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Use a Real-Time Reporting System That’s Available on the Web 24/7

So many vehicles. So many routes. So many riders. So many variables. Running a modern transit system presents daunting challenges for the very best transportation executives.

Having the right reporting tools in place make a dramatic difference in your team’s ability to operate your system at peak efficiency in spite of the many variables your system faces day in and day out.

The Right Reports Simplify Transit Operations in Even the Largest and most Complicated Systems.

NextBus management reports provide transit executives and supervisors a set of powerful tools to manage their fleet. With these tools, managers get reports on the activities and performance of a single vehicle or route or multiple vehicles and routes selected by the manager. All are easily accessible over the Internet.

The reports are simple to use and provide essential management information, including details on vehicle headways and timepoint schedule adherence.

Management reports are essential for understanding where, why, and how problems are occurring in the system. This knowledge gives dispatchers and supervisors insight into ways to better distribute their resources and results in smoother system operations.

NextBus management reports are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing up-to-the-minute information. Data is stored indefinitely so that valuable reports comparing current and archived data can be created and analyzed.

NextBus standard reports cover most of the information required for managing headway and schedule adherence, from a list of vehicles running and job scheduling, to more complex reports covering details of individual vehicle runs timepoint adherence, and others.

Standard NextBus management reports will enable you to improve:

• Schedule adherence
• Headway management
• Missed blocks
• Vehicle reporting
• Bus operator performance

Performance measurement becomes an easier task with the right set of tools. NextBus management reports provide information you need to optimize your transit operations.

These days, with severely strained resources, those management tools are more important than ever.

 

The venerable Daily Targum reported on the expected disruptions that campus road construction will cause to student and community riders of the university bus system. 

Director of Transportation Services Jack Molenaar and Manager of Transportation Planning Jennifer Stuart Lane hosted a transportation forum March 25, 2009 to present the department’s proposed changes to bus routes and parking permit rates for the upcoming year.

The Rutgers community has already benefitted significantly from the NextBus system. Since its 2005 launch at Rutgers, NextBus has helped reduce student complaints by 35%. This, of course, is a relief in itself; however, fielding fewer complaint calls also leads to increased efficiency, productivity, and job satisfaction among transit employees at both the administrative and operational levels. And with 65,000 riders each day, increasing student satisfaction with transit services was no easy task without NextBus technology.  

The NextBus real-time passenger system will mitigate the disruptive effect of these changes by keeping riders current on arrivals for every changed stop or altered route.

NextBus Can Isolate Instances of Bad Driver Behavior

The forum also gave an opportunity for students to express particular concerns about driver behavior. Molenaar indicated that NextBus reporting tools could identify instances of bad driver behavior from recorded videos.  This enables transportation officials to take corrective action promptly.

The Daily Targum reported just how transit managers can benefit from NextBus technology:

Students raised concerns about bus drivers not stopping at stops or not stopping when they flag down the BrunsQuick Shuttle. Molenaar and Lane said students should contact the department when this happens.
“We can actually go into NextBus and track that. If you give us the time and just get the bus number we can then see yes, they did not stop for you and bring it up and show them the video and show the bus going by,” Lane said.
Molenaar said with the NextBus technology, they can go back and rewind every route and see exactly what a driver did or didn’t do and can view video at their stops, which have cameras.
“We do have drivers that aren’t good sometimes, and when they get a number of complaints we then ask that driver to be removed from service,” Molenaar said.

 

Advice on How to Pursue Those Federal Transit Dollars

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration have issued guidance to assist state and local agencies in preparing for implementation of the stimulus bill.  The guidance includes Q&As and actions that can be taken to expedite economic recovery projects.  According to FHWA, projects such as traffic signal upgrades, traffic monitoring and weigh-in-motion equipment, ramp metering, dynamic message signs, road weather information systems, and similar operational strategies can be included as part of larger projects or as standalone projects. 

To download Q&A’s from the FHWA that should provide answers to many of the questions you’ve certainly been wondering about, click on the link below:

Excellent Whitepaper Just Released on Intelligent Transportation Investments

The ITS Joint Program Office has also announced the availability of a white paper that informs public agencies about investment opportunities in ITS and related operational strategies.

The white paper, “Investment Opportunities for Managing Transportation Performance through Technology,” is now available for your information and use. This white paper was prepared by the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) to inform public agencies about investment opportunities for the economic recovery and stimulus package being developed under the Obama administration. 

The paper contains information about types of projects that support the operation of the transportation system, such as intelligent transportation systems (ITS). It is divided into three sections:

• Summary – .PDF

• Background – Paragraphs on each technology option mentioned – .PDF

• Appendix – One-page summaries of the technology with benefits information – .PDF

Intelligent Transportation Technologies Eligible Under 2009 Economic Stimulus Plan

There is finally some good funding news for transit systems in the United States. Pervasive budget cutbacks have made it difficult to run, let alone improve, public bus and rail systems. That’s about to change because of transit provisions in the stimulus plan.

You community will now have the opportunity to implement intelligent transportation technologies, such as real-time passenger information from NextBus. These solutions will enable you to serve increasing passenger loads with optimum operational and fiscal efficiency. And, we can move quickly to help you implement money-saving NextBus solutions.

Exactly how will NextBus customers benefit from investing federal stimulus dollars? 

They improve their operational productivity, reduce their need to buy new buses, and provide a service to their passengers that empowers them to better manage their time. 

Larger communities have deployed NextBus technology to reduce traffic congestion by increasing public ridership, to reduce emissions by taking cars off the road, and to help us become energy independent. 

In fact, dozens of successful implementations are delivering tangible improvements in transit systems across the country.

Passengers can view this real-time arrival information on signs at stops, at terminals, on the Web, on their cell phones, using text messaging, or through dialing a telephone for an automated response. NextBus allows passengers to reduce their overall travel time, reduce perceived waiting time, and reduce exposure to bad weather and/or crime.

In fact, not a week goes by without emails from happy transit passengers who tell us: “I love NextBus”.

Large, medium, and small transit systems rely on NextBus 

NextBus, is the North American leader in utilizing GPS and GIS technology to provide Real-Time Passenger Information, including accurate predicted arrival times and expected delays or service interruptions, to transit riders.

Three of the top ten transit systems in North America utilize NextBus and we have 50%  of the market for those universities/colleges that have implemented a real-time passenger information solution.

Our customers include such diverse organizations as San Francisco MUNI, WMATA (Washington, D.C.), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, AC Transit, Georgia Tech, and the Pennsylvania Hospital. Toronto Transit, the 3rd largest transit system in North America recently chose NextBus to encourage ridership and increase transit productivity.
To see just how our system works(in real-time), here are links to two live, real-time arrival predictions:
AC Transit Prediction

Rutgers University Prediction

Learn exactly how NextBus can make your operation more productive while increasing rider satisfaction. Simply, email our Director of Business Development, Larry Rosenshein, at larryr@nextbus.com or call him at 973-768-3606.

Intelligent Transportation System Delivers Tangible ROI

Research conducted by Battelle in Northeast Florida for the U.S. DOT illustrated how an ITS delivered significant operational savings across four contiguous counties.

The Northeast Florida Rural Transit ITS project was a demonstration of successful technology deployment in four rural transit Community Transportation Coordinator (CTC) agencies: St. Johns County, Putnam County, Marion County, and Flagler County. Each contiguous county had a rural population with large urban medical facilities located outside its designated service areas.

The following immediate priorities were the basis for implementing an ITS system with the NextBus type capabilities:

• Improve scheduling operations by creating tighter driver assignments and reducing the workload associated with daily scheduling, call intake, and driver-manifest creation.
• Synchronize dispatch and scheduling operations to reduce the dispatcher’s workload by providing better information to the dispatcher.
• Improve workforce management including driver assignments.
• Improve vehicle maintenance strategies

The project’s most profound effects were related to productivity, through more effective scheduling, dispatching, and fleet control. Overall, staff time requirements decreased. Productivity improvements that were experienced in St. Johns County by implementing scheduling software include:

• Reducing office staff from 9 full time equivalents (FTEs) to 4.5 FTEs, resulting in a savings of $58,000 per year.
• A decrease in staff time from four full-time operators to two despite the increase of calls from 150 per day to 300 per day.

Click here to access to full report: Northeast Florida Rural Transit Intelligent Transit System.