CALGARY, AB — February 24, 2009

York Region Transit (YRT) offers Mobility Plus paratransit service for riders unable to access conventional or rapid bus transit. Providing this service efficiently to those living in the nine municipalities of York, Ontario, is a challenging task.

To speed their paratransit service, improve response times to calls and streamline the dispatching process, YRT implemented a mobile computing and Computer-Aided Dispatch/Automatic Vehicle Location (CAD/AVL) system from Mentor Engineering and TranSched Systems.

Mentor Engineering provides Mentor Ranger® in-vehicle computers with integrated GPS for vehicle tracking and wireless communications capabilities.
Mentor's Paratransit Mobility software, which runs on Ranger, allows for the wireless delivery of work manifests and turn-by-turn navigation to the driver, and facilitates real-time status updates between drivers and dispatchers.

TranSched's TransView CAD/AVL system was installed at the dispatch center to facilitate reservations, scheduling, dispatching, and routing.

"When customers call to ask 'Why isn't my ride here?' dispatchers can instantly give them an accurate ETA, as they can see exactly where their ride is. Before, the dispatcher would have to conduct a series of calls to get this information to the customer," explains Rajeev Roy, Manager of Transit Management Services at York Region Transit.

Since implementing the system, YRT has experienced benefits ranging from faster incident response times, to improved vehicle productivity, and a decreased environmental impact.

Quantitatively, YRT has realized a 24% increase in revenue trips per hour and seen a 57 kg reduction in CO2 emissions over one month of operation. Interviews with YRT staff have revealed that the solution provided at least a 35% time savings improvement in scheduling same day trips and supplying Mobility Plus riders with travel information has been made at least 50% faster.

"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," concludes Rajeev.

About Mentor Engineering

Founded in 1988, Mentor Engineering designs and manufactures flexible mobile computing and GPS solutions that increase the efficiency and productivity of fleet operations. Mentor is distinguished by technical innovation and services including system integration, training, and on-going support. Read more at www.mentoreng.com.

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