Digitalisation at Bus und Service AG (BuS) Chur is advancing steadily. In 2023, the new ticketing system was equipped with reliable connectivity; with the timetable change in 2024/25, fleet-wide passenger Wi-Fi followed. Now, with new buses being procured this year, the next logical step is being taken: a consistent IP network throughout the vehicle.

Together with BuS's technical specialists, Roger Senti, Head of Service Planning and Technology at BuS, conducted a thorough inventory. Passenger counting systems, video cameras, advertising screens and passenger displays are all to be integrated into a single, unified IP network. This creates clarity and significantly simplifies operations, maintenance and future expansions. Roger Senti explains: "We want to take a major step towards a unified IP network. onway is supporting us in building a scalable foundation and implementing the migrations step by step, bus by bus, together with us."

onway is developing a network concept tailored to BuS's needs and designed for the long term. In addition to routers and antennas, onway takes on the delivery, configuration and operation of one to three managed switches per vehicle. This means full network responsibility within the vehicle rests with onway, from planning through to ongoing operations.

Also new is the CAN/FMS interface, which enables access to vehicle data. At the same time, the existing LTE connection is being upgraded to 5G, delivering more bandwidth and lower latency for all applications running over it.

The container platform prepared on onway's routers allows third-party software to run securely and in isolation. This gives BuS the flexibility to integrate vendor-specific applications without the need for additional dedicated hardware.

The step-by-step approach, bus by bus, is not a compromise but a deliberate method: it allows lessons learned from early migrations to feed directly into subsequent vehicles, without ever disrupting day-to-day operations.