— Auckland Transport

Auckland Transport pioneers automated testing to build a better bus stop.

Organisation

Auckland Transport

Industry

Public Sector

Solutions

Test Automation

Download case study

About

Auckland Transport manages a complex system of data to ensure thousands of buses run predictably and efficiently every day. The Equipment Operational Data (EOD) database is used to manage schedules, changes, and updates for multiple agencies. However, the current manual testing process is inefficient, with lead times of up to two weeks to get the job done. Assurity was engaged to automate the EOD database construction and testing process, but the complexity of the system makes automation challenging. The manual process also makes it difficult to hire new testers with the necessary experience.

Solution

Assurity worked with Auckland Transport to improve data validation testing by centralising and automating the test database build. A custom cloud-native application was developed to automate infrastructure provisioning and provide an EOD test portal, which integrates with AT’s Azure DevOps Boards, Azure Test Plan, and DevOps CI/CD pipelines. The solution removed the need for testers to download and create personal versions of the EOD database, relieving them of manual and error-prone steps. The success of the initial effort led to further work, with Assurity identifying common change types and delivering automation for three of them, with potential for further automation in the future.

“If we can bring those change types into production, we’ll be able to do in one day what presently takes around two weeks…The work done to date sets the scene for AT to expedite changes, with a capability to do more in the same window of time.”

Hari Emani, Test Manager

Auckland Transport

Results

The outcome was an automated infrastructure that enabled faster and more accurate data management, resulting in a more responsive data and testing team. This eliminated tedious manual work and reduced errors, freeing up the operations team to focus on higher-value tasks.

Have a project in mind?

Let’s talk