ACE

Managing the On-Board Passenger Experience

In 2020 the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission (SJRRC) in Northern California contracted Xentrans – a leading U.S.-based transportation technology consultancy – to provide long-term program management, support services, and oversight of the passenger Wi-Fi system aboard ACE®.

ACE is a commuter rail service that runs between Stockton and San José, and provides connections with Bay Area and San Joaquin Valley transit systems including Santa Clara VTA, BART, and Caltrain. Comprising a fleet of 30 bilevel passenger cars and 10 locomotives, ACE carries approximately 2,900 riders daily along the 86-mile route that includes 10 station stops. To help manage, and optimize the quality of, the free passenger Wi-Fi service onboard trains, Xentrans turned to Streamriver’s Insights Analytics platform to provide detailed analysis of cellular connectivity performance and Wi-Fi usage.

Intelligent Anomaly Detection with ML

Xentrans provides first line (Tier 1) support for the ACE Wi-Fi solution, and uses Insights Analytics to deliver unbiased, independent monitoring and analysis of the Wi-Fi solution procured by SJRRC from a third party vendor. Insights offers real-time and historical reporting on both cellular and Wi-Fi performance and quality, and uses machine learning (ML) to build up a clear picture of how the overall solution should be functioning day-to-day. While Xentrans staff can track cellular and Wi-Fi usage, Insights ML intelligently detects variations in the solution's operation, and reports anomalies each day.

Performance-based SLA Measurement

While vendors strive to achieve the best performance possible, solutions often have operational issues that affect the vendor’s ability to meet contractual service level agreements (SLAs). Xentrans uses Insights Analytics to track the solution’s operation against key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the availability of Wi-Fi within rail cars, whether the captive portal is visible to Wi-Fi users, and if back office systems are running as effectively as they should. These measurements help Xentrans identify and document potential SLA shortfalls, giving SJRRC the information it needs to assess any service credits available under its vendor contract.

Smart Issue Analysis

As SJRRC’s Tier 1 service desk provider, Xentrans uses Insights Analytics to track issues via an integration with their support ticket system. Insights provides a visual guide to incident progress, escalation to the Wi-Fi vendor’s Tier 2 support, and ticket resolution. The issue analysis helps identify how problems are solved and by whom, and whether the vendor has responded within agreed SLA response times.

AI-Driven Natural Language Query and Reporting

Xentrans is responsible for keeping SJRRC regularly informed about the status of the Wi-Fi solution. To achieve this, Xentrans uses Insights Analytics native support for AI Large Language Models (LLMs) to ingest and review documentation related to the ACE Wi-Fi solution including contractual scopes of work, system designs, trouble tickets, and vendor technical reports. By building detailed knowledge of how the ACE Wi-Fi system is meant to work, Insights has a deeper understanding and better point of reference for producing monthly reports. Insights employs generative AI to produce natural language PDF reports on a pre-defined schedule, that makes complex data and service trends easier for SJRRC to understand and make informed decisions. Insights users, including SJRRC staff, can use the built-in AI Assistant or an external agent such as Anthropic Claude to query Insights data at any time, and drill down for answers to more specific and detailed questions. With connections to external data sources such as train timetables, event calendars, and operational and maintenance schedules, Insights is able to make appropriate recommendations for remedial action when necessary.

Service Improvement Recommendations

Xentrans is responsible for ensuring that the ACE Wi-Fi service offers passengers the best possible quality of experience. However, there are operational design considerations that are outside of Xentrans or the Wi-Fi vendor’s control. For example, ACE trains connect to the Internet over commercial cellular networks such as AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. Since the ACE route runs through rugged and rural areas, where cellular service is poor or unavailable, Wi-Fi service can become temporarily disconnected. Insights Analytics continually monitors and assesses cellular network availability, performance and quality, and identifies where service is affected.

ACE has geographical challenges such as tunnels, canyons, and rural areas with sparse cellular coverage, that are clearly identifiable with Insights Analytics route mapping feature. Mobile networks can be visually compared with an interactive map, and where one outperforms another, appropriate changes can be made to solution configuration based on geolocation. Insights also helps understand whether alternative technologies like Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity may be a commercial and technically viable alternative.

For more information about how Insights Analytics may work inside your organization, please get in touch to arrange a demonstration.