Buses tracked, fares collected and riders informed, with the IT behind it secured

Public Transit Agencies IT Services

When a transit agency’s systems fail, riders see it first: arrival signs go blank, the app shows ghost buses, paratransit trips get missed and fareboxes stop taking cards.

Talk to Us About Public Transit Agencies IT 888.792.8080

SOC 2 Aligned

Responsive Support

20+ Years Experience

At a glance

Your service depends on CAD/AVL, onboard routers on every vehicle, fare collection, real-time feeds and the scheduling software that books rides for people who can’t use fixed routes.

We run and secure the IT for urban, small-city and rural transit agencies, from the admin office to the depot and the onboard network.

Vehicle systems and fare hardware stay with their vendors; we secure the networks and accounts around them. We work with transit agencies in Texas and nationwide.

IT that keeps buses on the map, fares flowing, paratransit on time.

CAD/AVL, onboard networks and fare systems run and protected, so riders get accurate arrivals and rides that show up.

Transit operations

Service riders feel within minutes

A transit agency is a fleet, a payment processor, a scheduling service and a public information office at the same time. Each depends on systems that span the admin building, the depot, dozens of vehicles on the street and vendors who host half the stack. Here’s where that service is fragile, and what we build so it isn’t.

01 · The pressure

Dispatch, fares and riders who depend on you

Dispatchers watch every vehicle on CAD/AVL and talk to operators all shift. Fareboxes and mobile ticketing feed revenue reports. Real-time data flows to arrival signs, trip planners and the agency app. Paratransit schedulers book trips for riders with disabilities who can’t wait for the next bus. Federal reporting depends on accurate ridership and mileage data. When systems go down, riders are stranded, phones light up and board members hear about it before you do.

Dispatch tracking every vehicle on the street
Paratransit riders who can’t wait for the next bus
Ridership data feeding federal reports

02 · How it breaks

Depot Wi-Fi, vendor tunnels and phished schedulers

Vehicles download schedule and software updates over depot Wi-Fi that shares a password with the break room. Onboard routers keep factory admin credentials. Several vendors hold standing remote access into CAD/AVL and fare servers, and nobody is sure which tunnels are still used. A scheduler’s mailbox gets phished, exposing rider eligibility files. Ransomware on the admin network spreads to the dispatch servers because everything shares one flat network.

Depot Wi-Fi shared between buses and break room
Onboard routers left on factory credentials
Flat networks linking admin PCs to dispatch

03 · What we change

Segmented depots and controlled vendor access

We separate admin, dispatch, depot vehicle networks, fare systems and public Wi-Fi into distinct segments with firewall rules between them. Onboard routers get unique credentials and central management. Vendor access to CAD/AVL and fare servers moves to a brokered, logged path. Schedulers and finance staff get phishing-resistant MFA. Fare systems are scoped and hardened for PCI. Changes inside vehicle electronics stay with the OEM and integrator.

Depot, dispatch, fare and admin networks separated
Onboard routers centrally managed with unique logins
Vendor tunnels brokered and logged

04 · The after

Service that keeps running on a bad day

If an admin PC gets compromised, dispatch keeps tracking buses because the networks aren’t connected. Your fare data and PCI scope are documented when the processor asks. Paratransit rider files are protected by access controls and MFA, not just a shared drive password. When the board or a federal reviewer asks about cybersecurity, you show inventories, vendor access logs and a tested recovery plan instead of reassurances.

Dispatch isolated from admin-side incidents
Fare systems documented for the processor
Recovery plan tested, not theoretical

Systems we keep running

Trapeze PASS
Clever Devices CleverCAD
Avail myAvail
Swiftly
Masabi Justride
Esri ArcGIS
Microsoft 365

Rules we help you meet

PCI DSS 4.0
FTA National Transit Database reporting (49 CFR Part 630)
CJIS Security Policy (agencies with transit police)
2 CFR 200.303 (federal grant internal controls)

What We Offer

Comprehensive solutions tailored for Houston-area businesses

CAD/AVL Infrastructure Support

Computer-aided dispatch and automatic vehicle location are the heart of daily operations. We manage the servers, databases and dispatcher workstations behind them, monitor availability with automated tools, coordinate upgrades with your vendor and keep tested backups. If a dispatch server fails, there’s a documented recovery path instead of operators calling in locations over the radio for the rest of the day.

Onboard & Depot Networks

Every vehicle carries a router linking CAD/AVL, cameras, passenger counters and rider Wi-Fi to the depot and the cloud. We manage those routers centrally with unique credentials, separate rider Wi-Fi from operational traffic, and design depot wireless so vehicles pull updates and video over a secured network rather than one shared with staff phones and the break room.

Fare Payment Security

Validators, fareboxes, ticket vending machines and mobile ticketing all touch card data or payment tokens. We help you define PCI DSS scope, segment fare systems from everything else, manage the back-office servers and accounts on the IT side, and work with your fare vendor on patching. Hardware inside the farebox and validators stays with that vendor and its support contract.

Paratransit Data Protection

Paratransit eligibility files can include disability information, home addresses and caregiver contacts. We lock down the scheduling system and the files around it with named accounts, MFA, role-based access and audit logging. Eligibility documents stop living in email attachments and shared folders, and departing schedulers lose access the day they leave instead of whenever someone notices.

Real-Time Feed & Signage

Arrival predictions flow from AVL into feeds that power apps, trip planners and stop signs. We secure the servers and accounts that publish that data, monitor feed health, and lock down signage management so a hijacked display or a stale feed doesn’t send riders to the wrong stop or broadcast something your agency never approved on a public screen.

Grant & Federal Reporting Data

Ridership, revenue miles and safety data feed National Transit Database reports and grant oversight. We protect the systems and spreadsheets that hold that data with access controls and tested backups, and help document IT controls that federal grant rules expect. Accurate data that survives a hardware failure makes reporting season far less stressful for your planning and finance staff.

Why Choose LayerLogix?

Serving businesses throughout the Greater Houston area including Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Atlanta, Nationwide.

Riders Stay Informed

Monitored CAD/AVL, protected feeds and managed signage mean arrival predictions stay accurate. Riders trust the app and the signs, and customer service spends less time explaining why a bus disappeared from the map on a rainy afternoon.

Incidents Stay Contained

Separate networks for admin, dispatch, depot and fares stop a compromised laptop from reaching the systems that run service. A bad day in the admin office no longer has to become a bad day on every route across the system.

Vendors Under Control

A single brokered path for remote support shows exactly which vendor connected, to which system and when. Standing tunnels nobody remembers approving disappear, and your IT lead can finally answer the auditor’s questions about third-party access.

Better Board Conversations

Inventories, access logs and tested recovery plans give your general manager something concrete for the board, federal reviewers and insurers. Cybersecurity becomes a report with evidence rather than a nervous agenda item each spring that nobody wants to own.

Our Process

We meet your operations, IT and finance leads, then walk dispatch, the depot and a vehicle to map every system and connection.

Vendor remote access, onboard router credentials and fare system scope are inventoried, including tunnels nobody has reviewed in years.

Admin, dispatch, depot, fare and public networks are segmented, coordinated with CAD/AVL, fare and vehicle vendors to avoid service disruption.

MFA rolls out to schedulers, dispatch supervisors and finance, and paratransit files move into access-controlled, logged storage.

We back up dispatch, scheduling and reporting data off-site, then run a recovery exercise with dispatch and IT staff.

Ongoing, we monitor systems and links, patch on vendor-agreed schedules and review vendor and user access each quarter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does PCI DSS apply to our fare system?▼

If you accept card payments at fareboxes, validators, ticket machines, a customer service window or online, PCI DSS applies to the systems that handle that card data. Your processor and fare vendor usually carry part of the responsibility, especially with tokenized or account-based systems, but your agency still owns its networks, back-office servers and the people with access. We help you map which pieces are in scope, shrink that scope with segmentation, and keep the evidence your processor expects.

Do you work on vehicle electronics like fareboxes or the onboard computer?▼

Not inside them. Onboard computers, fareboxes, cameras and passenger counters are supported by their manufacturers and your integrator, and changes there can affect warranties and service. We handle the IT side: managing onboard routers, separating rider Wi-Fi from operations, securing the depot wireless that vehicles use to sync, and controlling vendor remote access. When something inside a vehicle system needs to change, we coordinate with the vendor responsible for it.

How should we protect paratransit rider information?▼

Treat it as sensitive, because it is. Eligibility applications can include disability details, medical certifications and home addresses. Start with named accounts and MFA on the scheduling system, role-based access so only staff who need eligibility details can see them, and audit logging. Move documents out of email and shared drives into controlled storage with retention rules. Departing staff and contractors should lose access immediately, which is easiest when accounts are tied to a single directory.

We’re a small rural transit provider. Is this overkill?▼

Not if it’s sized right. Rural and small-city providers run the same kinds of systems as large agencies, often hosted by vendors, with far fewer staff to watch them. The essentials are similar: MFA on email and scheduling, managed routers on vehicles, separate networks for fares and admin, controlled vendor access and tested backups. We scale the work to your fleet and budget, and many rural agencies find co-managed support works well alongside their existing administrative staff.

What happens if CAD/AVL goes down during service?▼

Service continues, but it gets harder: dispatchers lose vehicle positions, arrival predictions stop and paratransit trips get harder to manage. We plan for that ahead of time. Dispatch servers are monitored and backed up, failover options are documented with your vendor, and dispatchers have a written fallback procedure for radio-based tracking. After an outage, we review what failed and adjust so the same problem doesn’t recur next month, and share that review with your operations director.

Can you support an agency far from your offices?▼

Yes. Monitoring, patching, account management, vendor coordination and documentation all happen remotely, which covers most of what an agency needs. When on-site work comes up, such as installing depot access points or replacing a firewall in a maintenance building, our engineers handle it near our offices or direct a vetted local technician while guiding the work remotely and recording the change for your files, whether the site is a downtown depot or a rural maintenance barn.

Do you provide Public Transit Agencies IT Services in Houston and nearby areas?▼

Yes. LayerLogix is based in the Greater Houston area and delivers public transit agencies IT services to businesses across Houston and the surrounding communities, including The Woodlands, Spring, Katy, Sugar Land, Conroe, Cypress, and Pearland. For most Houston-area clients we can be on-site the same day when something needs hands-on attention, and our help desk is available during business hours, with after-hours emergency support. Call 713-571-2390 to check coverage for your specific address.

What does Public Transit Agencies IT Services cost for a Houston business?▼

Pricing depends on your size and what you need, so we do not publish a one-size-fits-all number — but Houston businesses generally pay a flat, predictable monthly fee rather than surprise hourly bills. We start with a free, no-obligation assessment of your current setup, then give you a clear quote in plain English with no hidden costs. That way you know exactly what you are getting and what it costs before you commit.

Ready to Get Started?

Contact LayerLogix today for a free consultation. We serve businesses throughout Houston, Dallas, Austin, and the surrounding Greater Houston area.

Schedule Free Consultation Call 888.792.8080