into the NJT TETRA network.

In addition, NJT's Super Bowl Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was equipped with PowerTrunk MDT-400 TETRA radio equipment integrated with Telex IP-223 gateways for use with the Telex C-Soft console solution. This, together with about 300 PowerTrunk HTT-500 TETRA portable radios, allowed NJT Customer Service "ambassadors" and Bus Operations representatives to control and assist passenger flow during the event.

The integrated GPS modules of the handheld and mobile TETRA radios, and the use of PowerTrunk's Synchronous Data manager (SDM) application furthermore enabled NJT dispatch operators to monitor the movement and positions of all TETRA users in the network in real time, thereby enhancing security and public safety.

The International TETRA Awards are sponsored by TETRA Today Magazine and the TETRA and Critical Communications Association (TCCA). One of the judges commented that this project was an "Excellent example of a TETRA project expansion to support a transport operator during a major event".

Picture: Courtesy of the International TETRA Awards