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The new elevator enables users to perform surveys of drains and culverts up to 900mm in diameter, with the camera centred in the pipe. The motorised design allows operators to deploy the system through smaller access points in its lowered state, before raising it to centre in the pipe being inspected. The system can also be adapted to centre as pipe diameters change during a survey, or temporarily made smaller to manoeuvre around obstructions during surveys.

The elevator can be fitted to a customer’s current P356 crawler as a simple upgrade. Attached via a simple thumbscrew mechanism, the elevator can be quickly removed to perform surveys in pipes as small as 6” in diameter.

The P350 system controller has also been upgraded with new joystick controls for the crawler and camera, which provide simple and intuitive one-touch control over the downhole equipment. Pearpoint, headquartered and manufacturing in Bristol, is uniquely set-up to provide customers with rapid, high quality service and support, where it’s needed, including:

• 2 factory-backed service centres
• 2 mobile repair vans
• A nationwide network of service partners

Combined with an ISO9001 certified UK manufacturing base, and advanced products designed around our user’s needs, Pearpoint is your partner for video inspection tasks. For more information about the Pearpoint Powered Elevator, visit www.pearpoint.com.

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The cloud-based Genfare Link empowers the public transportation industry to keep pace with the digitization of today’s business world. While CDTA more efficiently manages its revenue stream through robust data analytics and reporting, its riders benefit from simplified payment options and ridership incentive programs along with simplified payment and replenishment choices. The hassle-free, highly secure system allows customers to manage their accounts online, with abilities to review usage history and automatically renew.

According to CDTA CEO Carm Basile, dozens of riders have registered every day for the Navigator program since it launched in early January. And the momentum continues to build, as CDTA looks forward to expanding its capabilities by offering mobile ticketing.

“We are honored to work with industry leaders such as CDTA to customize solutions according to their customers’ needs and drive positive results for the organization,” said Genfare President Darren Dickson. “The increasing rider satisfaction in Albany affirms CDTA and Genfare’s mutual values of embracing change and emerging technologies. We are excited to continue evolving together as we look to phase two and incorporate mobile ticketing solutions.”

For more than 30 years, Genfare and its innovative portfolio of fare collection systems have remained at the forefront of the transportation industry. Its integrated solutions span electronic validating fare boxes, cloud-based backend, mobile payment options, ticket vending and point-of-sale distribution systems, all of which are secure, reliable and flexible. Genfare, an SPX Corporation business, is headquartered in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. To learn more, visit www.genfare.com.

The March 2017 issue of Metro Magazine includes an article on the “Navigator” program and its increasing popularity, quoting Dickson and CDTA Director of Information Technology Thomas Guggisberg. Click here to read the story.

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“The Mendota is one of the grand old apartment houses in D.C.,” said Jim Wood, head of the building and grounds committee for the Mendota board of directors. “While many other D.C. buildings of the era have lost their visual character, the configuration of nearly every apartment unit in the Mendota is identical to when it was built.”

The Mendota’s 50 apartments include architectural details like 10-foot ceilings, ornate crown molding, tall windows, heart pine floors, built-in cabinetry and Victorian-tiled fireplaces.

Though much of the building had been restored over the years, one area requiring attention was the facility’s heating system. After several years of maintaining the aging boiler, the mechanical contractor recommended installation of a Weil-McLain LGB-20 atmospheric draft steam boiler. At up to 84 percent combustion efficiency, the LGB line is one of the highest efficiency commercial cast iron atmospheric gas boilers available from Weil-McLain.

When the distribution piping and steam vent systems were overhauled and the new boiler was optimized and in service, several benefits were quickly realized. Radiators that had not heated in years were hot. Steam circled the mains quickly and the risers received steam at the same time. And Wood likes the fact that he doesn’t have to change the operational parameters of the boiler throughout the year. “The controls are such that we don’t make adjustments at all. The system learns and fine-tunes settings as needed.”

One of the most significant benefits of the new Weil-McLain boiler installation was the energy savings realized. Fuel costs for the building decreased more than 40 percent from gas bills years earlier.

Additionally, the system operates quietly. “When the boiler turns on and the radiators are operating, you sense the heat, but you don’t hear anything,” he said. “It just purrs. And, most importantly, tenant complaints were reduced.

“I believe that steam boilers with radiators really is just the most perfect, comfortable heating method,” Wood added. “We have been absolutely pleased and impressed since the new boiler was installed. And, we’ve saved a lot of money.”

Weil-McLain, a division of The Marley-Wylain Company, a subsidiary of SPX Corporation, is a leading North American designer and manufacturer of hydronic comfort heating systems for residential, commercial and institutional buildings since 1881. The Marley-Wylain Company is part of the HVAC business segment of SPX Corporation.

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Aviation obstruction lights have been seen on tall structures since the 1930s with the start of nighttime flights. In the 1990s came cell phone towers, and more recently, wind turbines have become a common sight on the North American landscape. All of these obstacles are considered intrusions to navigable airspace and require a means of warning to approaching pilots of the inherent danger of the obstruction.

As member states of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the U.S., Canada and Mexico have similar obstruction lighting regulations. However, each country has its unique differences that are critical to compliance.

SPX Flash Technology recently provided detailed insight on the various international obstruction lighting regulations to North American Windpower, defining those differences and the government bodies that control them.

Read Article in North American Wind Power

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SPX has a long history of designing and manufacturing cooling systems and other thermal components for power plants of all types, including coal-fired, nuclear, natural gas, combined cycle, geothermal and solar. In fact, today SPX cooling and thermal equipment is utilized in thousands of power plants around the world.

Equipped with a wealth of power plant engineering expertise accumulated over the past century, the company has deep understanding of how various power plant components can – and should – work together optimally. As such, SPX is well positioned to help power plant owners design their plants and achieve long term peak performance and efficiency. SPX’s best practice approach to power plant systems design hinges on the notion of “Cold-end Optimization.” Paul Lindahl, Director of Market Development for SPX Thermal Equipment & Services, explains why.

What’s the main concept behind SPX’s approach to ‘Cold-end Optimization’ when it comes to designing power plant systems?

Optimizing the long-term performance and efficiency of a power plant hinges on fully understanding how the plant’s cooling system and heat exchange system will need to work together in order to achieve the best possible overall performance. The key to doing this is determining very early on in the plant’s design stage the best possible configuration of the cooling towers, condensers and steam turbines so they will eventually operate together in the most efficient, effective way. In an ideal situation, all of this should be mapped out early on during in the plant design as soon as the steam turbine performance is available.

What should power plant owners do to accomplish this?

To do this, power plant owners need to take a holistic approach to reducing total energy consumption throughout the lifecycle of the power plant. Too often, power plant equipment is purchased based on an assessment of cost and value delivered by each individual component in a vacuum, with limited consideration for how all of the different components will operate in concert. An early focused assessment of interrelated components, with the support of SPX and other key equipment providers, can lead to a superior performing and more cost effective solution, while also reducing overall carbon emissions.

What else is vital to achieving cold-end optimization?

Optimizing the way a power plant’s cooling system operates in tandem with its steam turbine is a vital aspect of cold-end optimization. It’s imperative that the plant’s cooling system be designed with thorough, detailed information about the steam turbine and all its specifications. Unfortunately, because power plant operators are constantly trying to rein in costs, very often the various components are bid on and purchased independently, without fully considering how they will eventually operate together. As a result, cooling systems and steam turbines purchased from different vendors are not always optimally suited to work together.

What needs to change?

In our view, power plant owners should try to move away from a cost-driven approach to plant design, and take more of a holistic approach. That means working closely with SPX’s expert design engineers at the outset, and making sure that all the necessary information is shared early on so that our engineers can appropriately consider how all of the various power plant components need to work together. The end goal should be on achieving the best possible long-term efficiency and performance, balancing upfront costs with plant efficiency to ensure that all of the parts are the right parts.

Why is SPX particularly well-suited to help power plant owners achieve cold-end optimization?

Our Thermal Equipment & Services business has decades of experience and proven expertise across a broad spectrum of cooling systems, heat exchangers and other critical components for power plants of all types. Through our SPX Cooling Technologies and SPX Heat Transfer lines of business, we have the engineering experience necessary to evaluate the full lifecycle operation of a power plant, and perhaps even more important, the deep product knowledge that really only comes from decades of designing and manufacturing these critical components.

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SPX Genfare is the focus of a lengthy feature article in the March issue of BUSRide magazine. For nearly 50 years, BUSRide has been a leading trade publication serving the North American bus and motorcoach industries, reaching more than 35,000 owners, operators, administrators and managers and key decision makers.

Titled “Ticket to Ride,” the article positions SPX Genfare as a leader in innovative, e-ticketing and smartcard-enabled bus fare collection systems and the success of its Vendstar® ticket vending machines (TVMs), which are utilized in major metropolitan areas such as Dallas, Texas. Above all, SPX Genfare prides itself on developing customized fare collections solutions that meet the needs of its transportation agency customers around the country.

As SPX Genfare President Kim Green shares in the article: “We help agencies customize fare budget programs by building on a proven product. It can be configured with different hardware options along with advanced software to provide a full range of ticket payment and dispensing methods. The flexibility designed into Vendstar TVMs lets them provide the exact kind of service passengers want for years to come.”

Read article in BUSRide Magazine

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SPX Genfare is a leader in providing customized fare solutions to transit agencies of all sizes throughout North America. As a leader in fare collection systems for more than three decades, the company focuses on delivering solutions that are secure, reliable and highly flexible.

Genfare is working to bring the latest innovations in fare control and management to public transportation carriers and their transit customers. Genfare integrated systems encompass the latest in electronic validating fare boxes, smart card and mobile payment options, ticket vending and point of sale card distribution systems, all managed by sophisticated local and web based data processing systems.

Kim Green, president of SPX Genfare, explains how the company is bringing new fare control and management technologies to market to enhance municipal transportation systems.

What are some of the key trends and customer needs that are helping to drive demand for your solutions? 

Several factors are driving demand. First and foremost is technology. Genfare has a long history in the fare collection business and is well known in the transit industry. Today’s technology developments are driving our customers (municipal transit systems) to demand better, faster and more convenient methods for their passengers to pay their fares. Fare media is no longer just cash. Our fare payment solutions now must include magnetic swipe cards, chip smart card, mobile phone payment options, as well as credit/debit purchases along with near field communication (NFC).

A second driver is the need for detailed passenger and revenue data within the transit agency. The IT infrastructure and communication advances that are now available are driving Genfare product development and creating new fare collections solutions. For example, fare collection systems were once a more simple operations and maintenance concern. Today’s customers are much more sophisticated buyers and their concerns have expanded to include IT infrastructure, security and compliance and a strong desire for agencies to be able to communicate on an open platform. These changes have impacted our business model and how we look at the future. We are in the final stages of developing a hosted solution for our backend data collection and reporting system called Genfare Link. This solution will allow agencies to pick and choose what modules they need to build a configurable fare collection system to meet their needs all via a web-based solution.

Genfare Link combined with our full line of fare collection products will create a new solution and robust upgrade path for existing Genfare clients. Genfare is building the foundation needed to bring us to another level within our transit business.

What are some of the more innovative products / solutions you’ve introduced in recent years? 

There are several new systems and products we have introduced that are in difference phases of development.

• Fast Fare & Fast Fare-e: This suite of products includes the Fast Fare, which is a new, fully featured fare box that accepts mobile payment, smart cards and more traditional forms of payment like magnetics and cash. The Fast Fare-e offers all of the benefits of a farebox with the exception of cash. This versatile unit can be placed nearly anywhere and accepts mobile payment, smart cards and magnetics.
• Genfare Link: Our new robust back end data collection and reporting system will initially feature: Admin, eFare and Reporting and soon be followed by inventory management, fare management, asset management, real time monitoring, invoicing and so much more.
• e-Fare: Our smart card driven web-based platform that has been designed for three audiences: the transit rider, the agency partner (such as a university or business partner) and the administrative backend for agency customer service and IT. The Rider portion, allows riders to buy passes online, register them for added privileges such as a monthly auto-load feature, the ability to store multiple cards within an account and report a card lost or stolen with a simple click. The agency partner site is a great way to reduce the transit workload by establishing a website that allows partners to manage their own rider base, storing and assigning cards as needed.
• Point of Sale Systems: Both the Retail Point of Sale and Agency Point of Sale devices can be placed in an agency story or partner location to encode fare media, process payment and distribute electronic media immediately.

What are some of the things that set SPX Genfare solutions apart from the competition?

Genfare has a wealth of expertise and experience in developing fare collection solutions. Our team has more cumulative fare collection experience than any of our competitors. Our ability to understand our customers’ businesses and configure solutions that work today and provide them with expandability of our software and hardware in the future helps set us apart from others in the industry. Genfare has a proven, 30-year tradition of keeping fare collection secure, reliable and accurate. We keep our clients securely moving forward.

What do your employees get most excited about and what’s special about them?

The Genfare team is fortunate to have a diverse group of employees. Some have been with us for more than 30 years; others for less time, but with varied backgrounds that add to our technical savvy. The most exciting thing among all employees is the interaction between our long-term experienced workforce and our next generation employees. We are able to leverage the tremendous knowledge and experience with new and versatile technical platforms which make it easier for all employees to better understand the business and develop cutting-edge products and services for our clients. All of this adds to our ability to improve our client solutions.

What kinds of skills / talents do employees in your business need today to succeed? 

The Genfare team has a range of talents and expertise in the fare collection business. Most recently, we have greatly expanded our engineering group to better address the rapidly changing technologies and business requirements of our clients. New technology and more sophisticated buyers require more technical sales, marketing and program teams to support our continued sales and service efforts. And, of course, our manufacturing and operations team is constantly updating and enhancing our internal processes to ensure that we use the most modern and efficient methods to produce our equipment and systems. We have become a much more client-centric business which has allowed us to change our business model from what was once just a hardware manufacturer to a system supplier that provides total client solutions. We have also made an investment in the way we service our clients to enable better customer support responsiveness and after sales support.

What are some of the biggest challenges facing the industry you serve? 

The transit industry continues to undergo significant change. Our customers are now “mobility managers” – not just “bus companies.” What was once an operations- and maintenance-driven business has begun to embrace new technology and is becoming a much more service- and data-driven business. SPX Genfare is changing with them and will continue to meet their ever-changing requirements with new and innovative solutions to their fare collection needs.

Learn more about SPX Genfare

Watch a short video on SPX Genfare

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