Australian transport systems company Technisyst has acquired subsidiaries Saab ITS and Saab Professional Systems from the global Saab Group.

The deal means the wireless data solutions provider has complete ownership of the intellectual property related to the RAPID Bus Priority and Real Time Passenger Information System and the Tidal Flow Lane Control System previously owned by the Saab companies.

Technisyst CEO Bill Delaney said the acquisitions were a vital part of the company’s international expansion plans, with the ITS technology strongly complimenting Technisyst’s existing dominant position in supplying mobile data systems to public safety agencies throughout Australia and New Zealand.

"We are now able to progress talks with potential integration partners in North America, Europe and elsewhere as we seek to exploit this world class technology," Mr Delaney said.

RAPID is designed to ensure public transport systems run efficiently by requesting green lights for late running buses and providing real time information to passengers at stops and interchanges using electronic signs that display arrival times of vehicles.

The technology uses global positioning to track the buses by satellite and advanced wireless data systems to maintain communications between the control centre, the buses on the road, and the live signs at the bus stops.

Technisyst is currently implementing RAPID in Victoria Australia as prime contractor for the Melbourne SmartBus Project which is being built to track more than 3,000 buses and trams, and display real time arrival information on more than 1,000 electronic displays located throughout the city.

RAPID has already been fully deployed in Auckland New Zealand.  

Bill Delaney said that Auckland and Melbourne are amongst the largest installations of their type in the world, and Technisyst is actively working on similar opportunities in the Australasian market.

"This technology has reached a point of maturity where governments across the globe can rely upon it to administer complex performance contracts with bus operators," Mr Delaney said.

"The bus operators can use the technology to more efficiently manage their fleet, and the general public is responding by increasing patronage on services where the technology is deployed, because they no longer face the frustrations of old fashioned, unreliable public transport.

"Independent research is showing us that the global market for this technology exceeds $8 billion.  Having already beaten a strong field of international competitors in Melbourne, Technisyst is now poised to carve out a significant piece of this global market."

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.