Smart Bus Stops for Wallonia

How TEC, the public transport operator managed by OTW, is using GIS to transform roadside asset management

TEC (short for Transport en Commun which translates as “Public Transport”) is the public transport operator in Wallonia, Belgium. Its mission is clear: to provide passenger transport across the entire Walloon region, operating an extensive network of buses and trams.

Since 2019, TEC has been consolidated under a single entity, OTW (Opérateur de Transport de Wallonie, or “Walloon Public Transport Operator”), which coordinates activities and manages resources. This merger brought together several historical local entities but also created new challenges: each business unit (BU) had developed its own tools and methods of working. Standardizing these disparate systems became a crucial step in improving infrastructure management and service quality.

It is in this context that a project was launched, presented by Lauriane Guillerm, member of the Mobility Operations Coordination Directorate (Direction Coordination Exploitation Mobilité, DCEM). This cross-functional directorate is tasked with supporting the business units by implementing shared, innovative tools. Here, GIS (Geographic Information Systems) plays a central role as leverage for modernization and digital transformation.

When Lauriane Guillerm joined TEC four years ago, the Walloon public transport operator responsible for buses and trams across the region had no centralized, up-to-date database of bus stop equipment, making it difficult to manage roadside assets.

“We had lists of stops,” Lauriane explains, “but no way of knowing whether a shelter, a bench, or even a bin was there. Each business unit worked in its own way, sometimes with local tools, sometimes still with pen and paper. A large amount of information was being lost.”

To solve this, TEC launched Project GAP (Gestion des Arrêts & des Poteaux, or “Management of Stops & Signposts”). Its ambition was threefold:

• Unify existing practices across all business units 

• Build a single, centralized database of bus stop assets

• Digitalize the entire maintenance workflow, automating intervention management.

Behind the technical name lies a simple principle: to give field staff and managers an ergonomic tool for managing and maintaining thousands of bus stops more effectively, while keeping a reliable historical record of all interventions.

Previously, some units worked in their own way, often with handwritten notes or Excel files, and without any historical trace of interventions.

“Paper forms were filled in and then thrown away at the end of the day,” Lauriane recalls. “We had no record of what was done, when, or where.”

Other units relied on outdated local tools.

Today, things are different. Thanks to Survey123 in the field and Web Maps at the office, agents now receive their daily task lists directly on tablets. As they carry out their interventions, they validate actions, update asset information, and even attach photos. All data is synchronized in real time to the central database. 

The benefits are immediate:

• End of double data entry

• Complete historical records of interventions

• Improved planning for corrective and preventive maintenance. 

For managers, dashboards now provide a clear view of progress: what has been completed, what is ongoing, and what is still pending.  
GIS has delivered not only gains in time and efficiency but also an improved user experience.

The database is still being populated, stop by stop, but the effects are already tangible.

“Both field agents and team leaders are delighted,” Lauriane smiles. “They save an enormous amount of time, finally have visibility into what’s happening, and can plan their own or their teams’ work much more efficiently.”

A concrete example: when a new bus line was deployed, agents previously had to make repeated trips to check which signs or stickers were already in place. Now, photos and data are accessible with a click, saving unnecessary journeys and wasted hours.

The system also benefits other services, such as teams responsible for accessibility for people with reduced mobility (PRM). Instead of sending an auditor to each stop, they can now often evaluate accessibility directly from the photos and data collected in the field. 

Of course, the transition did not come without difficulties. Some older staff, or those less familiar with new technologies, were less comfortable with tablets, and change management required time.

Technical challenges also arose during rollout, including stabilizing the application and ensuring that every agent had access to a tablet, an additional investment not planned in the original budget. But thanks to an agile approach, regular testing, and the strong involvement of team leaders from the start, the project was able to advance steadily.

A key success factor has been the involvement of managers throughout the solution’s development. The tool has now been tested and is ready for large-scale deployment, the next challenge is ensuring full adoption across all field teams.

For any major technology project, TEC’s IT department is usually consulted. Initially, their proposal was a large-scale SAP solution, twice the available budget and requiring several years of development.

Lauriane and her colleagues, experienced with GIS technologies, quickly realized a GIS-based approach would be more suitable: more cost-effective, ergonomic, and better adapted to field realities.

This is where GIM, Esri partner, came in. They developed a tailored GIS solution built on ArcGIS Enterprise, Survey123, and Experience Builder. Esri BeLux provided technical expertise as needed, ensuring best practices and system stability.

“SAP is powerful, but you can’t put SAP into the hands of field agents on tablets,” Lauriane emphasizes. “GIS gave us the right balance: ergonomic, flexible, and quick to implement.” 

Project GAP is still in its early stages, but its promises are strong:

• A common tool across all business units

• A continuously updated asset database

• Smarter, data-driven maintenance planning. 

The next step is to open the database to more TEC teams, so anyone can instantly view the status of equipment at any bus stop. In the longer term, predictive maintenance and AI-based analysis could further enhance efficiency. Customer service may also feed user-reported incidents directly into the system.

At its heart, Project GAP is about more than technology. It is about creating a shared language and workflow across a large organization, breaking down silos, and modernizing the management of public transport infrastructure.

As Lauriane sums it up:

“For the first time, we have a tool that unites all teams. It’s simple for field agents, powerful for managers, and finally gives us a reliable picture of our assets. This project is really going to change daily life at TEC.”