As the oldest and fourth largest transit system in the nation, MBTA has always been a champion of the latest mass transit technologies. Upon receiving a $6 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security to renovate its Operations Control Center, the agency was eager to drive the next level of evolution with a new networked visualization solution from Barco, implemented by Vistacom. Comprising a 20 x 3 video wall and a powerful collaboration and display management software engine, the system is boosting situational awareness to enable smoother transit operations.

Optimized for better decision-making
While there was a pressing need to upgrade the dimly light projection screens with a higher-resolution, more energy-efficient visualization solution, the most critical objective was to display information from other state transportation and security agencies in a coherent and quickly actionable manner. “MBTA needed a better way to harness numerous types of data, presenting it in a meaningful way to enable control room operators to properly assess unfolding situations,” explains Jim Ferlino, principal at Vistacom, the Allentown, PA-based AV systems integrator.

Big picture, many facets
Vistacom selected Barco’s OLF-721 rear projection LED modules, building a 100+-foot video wall comprised of 60 modules, displaying precisely rendered data and sharp imagery from up to 100 channels of HD video. The video wall displays a common operational picture which significantly enhances situational awareness of the entire transportation network.

Elevating collaboration for smoother operations
The Barco TransForm N controller and CMS-200 Control Room Management Suite software work in concert to enable MBTA staff to easily organize, control and share data and video among the team to enhance decision-making. The Sidebar application expedites system searches and browsing, configuring images with a simple drag-and-drop motion, while the Perspectives capability enables operators to build scenes featuring multiple sources simultaneously. “MBTA can now bring up critical camera feeds in a timely manner, saving precious minutes during an emergency, continued Ferlino.

The wall is a mix of traditional rail control (SCADA) plus security feeds from five different network video record (NVR) platforms. The VidSys Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) software runs on top of the other software, integrated via the Barco CMS API plugin to control content on the wall.

Efficient decision-making
“We are always excited to partner with Vistacom in developing collaborative visualization solutions for forward-thinking customers like MBTA,” comment Hans Dekeyser, Vice President Sales Industrial & Government for Barco North America. “We’re confident that the agency will experience significant gains in efficiency while improving decision-making with our robust collaboration and composition image.”