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Dec
15
Dramatic Cost Reduction in Northeast Florida Paratransit System In Spite of Rider Increase
Filed Under AVL Systems, Feature Stories, Intelligent Transportation Systems, Municipal Transit, Paratransit, Success Stories, Transit Management Challenges | Leave a Comment
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.
