Clever Devices

Clever Devices Ltd. is an American multinational technology company, specializing in telematics and intelligent transportation systems for public transit.^[1] Headquartered in Woodbury, New York, Clever Devices has operations in the U.S., Canada, South America, and Europe.^[2]

Clever Devices has its roots in the Heigh Ho Doorbell Company,^[a] a manufacturer of electronic doorbells. The company was founded in the early 1980s by Bill Long, co-owner and bartender of a bar in Port Washington, New York, and initially based in the bar's basement.^[3] After Heigh Ho folded, Long founded Clever Devices in 1987,^[4][5] and began to produce digital audio devices for a wide range of machines and commercial applications.^[5][6]

In 1996, Clever Devices was contracted to produce audio announcements for taxicabs in New York City, featuring the voices of celebrities. At the time, the company also provided announcements to amusement park rides and casinos.^[7]

Following the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which required U.S. public transit providers to provide audible announcements on their vehicles,^[8] Clever Devices saw growth in providing passenger information systems for public transit.^[5] The company claims to have installed the first automated announcement system on a U.S. transit system in 1997,^[9] and was hired to add electronic announcement systems to Metropolitan Transit Authority buses in New York City in 1998.^[10] By 2000, Clever Devices reached $16 million in annual sales, of which 85% were to public transit agencies.^[5]

In 2002, the company was awarded a major contract to install passenger information systems on the Chicago Transit Authority's bus network,^[11] then its largest order to date.^[4]

In 2012, Clever Devices acquired competitor Digital Recorders;^[12] later, in 2015, the company acquired RSM Services Corporation.^[13] In 2017, the company acquired M.A.I.O.R., an Italian transportation software firm.^[14]

Clever Devices's products include:

• Passenger information and automated announcement systems
• Computer-aided dispatch and automatic vehicle location (CAD/AVL) systems
• Automatic passenger counters
• Audible turn warning alarms^[15]

Notable clients include the Chicago Transit Authority, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority,^[16] Miami-Dade Transit,^[17] Pittsburgh Regional Transit,^[18] and Disney Transport.

• INIT SE
• Trapeze Software