Paratransit ITS

1. Paratransit ITS June 2, 2010 How to Increase Efficiency and Improve Customer Service with Technology Presented by Gregory Osmond, Transit Project Manager, Mentor Engineering

2. Familiar Challenges: • Customers demand accurate ETAs • Need to improve on-time performance • Managing on-demand trips and no-shows • Cumbersome paperwork and manual data entry

3. What to Expect When Adding MDT/AVL Technology • Return On Investment (ROI): • Save time and reduce data entry • Improve on-time performance • Easier to make schedule changes • Happier customers

4. Return on Investment • On-time performance • greater than 99%. • 32% decrease in customer • complaints • Easily manage hundreds of • same day changes • Streamlined dispatching • processes by at least 50% • 24% increase in revenue trips • per hour • 35% + time savings in • scheduling same day trips THE RIDE: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Agency (MBTA) YORK REGION TRANSIT (YRT) 4

5. What is a Paratransit ITS solution exactly? • It includes: • Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) software • Dispatch scheduling software • Wireless Network • In-vehicle mobile computers

6. How does the technology work? Wireless Network

7. ROI #1: Reduce Data Entry to Save Time Challenge: • Time-consuming and error-prone manual data entry • Unreliable handwritten driver manifests

8. Solution: • Eliminate data entry with automated data collection • Mobile computing electronically captures: • Driver logon/logoff and break times • Driver status • Pick-up and drop-off trip information • Vehicle location “Time wise, drivers save 30 minutes at the beginning of each shift. Also, there is an extra half-hour saved at the end of each shift that used to be spent on data entry.” PAUL PRICE, TRANSIT OPERATIONS SUPPORT SUPERVISOR, ARLINGTON HANDITRAN

10. Driver Logon

11. Trip Manifest

12. Trip Details

14. ROI #2: Improved On-Time Performance Challenge: • Key to service quality and happy customers • Difficult to measure when driver/vehicle whereabouts are unknown • Lost drivers negatively effect on-time performance

15. Solution: • Real-time communication • Monitor vehicle locations to improve on-time service • On-the-fly, optimized trip scheduling • In-vehicle, turn-by-turn navigation • Instantly update manifests and notify drivers of schedule changes “With AVL, we’re now able to check the real-time status of drivers and, if we see a time issue developing, we can make schedule adjustments to ensure on-time service. JILL BROWN, OPERATIONS MANAGER, LEE TRAN

16. In-vehicle Navigation

17. How it Works

18. How it Works

19. ROI #3: Increase Staff Retention Challenge: • Learning curve can be too steep when training new drivers • Customer satisfaction and on-time service suffers • Radio dispatching requires a specialized skill set

20. Solution: • In-vehicle, user-friendly touch screen manifests walk drivers through the pick-up and drop-off process • CAD/AVL makes it easy for anyone to be a dispatcher, reduces the need for radio communication • Results in a quieter, less stressful work environment • Turn-by-turn navigation prompts ensure drivers will always find their way “With the onboard maps drivers are able to quickly find their next pickup and drop-off location, leading to more on-time service and happier customers. PETER GAJDJIS, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, LEE TRAN

21. ROI #4: More Satisfied Customers Challenge: • Increasing demand for paratransit services • Improving customers’ ease of access to service • Providing accurate ETAs • Handle last minute schedule changes

22. Solution: • See real-time GPS data on the AVL maps with vehicle location and status • Give customers accurate ETAs and manage last minute trips or no-shows easily “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.” RAJEEV ROY, MANAGER OF TRANSIT MANAGEMENT SERVICES, YORK REGION TRANSIT (YRT)

23. Solution: Complaint Resolution • Office receives time-stamped speed and location data • Evaluate negative driver behavior and improve complaint resolution • Generate historical driver/vehicle activity data • Correlate actual events with scheduled routes and events to assist in reviewing customer complaints

24. Customer

25. How it Works

26. ROI #5: Easier Schedule Changes Challenge: • Altering schedules is difficult • Ad hoc trips, last minute cancellations • Often involves multiple calls to different drivers, excessive radioing, chaos in the dispatch office • Customers expect this level of service

27. Solution: • In-vehicle mobile computers support electronic manifests and instant schedule updates • Real-time vehicle status and location information (AVL) • Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) software "We can handle hundreds of same-day modifications and changes easily because we have a better feel of where the fleet is and where our slack time is." Paul Strobis, Assistant Manager, Paratransit Contract Operations, MBTA

28. Before ITS Customer Driver Driver Customer Customer Driver

29. How it Works

30. ROI #6: Managing Driver Behavior Challenge: • Better service is always in demand • Service areas and ridership are increasing • Budgets are decreasing • Difficult to know what drivers are doing

31. Solution: • Speed and idling data is sent to the office in real-time • Use this data to address wasteful driver behaviors and minimize vehicle costs (i.e. fuel, maintenance) • AVL , closest vehicle routing, and real-time manifest updates = fuel savings and greater efficiency

32. Speeding & Idling • Speed and idling are two of the biggest causes for increased operating costs • Know when vehicles exceed a preset speed threshold, generate speed reports • Identify at-risk drivers and encourage safer driving practices • ITS technology lets you know how much fuel is wasted by excessive idling • Correct wasteful driving behaviors and save fuel costs

33. Did You Know… Reducing idle time by just 10% can result in a 10-20% increase in fuel efficiency 30 minutes of idling per vehicle per day would cost $24,090 a year for a 50 vehicle fleet

34. ITS in Action Major Urban Paratransit Agency: • Using a test subset of their fleet, the agency reported drivers exceeding their speed threshold by 32 mph equaled an additional cost of $1.28 per gallon of gas to the agency • Based on 9 vehicles, the agency reported 2.79 hrs of idling per vehicle per day = $6.96 per vehicle per day • Total fleet: 650 vehicles = $4,524 of fuel wasted per day

37. ROI #7: Expand Green Initiatives Challenge: • Support sustainable transportation practices while improving operations • To maximize your investment, you need to choose technology that improve all areas of your organization

38. Solution: • Electronic manifests and schedules reduce paper • Vehicles can be re-routed instantly, minimizing idling and fuel costs • In-vehicle navigation provides drivers with the most fuel-efficient routes, reducing carbon emissions • Driver monitoring corrects wasteful driving behaviors to save fuel costs Based on a 10-page driver’s manifest and 50 drivers, ITS technology can save $51.44/day, or $18, 776/year in paper and printing costs

39. An ITS Solutionwill help you: • Increase efficiency and minimize operational costs • Provide accurate responses to customer questions • Make on-the-fly schedule changes • Reduce data entry and paperwork • Improve on-time performance • Have management control • Increase driver retention • Keep customers happy

40. Thank you for attending our How to Increase Efficiency and Improve Customer Service with Technology, we hope you found the webinar to be informative. Questions, comments or feedback? Please contact: Jess ParsonsMentor Engineeringjparsons@mentoreng.com 1-403-777-3760 ext. 352 To learn more about paratransit ITS solutions, visit our website: http://www.mentoreng.com/ CLIENT QUOTE