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When CATA began in 1972, it operated 14 bus routes and serviced 750,000 rides. The number of bus routes has doubled since then. In 2016, passengers took a record 10.8 million rides on CATA. As a result, the agency wanted to enhance its operations management by: reducing the amount of time necessary to process a bid, reducing the amount of errors that occurred during this process, and allowing operators greater access to their own information.
A smooth transition from paper to computer was a concern as this was the first major project that involved having to train operators on computer usage and function. As a result of this basic change in culture, a minimum of backlash was anticipated and had to beaddressed proactively.
Trapeze OPS-WEB was the clear choice for CATA as it was a seamless integration with their pre-existing Trapeze products -- OPS, COM, PASS, and FX. The comprehensive operational review gave CATA a significant amount of time to discuss business strategies and practices with a Trapeze product expert. They were able to look at those practices and help to configure the product to CATA’s needs.
Having a test environment to learn on and train operators was the most significant success factor. Being able to train and learn on the actual software without having to worry about damaging live data or disrupting daily activities was very beneficial.
What we can process electronically in one hour, previously took 10 fold as many hours to process by paper and pencil. Operators have enjoyed having more access to their own information.”
Prior to implementing OPS WEB, a second dispatcher often spent eight hours calling and contacting operators via phone to solicit their bid choices which they would record on a paper form. They would then tum over that paper form to an administrative staff person who spent about three to four hours per day inputting bid information from a paper bid sheet into the OPS program.
With OPS WEB, CATA has cut down those 11 hours of labor down to one hour per day. During the bid cycle which takes 13 days for 210 operators, they are saving 130 hours of labour in processing bid requests.
The biggest impact is in the operator ranks. CATA has smoothly introduced a major technology project and received positive buy-in from the vast majority of operators. Showing how technology can benefit them provides the groundwork for many other pieces of technology to be accepted by operator ranks in the future. Instead of technology being feared, it is now a tool that is looked upon with an open mind.
The solution has given operators greater and easier access to their own information. Operators are now better informed about detours, work assignments, bid results, absence accruals, absence that have been scheduled, amongst others, which result in fewer errors. The amount of labor saved in the dispatch office and the administrative office has allowed employees to concentrate on the important daily tasks instead of being distracted with secondary responsibilities.