PostBust Switzerland is testing a new electronic timetable display at bus stops. These DynPaper displays are based on E Ink and use Plastic Logic's OTFT backplane. The Swiss company hopes that this will make it easier to change timetables in the future and allow daily updating of individual stops.
Currently, the bus timetables are printed on paper. PostBus installed 12 such E Ink timetables. The main objects of the test is to see how reliable these displays are, and how they fare against vandalism and bad weather. If the project is successful, they could equip as many as 14,000 bus stops with the new DynPaper timetables.
The power to the displays comes from the solar panel installed at the stop. There's also a DAB+ communication channel that will allow PostBus to send specific data by radio to individual stops. PostBus currently needs to drive staff to each bus stop to change the paper timetables - which translates to about 100,000 kilometers of driving each year (I guess timetables do not change very often). Other units of Swiss Post are also showing great interest in the new technology. There are a number of possible uses in post offices and at PostFinance.
