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Chapter 4 - Conclusions and Lessons Learned
Pages 65-75

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From page 65...
... This is the kind of decision that every transit agency faces with its ADA paratransit service -- the balance between service/cost efficiency and service quality. And in the case of the balance C H A P T E R   4 Conclusions and Lessons Learned
From page 66...
... For MET Transit in Billings, MT, CDO enabled the hiring of a fourth dispatcher for Saturday dispatching of both the fixedroute and paratransit services, as well as better coverage for when a dispatcher is sick or goes on vacation. Gold Coast Transit District in Oxnard/West Ventura County, CA, reported that CDO allowed it to grow new service offerings (e.g., meal delivery, an expanded service area, and late-night service)
From page 67...
... For example, Gold Coast Transit District in Oxnard/Western Ventura County, CA, commingles senior trips with ADA paratransit trips; PSTA in St. Petersburg, FL, commingles transportation-disadvantaged trips with ADA paratransit trips; and Citibus in Lubbock, TX, commingles general-public trips and Medicaid NEMT trips with ADA paratransit trips.
From page 68...
... That is, in acquiring these technologies to support its ADA paratransit service, a transit agency would be committing to automating both the scheduling and dispatching processes. In effect, these agencies are committing to CDO.
From page 69...
... Service/cost efficiency is typically measured by the percentage of shared rides, the ratio of actual passenger miles to direct passenger miles, trips per revenue vehicle hour, and operating cost per trip. Service quality is typically measured by on-time performance, average travel time, violations of maximum onboard time, and the complaint frequency ratio (often measured in terms of the number of complaints per 1,000 passenger trips)
From page 70...
... Another agency, after setting 90 minutes as a maximum onboard travel time, adjusted this parameter to 60 minutes after a few weeks of using CDO. High Valley Transit in Summit County, UT, in implementing a consolidated ADA paratransit service under the same technology platform using CDO, opted to first keep the two services separate for six months so that each set of riders could get used to their respective service before the two services were consolidated.
From page 71...
... Push the envelope for the betterment of the service." The MET Transit general manager in Billings, MT, highly recommended that other transit agencies try CDO. She said that CDO "has directly contributed to better use of dispatcher time, increased productivity, and availability of more data regarding MET Transit operations," adding that the technology was "a significant investment, but on an annual basis, MET Transit is realizing significant cost savings." The Green Bay Metro general manager added that CDO has been beneficial for both the transit agency and its ADA paratransit customers.
From page 72...
... Understand How the CDO Capability Works All 11 transit agencies -- as well as the technology vendors interviewed -- stressed how important it is for transit agency staff to understand the following: how the scheduling algorithms and parameters work in detail, how adjustments to a particular parameter or set of parameters affect the balance of service/cost efficiency and service quality in general, and how CDO can support an agency's efforts to attain its goals. This is especially critical in the initial parameter tuning phase and on an ongoing basis.
From page 73...
... In a related lesson learned in St. Petersburg, FL, the PSTA director of mobility services cautioned transit agencies to understand how the CDO technology handles operator lunch breaks.
From page 74...
... Use of One Technology Platform to Support ADA Paratransit, Microtransit, and Consolidated Services Many transit agencies are transitioning to the newer technologies to support their ADA paratransit services and their new or expanding microtransit services -- that is, they are using one technology platform for both. Some transit agencies are doing this because their older paratransit scheduling/dispatching technology is incapable of supporting the various forms of microtransit.
From page 75...
... Just as TCRP Project B-48, "The Provision of Alternative Services by Transit Agencies: The Intersection of Regulation and Program Objectives," is currently exploring the implications of ADA paratransit customers choosing to use a transit agency's alternative services instead of the ADA paratransit service for certain trips, the same dynamic is worth exploring for these combined services. For example, the High Valley Transit executive director reported that the ADA paratransit portion of the total ridership in Summit County, UT, is actually very low (2 percent)


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