Cloud computing has fundamentally reshaped the way modern industries operate, but for public transit agencies, its transformative potential is just beginning to be fully realized. Transit operations are growing increasingly complex, demanding real-time adaptability, tighter budgetary oversight, and seamless data integration across systems. At Avail Technologies, we’ve seen firsthand how cloud-based solutions can deliver these benefits and more for agencies of all sizes.
The power of cloud-based operations lies in migrating software off local servers, as well as helping transit agencies better serve their communities with scalable, flexible, and secure technology that removes IT bottlenecks and puts vital data at decision-makers’ fingertips.
Simplifying Complexity
At its core, cloud computing replaces traditional on-premises servers and infrastructure with hosted, remote systems. But for a transit agency, that simplification carries enormous operational advantages.
“Most customers do have some idea of what it is and how it operates, but don’t really understand what the benefits are to them,” said Brian Farabaugh, Avail’s Director of Technology. “They used to have servers at their internal IT departments, but many customers don’t even have internal IT. They have contracted ones that come over once or twice a week. Now, those issues are directly handled by us.”
“We save them time and energy on maintaining those systems,” he continued. “If you need to expand your database, you don’t need to go out and buy new servers or more storage. We can now do that dynamically.”
Avail’s technology provides transit agencies with a single database for data to flow seamlessly throughout the organization. Business intelligence dashboards report metrics in real time to help improve efficiency, justify funding requests, and demonstrate compliance. Riders are immediately notified of changes, dispatchers know the locations of every bus and driver, incidents are tracked as they occur, and vehicle health monitoring capabilities can predict failures so maintenance can easily work on all vehicle issues before those buses hit the road.
Raw Data into Actionable Insight
Transit vehicles generate staggering amounts of telematics data, but many agencies lack the resources or expertise to harness it effectively. Cloud infrastructure enables not only collection but also centralized interpretation and deployment of this data for operations, maintenance, and planning.
“One of the things that Avail prides their Enterprise Transit Management Software (ETMS) platform on is they like to provide answers, not just data,” Farabaugh said. “We have dashboards that show agencies, ‘Hey, this is the data that’s coming in, this is what it means.’”
The ETMS system provides role-based user interfaces for operations, finance, and administration staff to manage all aspects of a modern transit agency operation. Capabilities include automatic mining and analysis of operational data, configurable performance metrics dashboards, preemptive notification of upcoming issues, as well as onboard, desktop, email and text alerts to avoid operational issues.
“We’re beginning to integrate AI into our product with the help of our partners,” Farabaugh said. “If we see consistent patterns in your running times, maybe it’s time for a suggestion to change your schedule. We also do a lot of vehicle health monitoring, predictive maintenance. You’re getting amber lamp indicators? We tell you what that trouble code means. You decide whether to bring that bus in or keep it out.”
“Enhanced predictive maintenance is a major area of development,” said John Roth, Staff Engineer at Avail. “With the integration to other systems, we’re enhancing Avail 360 API interfaces for real-time streaming data. These weren’t previously possible with an on-site system.”
Supporting Every User
But even with strong data tools in place, agency staff can feel overwhelmed by the influx of information. That’s why Avail developed the Follow-on Adoption Services and Training — FAST ™ Team — to provide continuous coaching and contextual understanding.
“We can collect the data, make it look great, but without understanding what that data means and having a guiding hand to help customers use it, it’s going to be for naught,” said Farabaugh.
“The FAST ™ team reviews the data with the customer,” he said. They help them build dashboards that the finance, maintenance, and operations teams can look at and say, ‘Hey, does this warrant a call? Should we put more buses in service on this route?’”
“We’re putting all of their information into a centralized data warehouse,” Roth added, “and focusing on key APIs and KPIs so they’re not flooded. They’re just seeing what they need to target.”
Scalability for Transit
Whether a transit agency runs five buses or 500, cloud technology can be scaled to meet its unique demands.
“We specialize in those mid to smaller-level agencies because that’s where we started,” Farabaugh said. “But larger properties can do more with that data. They usually have bigger departments, so in some ways it makes our job easier. But in other ways, it can be more complex.”
“Scalability of our system is built in,” he continued. “If I need more processors or database storage, I can do that on the backend. The customer is completely unaware. It’s the same application whether you’re a big agency or a small one.”
“We also have modular service selection,” Roth said. “We’re really only providing the components each customer needs. Plus, we offer customizable dashboards and a large number of configurable business rules to tailor each deployment.”
That consistency matters, Farabaugh said.
“We’ve had customers, such as CEOs, move between agencies and tell us it’s the same interface, same response and feel,” he said. “That’s something we’re very proud of.”
Long-Term Cost Savings
One common hesitation among agencies is the perceived high cost of cloud migration. But long-term benefits far outweigh initial investment.
“Agencies moving from on-prem to cloud are saving on IT costs, energy costs, and HR,” said Farabaugh. “You’re not paying monthly bills to power racks of servers, or staffing people to manage them. Understanding your data helps you apply for grants, know your service impact, and better serve your community. It’s also much more transparent to the public; data isn’t from a piece of paper. It’s real-time, from the vehicle, from the system.”
Roth pointed to other benefits: “They’ve got scalability they didn’t have before. Reduced downtime. If there’s a problem, it can be quickly resolved without waiting on parts or IT support.”
“Security, too, is top of mind,” Roth added. “We’re constantly monitoring our cloud infrastructure 24/7. That’s a huge advantage for cost avoidance down the road.”
Farabaugh agreed: “We go through SOC 2 Type 2 audits annually. Customers should feel very comfortable that their data is not just secure, but professionally audited and protected.”
Reliability and Redundancy
Redundancy and failover capabilities in the cloud also ensure agency data remains accessible, even during disaster scenarios.
“Our servers are replicated,” said Farabaugh. “If one zone goes down, we can pull it up in another. The databases are backed up, encrypted, and replicated. Customers should feel very comfortable that their data will not be lost or compromised.”
This is far more robust than legacy, on-site systems where outages could result in hours or days of downtime.
Looking Forward
What does the future look like for cloud-based operations in transit? Roth and Farabaugh see three key trends on the horizon: improved security, expanded AI applications, and architecture innovations like serverless computing.
“The number one thing that’s constantly evolving is enhanced data security,” Roth said. “Security infrastructure is changing every day. We’re deploying new tools constantly to monitor and mitigate threats.”
Artificial intelligence will also play an increasing role.
“Cloud platforms are making it easier to analyze huge datasets,” Roth said. “That gives us quicker and more intelligent answers. It’s only going to get bigger.”
Serverless architecture is another leap: “We’ll no longer be running on servers or VMs,” he added. “It’ll be little services in the cloud, independent of each other but working together. That agility is a major cost and efficiency win.”
“Cloud services used to be about hosting virtual machines,” Farabaugh said. “Now we’re talking about web services, gateway APIs, and microservices that spin up and down as needed. We’re becoming more agile and cost-effective.”
Finally, sustainability will be a growing influence. Renewable energy will help make overall cloud resource usage cheaper and less impactful to the environment, according to Roth.
“We’ll see more processing done on the vehicle itself,” he said. “That reduces latency and bandwidth needs and lets us do more, faster.”
From rural towns to major metropolitan areas, cloud solutions empower transit leaders to spend less time troubleshooting, and more time delivering safe, efficient service to their ridership
“Whether you have a five-bus fleet or a 500-bus fleet,” Farabaugh said, “our solution scales. And our goal is to help agencies better serve their communities.”
“Previously, we would have to VPN into each customer and individually apply updates,” added John Roth, Staff Engineer at Avail. “Now our support department can handle everyone all at once. We get updates out far quicker than previously possible.”