Tripspark Streets ITS

TripSpark Streets ITS

Positioning Document ▪ Version 0.3

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Table of Contents

Revision History

Supplemental Documents

Customer Challenges

Target Buyers

Business Decision Maker

Technical Decision Maker

Other Decision and Influencers

Positioning Statement

Business Benefits

Key Features and Benefits

Competitive Differentiators

Potential Objections

Product Descriptions

25-Word (Primary Message)

50-Word (Product Description)

100-Word (Expanded Product Description)

Competition

RouteMatch Software

Company Profile

Selling against Routematch

Revision History

Version / Date / Notes / Updated By
0.1 / 21-July--16 / Initial draft release based on Streets 6.3 and Mobility 10.03 / T. Brusse
0.2 / 25-July-16 / Updated Competitive Differentiators with respect to wireless data costs
Added competitive information regarding RouteMatch / T. Brusse
0.3 / 14- Sept-16 / Incorporated additional content provided by Gillian Fisher into Competitive Differentiators and Potential Objections. / T. Brusse

Supplemental Documents

TripSpark MyRide Positioning Document

Customer Challenges

Many small to medium transit agencies require advanced technology to help them operate efficiently as well as meet customer expectations with respect to service and passenger information in order to maintain and grow ridership. Further, government organizations are mandating on board stop announcements to ensure equitable access to riders with special needs. There is a strong desire to automate these announcements and implement other automated and communication functionality in order to remove cognitive load and distractions from drivers to ensure safe operations.

Various transit technologies have sophisticated functionality to meet the needs of much larger transit operations and as such, are cost prohibitive and overly complex for the smaller agencies.Of further challenge to the small to mid-size transit agencies is the lack of resources with some smaller agencies only have a handful of people that perform multiple roles. Often they do not have IT expertise within the transit agency and have to rely on outside resources to provide this skill set. They require transit technology that is easy to deploy, operate, manage and support.

References

TCRP Report 76: Guidebook for Selecting Appropriate Technology Systems for Small Urban and Rural Public Transportation Operators (2002)

Target Buyers

Business Decision Maker

TBC

Start writing here…

[Identify the role (e.g., CEO, Operations Manager) and the specific problems faced by this target buyer]

Technical Decision Maker

TBC

Start writing here…

[Identify the role (e.g., IT Manager) and the specific problems faced by this target buyer]

Other Decision and Influencers

Other departments within a transit agency may be involved in the decision process either directly or by influencing decision makers. They may be as follows:

• Operations (dispatchers, supervisors and operators) will have interest in monitoring and communication functions.
• Planning will be interested in data that can be used for analyzing and improving service performance (e.g., schedule adherence, passenger counts, running time).
• Information technology will be concerned with potential procurement and support of new technology such as servers, workstations, system integrations, databases and software.
• Customer service will be interested in the availability of real-time and historical data for addressing customer questions and complaints.
• Maintenance will have an interest in the new equipment on vehicles they may be required to support (e.g., internal signs), and maintenance related data collected by the system either directly or through operator vehicle inspections.

References

Transportation Research Board, TCRP Synthesis 73 – AVL Systems for Bus Transit: Update (2008)

Positioning Statement

Forsmall to mid-sized transit agencies (10 to 150 vehicles)

Whowant an affordable technology that allows them to operate efficiently and attract ridership,

Streets is an intelligent transportation system (ITS)

Thatallows agencies to effectively plan, monitor, communicate and improve service delivery

Unlikeother ITS providers

Our product is an end-to-end turnkey solution designed and built by TripSpark to specifically to meet the unique needs of resource constrained agencies and harshness of public transit environments. It allows them to position themselves to scale and add functionality effectively. Supported by a team of experienced professionals, agencies can rely on a single solution provider to help them manage through implementation, integrate with other hardware and/or software, and provide ongoing support.

Business Benefits

The value in implementing Streets comes from the ability for transit agencies to view, collect and use comprehensive and accurate data to support operational control, in planning to improve service, to meet passenger expectations for real-time information, and position an agency to scale its operations efficiently in the future.

Improved On time performance

Research has shown that implementation of an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) can increase on on-time performance by 9 to 23 percent, and improve headway consistency, thus increasing overall service reliability and efficiency of transit operations. Using Streets Dispatch, dispatchers can monitor the fleet in real time and be alerted if a bus is running early (hot) or late. This allows them to address situations proactively by telling buses to hold at a stop or to slow down.

Streets Mobility makes drivers continuously aware of their status with respect to schedule, further contributing to on-time performance and reducing the incidence of schedule alerts sent to dispatch.

TripSpark has integrated Streets with Transit Signal Priority (TSP) systems at agencies that have adopted this technology to mitigate the impact of traffic lights on schedule adherence. Buses equipped with TSP emitters trigger an increase the length of a green light or shorten the length of a red light when behind schedule.

More Effective Dispatching and Communication

Streets increases dispatch efficiency and reduces the cognitive load such that a dispatcher can handle a larger fleet or be able to allocate time to other value-added tasks.

With Streets, dispatchers and supervisors have improved ability to know where buses are at all times. It provides situational awareness though an AVL view and alerts such that dispatchers can proactively address operational issues and delays such as accidents or vehicle breakdowns. Having both real-time and historical data at their fingertips allows dispatchers to respond to customer inquiries and evaluate the legitimacy of customer complaints.

Text messaging capability not only reduces radio chatter and improves communication clarity and efficiency between dispatchers and drivers, it provides a historical record of communication. Dispatchers can send canned or free form text messages to drivers however drivers are limited to canned responses to reduce distractions. Dispatchers can also communicate directly to passengers about matters such as service disruptions by sending out ad hoc messages that will be visible on the internal bus signs and heard over bus speakers, eliminating the need to convey the information through the driver.

Transfer protection functionality eliminates the need for dispatchers to coordinate transfers. Instead, Streets can analyze the timing logistics of the transfer and communicate appropriately to the drivers of the buses involved.

Increase Driver and Passenger Safety and Security

Streets contributes to safety and security in many ways. The most obvious is that drivers can discreetly trigger a covert silent alarm which will immediately be brought to the attention of dispatch who, in turn, can notify authorities with the exact location of the bus. The events on the bus will be recorded where buses are equipped with an on-board camera system, providing evidence of the incident. Research has revealed that location-based silent alarms serve as an effective crime deterrent, with one study citing that passenger assaults dropped by one-third over a five year period. Another study found that the presence of a camera system increased passengers’ sense of security, especially at night.

Streets is designed to minimize driver distractions as research has shown that cognitively distracted drivers have slower reaction times and may fail to adequately monitor their driving environment. In accordance with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration guidelines, the Ranger display is disabled when a bus is in motion. The content on the display while in motion is limited to only what is required to maintain on time service. Further, where automated visual and audio announcements are installed, there is no longer reliance on the drivers to make these announcements.

More Effective Scheduling and Planning

Performance and passenger count data collected through Streets enables agencies to improve transit planning such that they can reduce costs while improving customer service. The data can show underutilized stops or runs that could be eliminated and highlight areas where there is heavy passenger loads that could use additional service. Improving service efficiency by maximizing run versus dwell times can have a positive environmental impact by minimizing emissions.

Studies have revealed that agencies have realized reductions in bus delays between 15 and 80 percent, were able to shorten scheduled time for over 70% of routes while improving service by adding time for 22%, and some have even been able to either reduce fleet size up to 5% or provide the same level of service to increased ridership without additional vehicles, employees or overtime - all of which contributes to lower operating costs.

Improved Customer Relations and Ridership

Implementation ofITS has shown to improve customer relations and ridership by providing enhanced service quality along with timely and reliable information.

As mentioned previously, agencies can use data from Streets to shorten route schedule times. Studies have indicated that implementation of ITS can translate to passenger travel time savings between 2 and 18 percent. Further, it mitigates buses arriving early at stops which in turn, can reduce the number of customer complaints by ~25% thus reducing call center load. Where customers do call with a complaint, the historical playback feature is extremely useful for investigating the validity of the complaints.

Providing real-time next bus predictions to customers when planning a trip and during travel can contribute to customer satisfaction and increased ridership by reducing perceived and actual wait times, improving perceived reliability, lowering anxiety and elevating a sense of safety, and presenting modern image. With bus location data and schedule status information available online with MyRide, customers are better able to manage their own time and coordinate travel (Refer to TripSpark MyRide Positioning Document for additional information).There are anecdotal stories that businesses near bus stops have seen a rise in patronage after the introduction of real-time passenger information systems.

Wayside signs providing real-time information at transfer centers and bus stops are another communication method that is popular with customers, especially during extreme weather conditions. On board automated stop announcements and signs help to address the requirements such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, as well as help passengers in unfamiliar areas reach their destination. Dispatchers can use this same on board system to make ad hoc announcements such as informing passengers of delays.

Accurate and Efficient Data Collection and Reporting

The transit industry recognizes that data created by ITS is a valuable resource for generating information to aid in transit planning and management. A paper by the Intelligent Transportation Society of America addressed three main types of data: CAD/AVL, APC (Automated Passenger Counting) and Advanced Fare Collection – all of which are collected and maintained by Streets. The paper categorizes this use of this data as follows:

1. Real-time Operational Control – to highlight anomalies to dispatch and support decision making.
2. Line Management – such as operator performance analysis and supervision, and daily service reviews.
3. Scheduling – as discussed above (More Effective Scheduling and Planning).
4. Service/Operations Planning – includes continuous monitoring of performance (e.g., schedule adherence, running times, passenger loads), typically against KPIs and industry benchmarks. The data is utilized to support shorter term, tactical analysis (e.g., appropriate bus shelter locations) and longer term, strategic analysis (e.g., major network redesigns).
5. Corporate Monitoring and Reporting – as an example, regular, periodic reports for management and executive leadership, the general public and bodies such as the National Transit Database.
6. Exploratory/Data Mining – analyzing the ITS data along with data from other sources (e.g., traffic, crime, social media).

Easy to Use and Maintain

A study by the Transportation Research Board highlighted that smaller transit agencies often do not have their own IT resources and find it difficult to access those resources from the broader government entity. This leaves them to rely on internal resources who may be interested in technology but not necessarily appropriately trained. In mid-size agencies, where IT staff may exist, they often are not equipped or trained to manage complex ITS technologies. Recognizing this, Streets has been designed specifically to meet the needs of small to mid-sized transit agencies rather than simply scaling down or removing functionality of a large, complex system. In addition to managing and executing the implementation of Streets, TripSpark’s deployment team are able to provide guidance on an agency’s IT infrastructure based on near term goals and strategic vision. As part of TripSpark’s support and maintenance, TripSpark Customer Care personnel will perform all software updates for agencies.

Smaller agencies frequently are staffed by generalists that serve multiple roles andmay have been promoted up through the transit agency versus dedicated specialists that have undergone formal education. For this reason, TripSpark worked closely (and continues to do so) with target users to ensure that Streets not only met their functional needs but also provided optimum usability.Although TripSpark provides multiple resources to educate and inform end users, the goal is that Streets be intuitive for users.

Supports State of Good Repair

Streets helps agencies maintain a safe, efficient and reliable transit service. The maintenance department of a Pennsylvania transit service provider reported a 69 percent decrease in in-service breakdowns attributable to pre-trip inspections by drivers on MDTs. Streets also monitors the status of on board equipment, automatically sending an email when an issue is detected. If drivers detect an issue with their vehicle, they can notify dispatch through the Ranger. Some agencies have drivers – the eyes on the streets - monitor the state of stops and shelters, again notifying dispatch via the Ranger. One agency realized significant savings by having drivers trigger an event notifying dispatch when trash cans were full rather than having a dedicated resource visit all trash cans on a regular basis.

Scalable Turnkey Solution with Single Point of Contact

TripSpark provides an end-to-end, turnkey solution that allows small to mid-sized transit agencies to manage all required aspects of their transit system. This includes back office systems, on board hardware and software, and multiple passenger information systems. Agencies can choose to implement core capabilities then expand as their needs change and grow. For agencies that find themselves in need of more advanced back office capabilities, Streets can integrate seamlessly with systems from our sister company, Trapeze, to provide optimized run cutting and blocking or enhanced operations and workforce management. In this scenario, TripSpark maintains responsibility for the implementation and support for the entire solution.Streets can also be integrated with fleet management software from another sister company, AssetWorks.

Integration with Existing 3rd Party Systems

Often agencies have invested in other ITS components, such as fare boxes, or would like to piggyback on other public agency initiatives, such as transit signal priority (TSP). Streets has integrated with many 3rd party systems resulting in significant cost avoidance for the transit agencies and increased value of the total solution. In situations where Streets has not previously integrated with a 3rd party system, TripSpark has the access, expertise and agility to work with an agency to develop this integration, providing a positive overall return on investment.

References

Benefits of AVL/CAD from Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), IP Address . Last access 20 June 2016, Florida Advanced Public Transportation Systems Program website.

Benefits of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), IP Address . Last access 16 June 2016, United States Department of Transportation website.

Bertini, Robert; Monsere, Christopher; and Yin, Thareth: Benefits of Intelligent Transportation Systems Technologies in Urban Areas: A Literature Review (2005)

Derby, Ann and Kijowski, Jan: Real-Time Benefits, Mass Transit Magazine (2014).

Hemily, Brendon: The Use of Transit ITS Data for Planning and Management, and Its Challenges; a Discussion Paper (2015), IP Address . Last access 5 July 2016, University of Wisconsin website.

Intelligent Transportation Systems Benefits, Costs, and Lessons Learned - 2014 Update Report (2014), IP Address . Last access 23 June 2016, U.S. Department of Transportation website.

Intelligent Transportation Systems Benefits, Costs, and Lessons Learned - 2014 Update Report, June 2014, IP Address . Last access 23 June 2016, U.S. Department of Transportation website.

TCRP Synthesis 35: Information Technology Update for Transit (2000), IP Address . Last access 5 July 2016,

United States Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Visual-Manual NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines for In-Vehicle Electronic Devices, Federal Register, Volume 78, Number 81, 26 April 2013, IP Address . Last access 23 June 2016, Official US Government Website for Distracted Driving.