Even though bidding for work assignments in person was a time-honored tradition, the SFMTA knew they had to bring operator bidding to the digital age, making sign-ups quick and convenient for their front-line employees. The agency believed operators should be able to bid from the comfort of their own home, by desktop or mobile, so they wouldn’t need to come to the division on their day off to bid on paper for work assignments. Life would be much easier for operators too if they could quickly sort and filter available runs based on days off, start and end runs, and total hours, instead of combing through sheets of paper on the walls to pick their schedules. And wouldn’t it be great if they could readily keep track of their top choice runs and receive confirmation of their rosters through text or email?
Trapeze had been supporting SFMTA’s sign-ups since 2008 with Workforce Management tools such as Bidding and Web Bid Request modules for specially trained operators using an intranet platform. In 2013, SFMTA made OPS Web (now called Employee Self-Service) available on the regular internet, launching an information portal for operators, and in 2017, the solutions team started tracking operator skills and skills requirements to prepare for online bidding. The next year, in 2018, the SFMTA rolled out online bidding for volunteers at the six bus divisions. A cross-divisional and rail sign-up followed in 2019.
SFMTA thus was well-positioned to quickly implement mandatory online bidding when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020 as part of the agency’s social distancing protocols to protect both staff and riders. The extensive preparation for online bidding greatly augmented SFMTA’s pandemic response, enabling them to effectively adjust service, improve safety, and adapt to rapid change.
Before the pandemic, transitioning from paper bidding to an online process was the biggest challenge the sign-up team faced. Far from a simple “let’s turn it on, train, and go!” project, online bidding met with some skepticism from operators. “People were nervous. This was not a technology project. This was going to be a people project,” said Leslie Bienenfeld, Senior Transportation Planner and Data Analyst. “The hardest part was not getting the tool to work; it was helping our people understand it would work for us.”
To do that, it was important for the team to be able to answer all of the operators’ concerns to earn trust and enthusiasm. First, the team went out to the divisions to conduct operator demos on laptops, walking operators through the online bidding process, and taking note of their comments while navigating the system. Schedulers and sign-up teams staged live demos with operators to check out various what-if scenarios, including simultaneous bidding and “blitz” mode, for gaps and issues.
Through user testing, the team then made tweaks to the software. They updated OPS configurations so that only qualified operators could bid for specific work and implemented a new Skills feature that defined custom Skill Types and showed operator skill sets with effectivity dates for certifications.
To encourage buy-in, they reached out to operators through different channels, online and offline. They published a simple, animated tutorial video on YouTube, showing clear, step-by-step bidding instructions. Operators could also download a paper version and a Frequently Asked Questions guide.
It was also important to communicate to operators that support was available during the online bidding process itself. The team set up an Online Bidding Hotline where operators could call or text for free at any point in the online bidding process. The hotline also would be used to send reminders and results.
Making online bidding as easy and friction-less as possible paid off handsomely. Eighty-one percent of operators stayed home and “signed up in their pajamas,” so to speak, with 77% saying that online bidding saved them from driving to their division on their day off. Equally impressive were the results of an experience survey showing 91% of respondents saying they were highly satisfied/satisfied with online bidding.
Operators appreciated the convenience and ease of use of the online bidding process. They were delighted with the quality of in-person training and the video, as well as the hotline support. Eighty-eight percent believed the website was easy to learn and use.
Praise from operators was profuse. “I am so pleased and I want you to know that I will be your advertisement,” said one overjoyed operator.
The project was so successful that more than 700 operators, or 42%, volunteered for the second sign-up while over 500, or 30%, volunteered for the third.
Even without the pandemic mandate, the project was well on its way to achieving 100% adoption. Mandatory online bidding, as expected, went on smoothly. In three compulsory bids, only 8% of operators exercised the option to call in their work assignment choices.
By engaging with stakeholders every step of the way and making sure information was easy to understand and access, SFMTA undertook a successful change management program that not only increased employee satisfaction but enabled the agency to quickly adapt to unexpected, rapid changes and major disruption.
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