Continuous Dynamic Optimization: Impacts on ADA Paratransit Services (2023) / Chapter Skim
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Chapter 3 - Transit Agency Profiles
Chapter 3 - Transit Agency Profiles
Pages 33-64
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From page 33... ...
With subsequent efforts to expand the number of survey respondents, 11 transit agencies were eventually found to be using CDO in support of their ADA paratransit services, and they completed the survey. The main purpose of these profiles is to create a picture of each transit agency's experience with CDO based on the following information: • Background on how the agency uses CDO, why and when it implemented CDO, and what its goals were in doing so.
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From page 34... ...
CityLink first used CDO in September 2021 when the agency transitioned to Ecolane, and CDO is a standard capability of the Ecolane software. CityLink's goals in using CDO are to improve the productivity of the dedicated fleet and reduce Background Descriptive Statistics Agency: City of Abilene/CityLink Name of Service: ADA paratransit Other Eligible Riders: Other persons with disabilities outside of the typical ¾-mile boundary and clients of sponsoring human service agencies Primary Operator: CityLink Overflow Contractors: LynkUp (a local taxi company)
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From page 35... ...
• Generally optimizing productivity by filling holes created by cancellations or no-shows. Impacts of CDO CityLink reported that CDO resulted in improvements in productivity, operating costs, the need for real-time dispatcher interventions, customer complaints, and system performance.
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From page 36... ...
Trip lists were sent to the contractors on the evening before the service day, and the overflow drivers recorded their service data on their logs. These completed driver logs were later submitted by the contractors to CityLink dispatch for data entry and verification.
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From page 37... ...
had to be changed because of late cancellations, no-shows, and driver shortages, and that with the increasing volume, the automated dispatching was able to keep up with the changes better than the human dispatchers could. As mentioned previously, CapMetro uses the CDO function on a daily basis after the scheduling process has been completed the day before and throughout the service day to do the following: • Schedule unassigned trips.
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From page 38... ...
• South Base -- 108 vehicles, all cutaways; CapMetro owns the facility and the vehicles Booking, Scheduling, and Dispatch Technology: Trapeze since 2001; will soon be transitioning to Spare Labs Service Area Population: 1,318,322 2020 Demand-Response Passenger Trips: • 0 directly operated • 471,000 purchased Source: CapMetro Service Model Reservation and Booking Policies CapMetro performs all the call and control center functions (reservations, scheduling, dispatching, and handling service-day calls from customers)
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From page 39... ...
The schedule optimization processes begin after the reservation period ends the day before the trip and continues throughout the service day. As part of the optimization process, wheelchair trips are batched first, followed by ambulatory trips.
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From page 40... ...
And with the optimization function running continuously through the service day, the process also takes care of same-day bookings. Impacts of CDO MET Transit reported that productivity, operating costs, on-time performance, the need for realtime dispatcher interventions, and system performance improved after implementation of CDO.
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From page 41... ...
Background Descriptive Statistics Agency: City of Billings/MET Transit Name of Service: MET Plus Eligible Customers: ADA paratransit Sole Operator: MET Transit Booking, Scheduling, and Dispatch Technology: Ecolane since 2020 Service Area Population: 110,323 2020 Demand-Response Passenger Trips: • 35,414 directly operated • 0 purchased Source: NTD 2020 Service Model Reservation and Booking Policies MET Transit performs all functions and supplies vehicles and all supporting assets, including technology. Operates with dedicated vehicles only Next-day reservations Advance reservations (no maximum number-of-days limit)
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From page 42... ...
A large part of the transition planning involved Ecolane staff reviewing the scheduling parameters that would be used in both batch scheduling and CDO. Some of these parameters, such as the span of pickup windows and load times, and the maximum onboard time, were easily set -- and could later be changed -- by MET Transit staff.
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From page 43... ...
OPERATIONS ETA CALLSDISPATCHING SCHEDULINGRESERVATIONS Scheduling Practices Dispatching Practices All trips requested from riders are called in and booked in Ecolane. A pickup window is supplied to the rider at that point but is based on the requested pickup time.
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From page 44... ...
Impacts of CDO The RATPDev transit manager reported that CDO has resulted in improvements in productivity, on-time performance, operating costs, the need for real-time dispatcher interventions, customer complaints, and system performance. Productivity increased 10 percent, operating costs decreased 20 percent, on-time performance increased 5 percent, and customer complaints decreased 80 percent.
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From page 45... ...
Name of Service: Green Bay Metro Paratransit Eligible Riders: ADA paratransit Contractor(s) : Via Mobility Booking, Scheduling, and Dispatch Technology: Via Mobility has used its own technology (also used for on-demand, general public microtransit service)
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From page 46... ...
The agency began using continuous optimization at this time not only because it was part and parcel of the functioning of the technology and approach but also because the agency believed it would improve the productivity of the dedicated fleet, reduce overall costs, and improve the quality of dispatching. As mentioned previously, with advance reservations limited to next-day bookings, the optimization process runs continuously throughout the day before the service day and throughout the service day.
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From page 47... ...
Use of CDO Citibus first began using CDO in January 2022 with the implementation of the Spare Labs software. The goals involved in transitioning to this software included improving the productivity of the dedicated fleet and reducing overall costs, improving on-time performance, and improving the overall quality of dispatching.
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From page 48... ...
OPERATIONS ETA CALLSDISPATCHING SCHEDULINGRESERVATIONS Scheduling Practices Dispatching Practices Citibus Access reservation agents book trips but do not perform real-time scheduling; this is done in the background by Spare Labs' continuous optimization processes, which begin when a trip is first booked to a dated schedule (7 days in advance of the trip date) and that continue throughout the service day.
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From page 49... ...
Impacts of CDO The Citibus general manager reported that while the need for real-time dispatcher interventions has been significantly reduced with the automated optimization processes, the number of dispatchers and schedulers did not change after implementation of CDO; nor did dispatcher or scheduler labor costs. At the time of the SB-36 survey of transit agencies, Spare Labs was just turning on the global optimization feature, so the impacts of the optimization were not reported in the survey.
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From page 50... ...
The Citibus general manager indicated that the agency and Spare Labs staff are still trying to figure out a solution to this problem. Citibus also reported that one of the initial challenges of using CDO was that Medicaid passengers would be moved from one run to another, and the assigned driver did not have the proper paperwork to make the pickup.
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From page 51... ...
The agency first used CDO with the transition of the scheduling technology to Ecolane in March 2018. GCTD uses the CDO function after the scheduling process has been completed the day before and throughout the service day for the following purposes: • Moving trips to as few vehicles as possible; in a typical day, one or two runs are terminated early because of this CDO activity, reducing the number of revenue hours required for service.
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From page 52... ...
• Generally optimizing productivity by filling holes created by cancellations, no-shows, or both. Impacts of CDO GCTD reported that productivity, operating costs, on-time performance, the need for real-time dispatcher interventions, customer complaints, and system performance all improved after implementation of CDO.
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From page 53... ...
while requiring fewer revenue service hours, thereby reducing operating expenses. Sheboygan, WI -- Shoreline Metro Exhibit 8 shows the characteristics of the Shoreline Metro system.
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From page 54... ...
since 2016 Service Area Population: 59,490 2020 Demand-Response Passenger Trips: • 18,564 directly operated • 0 purchased Source: NTD 2020 Service Model Reservation and Booking Policies Operated in-house with dedicated vehicles only Shoreline Metro provides the vehicles and all supporting assets. Next-day reservations Advance reservations (no maximum number-of-days limit)
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From page 55... ...
• Generally optimizing productivity by filling holes created by cancellations or no-shows. Impacts of CDO Shoreline Metro reported that productivity, operating costs, the need for real-time dispatcher interventions, and customer complaints all improved after implementation of CDO.
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From page 56... ...
Spare Labs' optimization processes are indeed continuous and not limited to the service day. PSTA's goals were to improve the productivity of the dedicated fleet, reduce overall costs, and improve the overall quality of dispatching.
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From page 57... ...
Scheduling is largely automated through Spare Labs' optimization processes. First Transit operates dedicated WAVs, while Bay Area Metro operates taxis, and UZURV operates sedans.
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From page 58... ...
Still, since the Spare Labs software was implemented, productivity has decreased from 0.9 to 0.8 trips per vehicle. This seems to be less a result of the switching of software and more a result of several ADA paratransit services shifting to PSTA's microtransit services (also supported by the Spare Labs technology)
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From page 59... ...
A great number of on-demand calls come in on the day of service from both ADA paratransit customers and the general public. On a daily basis, High Valley Transit's contractor uses the CDO function after the scheduling process has been completed the day before and throughout the service day.
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From page 60... ...
Division of Responsibilities Agency Responsibilities HVT is also responsible for contractor procurement and monitoring, and for the ADA paratransit eligibility determination. Contractor Responsibilities CALL-IN/EMAIL RESERVATIONS OPERATIONS ETA CALLSDISPATCHING SCHEDULINGAPP RESERVATIONS Scheduling Practices Dispatching Practices ADA paratransit trips are primarily booked by telephone or email.
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From page 61... ...
By doing this, ADA paratransit customers are using Valley Ride to book subscription and advance trips, and are otherwise using Micro for their on-demand needs. Impacts of CDO Productivity: Not provided Operating Cost per Trip: Decreased On-Time Performance: Not provided Real-Time Dispatcher Interventions: Not provided Customer Complaints: Not provided System Performance: Not provided Expectations Met: Yes Level of Satisfaction: Very satisfied Exhibit 10.
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From page 62... ...
since 2013 Service Area Population: 108,660 2020 Demand-Response Passenger Trips: • 39,375 directly operated • 846 purchased Source: NTD 2020 Service Model Reservation and Booking Policies Link Transit operates Link Plus with a dedicated fleet of 17 WAVs. Link Transit operators are cross-trained to operate both fixed-route transit and paratransit service.
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From page 63... ...
On a daily basis, Link Transit uses the CDO function after the scheduling process has been completed the day before and throughout the service day. The agency uses CDO for the following purposes: • Scheduling unscheduled trips.
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From page 64... ...
64 Continuous Dynamic Optimization: Impacts on ADA Paratransit Services Challenges/Issues The Link Transit general manager noted that there are "too many [parameters for CDO] to be truly effective," observing that the current version of the technology tends to group rides that should not be grouped.
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