Challenges
The Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, otherwise known as LYNX, operates 290 fixed-route buses in Florida's busy tourist cities. With their pre-existing dispatching processes, LYNX had no way of knowing the exact location of their buses or if buses were running on schedule. This impeded their ability to improve on-time service rates.

Solution
LYNX's goals were to improve on-time service, be more responsive to customers, and reduce fuel costs with efficient routing. To achieve this they chose Mentor Streets® Transit, a fully integrated ITS solution that includes Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) software application that allows LYNX dispatchers to track buses in real time on color-coded, highly customizable maps.

This project began in February 2008, and by April the system was installed and operating. Brent Ritchie, Mentor's Regional Sales Manager, says: "The LYNX project represents the largest Mentor Streets AVL installation of its kind. LYNX has been exceptional to work with. Their expectations and understanding of Streets, and Mentor's integration expertise, has combined to make this a very successful project."

Results
When customer service receives 'Where's my bus?' questions from riders they can look at their onscreen map to see the exact location of the bus in question, streamlining the process. In addition, David Burnett, Deputy Chief of Operations at LYNX, says that: "This technology helps us deal with the rising price of gas by reducing idle time for drivers. For example, if there is an accident on the expressway, dispatchers can instantly see which buses are going to be affected by viewing the AVL map and can re-route those drivers so they aren't stuck idling."

Building on their AVL acquisition, LYNX will soon be equipping their fleet with the Streets CAD module as well as Mentor Ranger® rugged in-vehicle computers, to expand and enhance Streets functionality in the field and the office. This will enable two-way data communication and a single point of login for drivers, as well as giving managers access to reporting and incident management modules. 

"NOW WE CAN ADVERTISE THAT WE CAN TRACK ANY BUS, ANY TIME, 365 DAYS A YEAR. THAT HELPS US TREMENDOUSLY AND MAKES US MORE RESPONSIVE TO OUR RIDERS."

- Dave Burnett, Deputy Chief of Operations, LYNX

ROI

Reduced Fuel Costs Improved On-time Service Real-time, Accurate Answers to Customer Questions