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Case Study : Calgary Handi-Bus AssociationSnapshotType of operation: Paratransit Business ProblemCalgary Handi-Bus is a non-profit organization providing accessible transportation for Calgarians with physical and/or developmental disabilities. Its 240 employees drive nearly seven-million kilometres per year using 185 peak vehicles. Handi-Bus has been using Trapeze paratransit scheduling software since the mid 1990s and upgraded to PASS in 1998. The agency added the IVR module in 1996 to reduce call traffic and improve service. In 2001, The City of Calgary created Access Calgary to handle the booking, scheduling and dispatching of trips for all shared ride specialized transportation in Calgary. Prior to the creation of Access Calgary, Handi-Bus handled the scheduling, dispatching and booking of 500,000 trips per year to 6,500 customers. A separate program called Special Needs Taxi (SNT) provided 500,000 single ride taxi trips a year to 7,000 people. Although some customers were registered in both programs, each had its own client base. The trip reservation process for each program was quite different. Handi-Bus customers could book trips as much as seven days in advance but had limited “same-day” options, while SNT customers booked most of their trips on the day of service. The integration of Handi-Bus and SNT’s services presented a number of challenges. The new, centralized brokerage would have to cope with recertifying existing Handi-Bus and SNT customers as well as scheduling almost one-million trips per year. GoalsWhile the standard registration module included with PASS had met Handi-Bus’s needs for years, the new eligibility criteria were much more complex, and the agency needed software that could keep pace. SolutionIn July 2001, Handi-Bus/Access Calgary implemented the Certification module for PASS. “We decided to take a phased approach to recertification,” explains Karim Rayani, Manager. “Anyone registered prior to June 30, 2001, was ‘grandparented’ under the old system until July 2003. So far, 2,141 customers registered with the single ride taxi program have been moved over to the shared ride services.” With the PASS Certification module the agency easily identified duplicate customers and determined when each was last certified. Staff were able to input the new certification parameters and apply them to all recertified or new customers. “This enabled us to identify the customers who could use the shared-ride vehicles rather than single ride taxis,” says Mary McCleod, Mobility Specialist. “Our goal was to put as many single ride trips as possible into the shared ride program,” says Brian Cripps, Operations Analyst. At the same time, Calgary Handi Bus/Access Calgary wanted to ensure customers received services that met their needs. ResultsSince adding the Certification module, the agency’s customer base has grown from 6,500 to over 11,000 registered customers. Mr. Cripps credits PASS for better service. With a productivity rate of 1.75 trips per hour and a five percent decrease in customer concerns in the last year, Handi-Bus/Access Calgary is successfully delivering on its mission to serve the mobility needs of persons with disabilities. “We are seeing some efficiency gains,” states Mr. Cripps. “The number of daily requested trips has increased and we are definitely making better use of our vehicles.” Bottom Line“We are managing demand and better matching needs with our available resources. This in turn increases productivity, allowing our customers to access the service more readily.” |
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