Business View Magazine - January 2024

carefully crafted to-do list, updated weekly, serves as his trusty guide through the myriad of responsibilities. With its population of well over 100,000, Springfield grapples with traffic congestion like many cities, so the transit system under Schoeffel’s guidance aims to be a substantial solution. Encouraging residents to embrace bus travel as a viable alternative is a priority. SMTD has a healthy marketing budget, and as Schoeffel explains, “We’re talking about introducing new, more convenient ways to pay your fare, better service, more useful routes, all of those things are aimed at trying to make the system as attractive as possible to make it a viable alternative for those that may not have considered the bus in the past.” In pursuing environmental sustainability, Schoeffel explores zero-emission options, particularly hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Given Springfield’s extreme weather conditions, including scorching summers and frigid winters, hydrogen may offer a more versatile solution than electric buses with range limitations. This forward-looking approach includes redundancy planning to ensure uninterrupted service. SMTD is also looking to transition to low-emission diesel-electric hybrids, replacing their diesel vehicles over the next eight years. The goal is to achieve a 100% low-emission fleet and move toward a zero-emission future. Two prominent bus manufacturers, New Flyer and Gillig, have been pivotal in SMTD’s Our regular fare is only $1.25 for fixed route service. So, it’s still fairly low compared to bigger agencies across the country.” TCS Transportation Services has had a long partnership with Redmon Group in Alexandria, Virginia to provide digital signage for commuters.  Redmon’s Transit Display product helps commuters find nearby transit options and information quickly. It combines real-time transit arrival information, news, media, advertisements, announcements, bike and car share availability into one, attractive customized designed and readable display.  Our recent hardware partner has been Global Display solutions (GDS), an industry leader in digital signage for many business segments.  TCS is the right choice for small to mid-sized projects that desire to work with transit professionals that understand what it takes to deliver a successful transit display solution for your transit agency or region. The Transit Displays can be located indoors and outdoors and can include LCD, LED and ePaper displays. The Transit Display’s content management system enables our clients to be able to monitor, maintain and update their own displays. 262 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 01 SANGAMON MASS TRANSI T. . .