Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
Watch and learn how to make use of the essential features of Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) software. With a click of the mouse, managing vehicles is effortless and stress-free. Click here to watch the demo.
Monday, March 29th, 2010
There is a continuing debate surrounding the best type of device for use in field service or enterprise businesses: BlackBerry smartphones or rugged devices? This article, from Mobile Enterprise Magazine, looks at the merit of both, and suggests that rugged devices still have the upper hand in the industry. Here are some advantages rugged devices offer over smartphones:
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
If your transit agency is new to fare collection technology, or are looking to upgrade your current fare collection equipment, here is a webcast you might want to check out. On March 29 2010, APTA is putting on Fare Collection 101, a live video- and- audio stream webcast directly from the APTA 2010 Fare Collection Workshop in San Diego, CA. Listen to industry experts weigh in on the new options out there for fare collection technology. Hear what questions the on-site audience is asking, or submit your own to be answered directly by the panel. Click here for more information about the webcast.
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
The results are in. Monitoring your fleet’s activities is one of the easiest ways to lower your operating costs. With the release of Mentor Fleet Monitor early in 2010, we’ve been running pilot projects with a variety of clients. Here are some of their preliminary findings:
A major utility company piloting idling monitoring on seven vehicles identified that between $45 and $134 was wasted in fuel each month from unnecessary idling. When extended to their 4500 vehicle fleet, unnecessary idling would cost the company over $86,000 in wasted fuel per month. A 50% reduction in idling, accomplished by identifying negative driver behaviors with the information provided in the idling monitoring reports, would result in a cost savings of more than $500,000 a year.
Using speed monitoring on a nine vehicle subset of their fleet, a major urban paratransit agency identified over 1400 speed threshold violations in one week. Their reports showed that drivers reached a top speed of 87 miles per hour, 32 miles per hour over the pre-set limit. Drivers travelling at these speeds would cost the agency an additional $1.28 per gallon of gas, not to mention significantly increasing the risk of an accident. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), each five miles per hour above the speed limit has the net effect of increasing the cost of a gallon of gas by twenty cents.
A Canadian paratransit agency implemented AVL technology to monitor a twelve vehicle subset of their fleet and optimize driving behaviors. The agency eliminated over 140 unnecessary miles each month. Projected to the 17 vehicle fleet, using AVL to optimize routing will save the agency over 2400 miles or 173 gallons of fuel over a year.
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
This video highlights the great new features of the Purchase Area Regional Transit’s (PART) groundbreaking Travel Management Coordination Center (TMCC) in Western Kentucky. PART is a cooperative effort between four transit providers in Western Kentucky: Paducah Area Transit System, Easter Seals West Kentucky, Fulton County Transit Authority and Murray-Calloway Transit Authority. They have implemented an ITS solution to more efficiently manage the transportation and information needs of those living in the Purchase Area region of Western Kentucky.
The four transit agencies are connected through a centralized computer network which increases dispatching efficiency. Using Computer Assisted Scheduling and Dispatching (CASD) and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), dispatchers can keep track of all trips and vehicles. AVL constantly sends every vehicle’s precise location to the central dispatching computer network so that PART dispatchers always know the nearest vehicle to a caller.
The centralized computer network communicates with all the vehicles of the four transportation providers through in-vehicle mobile computers. The in-vehicle units keep drivers aware of all pick-ups and drop-offs, and dispatchers can send messages directly to the driver’s in-vehicle computer if there are changes to their schedule.
Customers will be able to access the TMCC by phone or via the PART website to make or modify travel plans. Customers will be able to receive information not only for transportation, but for health and human services and general governmental and educational information as well. For more information about PART, and their exciting new project, click here to visit their website.
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
It’s simple: keep your riders informed. Here is a good article from Mass Transit on the various technologies available out there to communicate with your riders, from customized web sites, to real-time passenger information and CAD/AVL systems. The benefit of providing accurate transit information to your riders is twofold: if people are confident and comfortable using your system, it will likely increase ridership and reduce traffic congestion. Read more about passenger information technology and its benefits.
Monday, March 8th, 2010
If your company is looking to develop a best-in-class scheduling plan, check out this article from the Aberdeen Group. Their report provides important steps to take when developing new scheduling processes or reorganizing existing ones. Also, you will find some interesting comparative statistics between Best-in-Class and Laggard organizations. Here is a brief summary of the key points:
Mapping out the overall process and required resources at every stage will help identify which areas of the process need the most attention and investment.
Involving all the impacted stakeholders in the development of an optimal service delivery process is an essential step. Appointing a service executive to provide valuable oversight and accountability adds a comprehensive view of the desired result.
Raising your company’s visibility can be considered a strategic action in addressing resource management and customer satisfaction pressures.
This is an important step to take in order to allocate resources appropriately and ensure improved performance.
This reduces the margin for error and supplements organizational shift.
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Metro Magazine gives a detailed look at sustainability trends and issues affecting the transit industry. The Sustainability Commitment launched by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is discussed, as well as the LEED certification process. Click here to read the entire article.
