Posts Tagged ‘Routing’
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
The Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, otherwise known as LYNX, operates 290 fixed-route buses in Florida’s busy tourist cities. With their 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.
To meet this challenge LYNX implemented a Transit ITS solution. Since the implementation, LYNX can now provide quick and accurate answers to “Where’s my bus?” questions. 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.”
Click here to read more about how a Transit ITS Solution has improved operations at LYNX.
Monday, September 21st, 2009
Rajeev Roy of York Region Transit
York Region Transit (YRT) serves the transit needs of residents in the nine municipalities of the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario. YRT offers Mobility Plus paratransit service for riders unable to access conventional or bus rapid transit due to limited mobility or disability. Mobility Plus connects riders with dedicated transit services in the City of Toronto, and surrounding areas. Rajeev Roy, Manager of Transit Management Services at YRT gives us some insight into the way ITS technology influenced how his paratransit operation runs and has improved the experience for Mobility Plus riders.
1. What changes has your organization seen as a result of using this technology?
With this system there is the flexibility for dispatchers to add an ad-hoc call to a route since they can see where all the buses are. Passenger safety has also improved with the addition of security cameras and vehicle tracking.
2. What improvements has your staff seen with this system?
We did a survey of the staff who all agreed that service has improved. The vehicle tracking is definitely one of the most beneficial features and, from a management perspective, we also like that we can monitor driver’s speeds.
Since implementing the system, YRT staff have experienced benefits ranging from faster response times, to improved vehicle productivity. The staff have seen at least a 35% time savings improvement in scheduling same-day trips, and supplying riders with travel information has been made at least 50% faster.
3. How do your customers benefit from this system?
When customers call to ask, ‘Why isn’t my ride here?’ dispatchers can instantly give them an accurate ETA, as they can see where their ride is. Before, the dispatcher would have to conduct a series of calls to get this information to the customer.
4. Have you seen a Return on Investment? If so, how much and how quickly?
The implementation was completed in the spring of 2008, and since then there have been improvements in incident response times, safety, trip scheduling and vehicle productivity.
There has been a 24% increase in revenue trips per hour and dispatching functions have been streamlined by at least 50%. A reduction in “deadhead” kilometers traveled by YRT’s vehicles resulted in a reduction of approximately 57kg of CO2 emissions in one month of operation.
Friday, August 21st, 2009
There’s more to a Transit ITS implementation than just installing the technology. What should you expect during this critical stage? The better prepared you are, the smoother your experience will be. Here is a free white paper that breaks down the implementation process and describes ways you can prepare for ITS technology changes.
http://www.mentoreng.com/whitepaper/implementation.html
Monday, August 17th, 2009
There is a need to constantly improve efficiency and quality of service in the paratransit and fixed-route transit industries. One of the best ways to revolutionize your agency is by choosing an ITS solution. The proof is in the ROI. Take a look:
The Denver, Colorado Regional Transportation District (RTD) implemented its AVL system to improve bus service, and succeeded in decreasing passenger late arrivals by 21%. Weatherford, et al. Assessment of the Denver Regional Transportation District Automatic Vehicle Location System.
- Prepared for the USDOT (DOT-VNTSC=FTA=00=04), August 2000.
Transit agencies have reported reductions in fleet requirements ranging from 2% to 5% as a result of efficiencies in fleet utilization.
- http://itsweb.mitretek.org/aptsmatrix
Text messages reduce congested voice radio by up to 70%
- http://itsweb.mitretek.org/aptsmatrix
In San Jose, California, a paratransit program equipped with CAD/AVL and an automated scheduling and routing system, realized increased ridership, better on-time performance, and a $500,000 reduction in annual operating costs.
- http://www.itsbenefits.its.dot.gov/its/benecost.nsf/SingleTax?OpenForm&Query=Transit+Management
Scheduling software enabled St. Johns County in northeast Florida to reduce office staff from 9 to 4.5 full-time equivalents, while doubling the number of daily paratransit trips, saving $58,000 per year.
- http://www.itsbenefits.its.dot.gov/its/benecost.nsf/SingleTax?OpenForm&Query=Transit+Management
The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) reduced scheduled travel times by 10% based on data collected from its AVL system.
- http://www.itsbenefits.its.dot.gov/its/benecost.nsf/SingleTax?OpenForm&Query=Transit+Management
In Chattanooga, Tennessee, fixed-route scheduling software improved operations by saving approximately 60 hours per week in operator labor, resulting in a savings of approximately $62,000 per year.
- http://www.itsbenefits.its.dot.gov/its/benecost.nsf/SingleTax?OpenForm&Query=Transit+Management
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
“A recent report by the analyst firm Aberdeen Group indicates that field service technologies (including scheduling and routing solutions) reduce the overall service costs of an organization by an average of $471,639.”
Beyond cost savings, this article also discusses how routing and scheduling solutions can reduce wait times through predictive scheduling, where an organization can review historical data to see trends so they can schedule workers more effectively. It also looks at how these technologies minimize customer downtime, all improving the customer’s experience.
Click here to read the whole story
