Another new owner for C.R. transit software firm

A new Canadian parent could be a positive for a Cedar Rapids producer of GPS-based intelligent transit systems used on buses and fleet vehicles that has been through several owners.

Trapeze Software, a unit of Toronto-based Constellation Software, closed this week on its acquisition of the Continental Public Transit Division of German automotive giant Continental AG. It will be known locally as Trapeze ITS USA.

Intelligent transportation systems typically combine computers with Global Positioning Systems technologies to tell fleet operators where vehicles are and if they are running on time. They can also provide information such as whether vehicles are running too fast, if they are having mechanical problems, and how many passengers they are carrying.

Trapeze ITS USA General Manager David Brandauer said the new owner should be good for the business because it will be able to focus now on its core mass transit markets and will be separated from the troubled automotive market, Continental AG's main business.

The company employs about 85 people at 5265 Rockwel Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, which will be the North American headquarters of the newly created Trapeze ITS USA division of Trapeze Software.

If the Continental name isn't familiar to Corridor business observers, it may be because its owners have changed several times.

The operation began as part of Rockwell Collins that produced GPS-based products for mass transit markets. It later was acquired by Siemens Transportation Systems, and more recently Continental AG.

The world headquarters of Trapeze ITS will be in Switzerland, where Continental Public Transit was based.