Pref Tech & DCTA Speak to Multi-Transit Security Study

So with that, uh, let's move into the project details.

So can you give us an kind of elevator pitch about the project? What is the, uh, Denton County Transportation Authority, and what was the ultimate goal of this deployment?

DCTA is a, a transportation agency, um, in the North Texas region.

We've got an A-train commuter rail system that's about 21 miles of rail with five stations, and we connect with the DART, uh, transit agency in Dallas.

And then we'd also operate Connect Bus, which is our fixed route service, uh, GOZEN, which is our on-demand micro transit service, and paratransit service as well.

We, we offer transportation to member cities and other agencies and people, companies, corporate entities, whatever it may be.

We try to partner, make sure that we're delivering value where we can.

Absolutely.

And what was the ultimate goal for DCTA, uh, when it came to kind of overhauling the system?

Yeah.

So when we started this project, or when we started talking about doing something like this, um, DCTA had multiple facilities, um, not connected to each other in the sense of access control or video management systems.

So really just tried to come in and do a full-scale, top to bottom rebuild, 'cause some areas had video access or video and access control, some didn't.

So really just kinda coming in and making sure we're securing all our assets, our passengers, whatever it may be, that we come in and, you know, take care and be good stewards of resources and the passengers and our, our stakeholders and member cities as possible.

So came in and did a full security operation center, put cameras and access control at every facility.

We built out a video management platform for all of our vehicles, our Stadler A-trains, our buses, microtransit vehicles, um, everything like that.

And why did DCTA decide it was time for this system-wide overhaul?

Realistically, instances on transit services are, uh, are going up, um, just, just across the board nationwide.

Um, that was one of the things.

But two, just a matter of trying to unify and modernize our security and access control program here at DCTA.

So there was no good way for us to monitor what was happening on the vehicles.

A lot of it was reactive instead of being proactive.

And then also modernizing some of the security and safety systems we have out elsewhere, not just on the vehicles, but on our platforms and stations for call, emergency call boxes, uh, things like that.

How did this opportunity come about? What was the relationship between DCTA and Preferred Technologies? Or was this first time interaction between the two?

It was a first-time interaction.

Um, we actually started off in 2023, um, when we did a assessment with a engineering firm to come in and kinda get a, what's a current state, what do we have right now, and then what should we budget and look for in our next evolution in this program? Um, so in 2023 we did a huge study, took that study and helped us inform and draft a plan to present to the board of directors here and our other stakeholders, and get buy-in across the board.