Transit Authority of River City (TARC): Traveler Information & Customer Relationship Management
"Trapeze INFO products are ideal for us: they integrate with existing systems, offer an excellent interface, are customizable and actually work very well. On top of that, our customers really like them!"
Craig Gosselin, System Manager, Transit Authority of River City (TARC)
Background
The Transit Authority of River City (TARC) provides public transportation in the Greater Louisville area with bus routes in Jefferson, Bullitt and Oldham counties in Kentucky, and Clark and Floyd counties in Indiana. TARC operates 51 bus routes with a fleet of over 200 vehicles. Each day, more than 50,000 passengers ride TARC.
Prior to adopting Trapeze INFO products for customer information and relationship management, TARC deployed various third party legacy systems.
TARC installed INFO-IVR, INFO-WEB and INFO-COM in 2007. Like all INFO products, these applications are completely integrated with other Trapeze products already in use at TARC. There was no need for TARC staff to manually enter data. INFO retrieves all data and information from existing Trapeze (and third party) systems.
Interactive Voice Response (INFO-IVR)
Before switching to Trapeze INFO-IVR, TARC had an aging and ailing IVR system in place that no longer met the demands of the agency and its customers. The system was unreliable and often under maintenance.
The newly installed INFO-IVR uses interactive voice response technology to provide TARC passengers with 24/7 access to scheduled and real-time bus information, and it allows TARC administrators to enhance the information presented to passengers in the form of bulletins and announcements reflecting conditions that may be affecting the current service.
Web Trip Planning (INFO-WEB)
For web trip planning and online passenger information, TARC relied on “free” solutions. Feeding data to those applications was time consuming, and TARC lacked the resources to devote staff members to keeping the data current. It became obvious to TARC management that they needed to find a reliable customer information system that was also fully integrated with the Trapeze scheduling and operations management systems in place.
After looking into various options, TARC decided to install INFO-WEB. It enables passengers to plan trips and access real-time schedule, bus stop and other transit information online through all common web browsers and through mobile devices.
Complaints Management System (INFO-COM)
TARC handled its customer complaints on a case-by-case basis. Spreadsheets, handwritten notes and other non standardized documents were pushed around between different departments within the agency. More often than not, staff lost track of the status of complaints and couldn’t follow up with customers—which led to even more customer dissatisfaction.
INFO-COM now enables TARC’s customer service division to capture, track and follow up on complaints, commendations, and requests from customers and the public.
| Snapshot | |
|---|---|
| Type of service: | Public and Demand Responset Transport |
| Number of vehicles: | 275 Fixed Route Vehicles, 108 Paratransit Vehicles |
| Daily Ridership: | 50,000 |
| Trapeze products used: | INFO products, Bus Stop Manager, FX, OPS, Wayside, among others |
Results
TARC customers immediately embraced the INFO-IVR and WEB solutions. Customers find the online trip planner easy to use, and INFO-IVR and WEB have taken a great load of calls off TARC’s call center, saving the agency additional staffing and making more service available to customers.
INFO-COM enables TARC to record all customer complaints in one central database and track all follow up until the case is resolved. COM also gives TARC many tools to create reports and monitor trends. TARC customers are presented with a case number and can review the status of their complaint as well. This new system has led to a significant increase in customer satisfaction and, overall, to fewer complaints.
Currently TARC receives about 7-10 percent of its 400 accommodations/complaints via the web and having both INFO and WEB-COM makes it easier and more efficient for TARC to reach back and help riders. This is a 100 percent turn-around from the older Excel spreadsheet method previously used to track complaints. TARC’s future is to fortify these new integrated systems with a continual training program to assure TARC is capturing riders’ needs and are able to form solid plans for internal improvement.
