Experience
45+ years. 200+ agencies. One track record.
UTA's experience implementing APC systems in over 200 large and small transit organizations is unmatched in the North American transit marketplace.
01 / Track record
What 45 years on one problem looks like.
The technology started at General Motors' Transportation Systems Division, where APC was developed between 1976 and 1981. When GM disbanded the division, the APC subsystem was sold to the newly formed Urban Transportation Associates. UTA has worked on passenger counting, and the data that comes with it, ever since — processing decades of transit data across 200+ implementations.
UTA's engineering staff of fifteen bring more than 225 cumulative years of direct APC system experience and hold 13 advanced (Master's or higher) technical degrees between them. That combination matters because every agency has operational idiosyncrasies that aren't in the spec — and someone at UTA has usually seen them before.
02 / In practice
Specifics.
Equipment that outlasts the contract
At Boston University, the APC sensors installed in 2017 have operated in daily revenue service without maintenance for nine years. UTA specifies a minimum ten-year service life; many agencies have run the system for 15–20 years.
Evaluated at every site
For more than 30 years and across 125+ applications, an accuracy evaluation — formal or informal — has taken place at every UTA site, held to the local agency's own specification.
Hard climates, hard duty cycles
UTA hardware has operated reliably in the harsh transit environments of New England — Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Boston College, the MBTA — on the same CPU platform used in police, fire, and heavy-truck fleets.
Systems we didn't install
Part of the record is remediation: agencies that came to UTA to diagnose and fix an APC install done by someone else, and software-only engagements where UTA processes data from non-UTA counting hardware. Many stayed.
Three decades of national reporting
UTA APC users have met NTD (previously Section 15) reporting requirements for more than three decades. Every U.S. applicant using UTA APC data has received FTA approval.
Works with what's already on the vehicle
UTA works with virtually all AVL and scheduling systems, and is an OEM APC supplier to Gillig, New Flyer, MCI, NOVA Bus, and ARBOC — so the system fits the fleet the agency actually has.
03 / Ownership
No outside investors. On purpose.
UTA's President/CEO and Chief Technical Officer own approximately 90% of the company; the remaining 10% is held by retired long-time employees. There is no venture capital, no private-equity owner, and no acquisition roadmap. Decisions about the system are made by the engineers who build and support it — which is why UTA can fix a problem, or build what a client needs, without a revenue target attached to the answer.
04 / Client Directory
Where the UTA APC system runs today
Showing a representative sample for this offline preview — the live Django site includes the full ~130-agency directory.
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05 / Working with UTA
What a long-running deployment looks like
Support
UTA takes pride in prompt and effective support to our customers. Customers are usually responded to within the same day.
Built around your requirements
No two agencies collect or report the same way. UTA adapts the system and its reporting to each agency's operating conditions, service patterns and analytic needs — rather than asking the agency to work the way the software does.
Proven reliability
Many transit agencies have used UTA's APC system for 15–20 years, with a minimum ten-year expected service life.
200+ agencies use the UTA APC system.
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