HOW TO RUN YOUR TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS PROFITABLY

The ultimate guide to increase the efficiency of a transportation agency
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EMPOWER YOUR TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS WITH TECHNOLOGY

Technology and data are changing the persona of the transportation sector by providing fast paced solutions for startups and established businesses alike, with cloud-based, real-time, problem-solving platforms which improve the customer experience and drive efficiency in operational productivity.

The transportation sector is growing all over the world. Success of transportation companies depends on the efficiency of the system and how fast your system can keep up with the changing requirements. Public transportation demand is increasing day by day. To cater to this increasing demand, it’s important to maximize your agency’s efficiency using technology platforms.

An efficient transportation system helps an agency to achieve its transportation goals while reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). This efficiency will eventually lower overall transportation costs while reducing congestion on roads. Given the financial pressure faced by America’s public transit industry, it is instructive to put these routes “under a microscope” and probe some of their service and ridership characteristics.

  • Profitable and Non-Profitable Route Data

  • Improve Driver Efficiency

  • Automate Dispatching and Scheduling

  • Real-time Seat Availability

  • Automate Fare Management

PROFITABLE AND NON- PROFITABLE ROUTE DATA

Route optimization is an essential aspect of the traffic management system (TMS). Most transport problems ultimately come from problems with routing or vehicle planning. If the TMS can effectively check all possible routes, the optimized route can be extrapolated and analyzed. In other words, the system must be able to optimize routes as its most important function. It provides all important information at a glance and helps you track your vehicles and routes.

Optimizing routes allows you to consume fewer resources while protecting the environment. This will reduce your overall costs and create a positive image for your brand.

With more transportation options available, customers have higher expectations and are looking for reliable and predictable services. To keep up, transportation agencies must operate at the highest level of efficiency by analyzing route data and increasing punctuality to increase customer satisfaction.

If a TMS can efficiently examine all possible rountes, an optimized route can be predicted and analyzed. Optimization of routes increases the savings and decreases the vehicle miles traveled, which leads to higher profits for service providers.

IMPROVE DRIVER EFFICIENCY

The performance of your drivers is essential to customer satisfaction. To ensure fleet safety and comfort, your drivers must operate with a high level of efficiency.

To maximize driver performance, you must first understand what metrics to track, how to make sense of the data, how to relay feedback to your drivers, and how much control you should give to drivers.

Important metrics for improving driver performance include:

  • Safety event records
  • Route productivity
  • Customer satisfaction
  • How responsive your driver is whenever an issue or problem arises
  • How proactive your drivers are

GPS tracking, built-in telematics, and cameras are necessary for safety, security, route optimization, and alerting the drivers when necessary.

Combining trips will further increase the efficiency and performance of drivers. You can improve communications by collecting real-time feedback from customers and drivers. 

You can also authorize drivers to accept or cancel a trip and charge for a no-show to make-sure they are not making losses.

It is also important to ensure that all vehicles are up to date on insurance, registrations and inspections.

You can see your per-minute and per-mile rates for each ride on your ride card. By agreeing on time windows for deliveries, you can reduce dwell times and idling. You can also utilize rush hour tools to identify peak traffic times to allow the software to choose route combinations that avoid congested areas. Combining trips will further enhance drivers’ efficiency and performance.

AUTOMATE DISPATCHING
AND SCHEDULING

Automated rides get optimized behind the scenes to save money. This process goes through countless continuous calculations within its algorithm and adjusts for changing conditions. Real-time scheduling and dispatching increase the chances that rides will arrive on time

Automatic dispatching and scheduling goes through countless continuous calculations in its algorithm and adapts to changing conditions. Real-time planning and dispatch increases the chances of the vehicle arriving on time.

Riders can track their ride in real time and receive push notifications with an estimated time of arrival (ETA). This service gives the user mobility and freedom because it continuously re-optimizes same day trips, ensuring you are maximizing your rides per hour thus improving the customer experience.

REAL-TIME SEAT AVAILABILITY

Filling empty seats on vehicles should be a top priority for any transit agency.

The ease of booking a ride today (using a mobile phone or the internet) has resulted in a high conversion rate between the request for travel and the number of bookings that actually went through.

When passengers do not show up for their reserved trip, their seat gets released automatically and can be booked by another customer for up-coming trip segments. Operators can increase their sales by taking those no-show scenarios into account.

Features like real time response, dynamically changing fares and expanding travel possibilities have encouraged customers to book their tickets in advance with just one click. Younger generations prefer to book tickets in advance, which can more accurately show the availability of empty seats. Creating a system to track available seats will increase the efficiency of existing assets.

AUTOMATED FARE COLLECTION

Automated fare collection (AFC) uses fare cards to automate the fare collection system for public transportation. Use of fare cards reduce the manual process required, improves fare management and reduces manual errors while collecting fares. AFC can also significantly improve customer service. Automated fare collection systems allow for quick service as well as self-service options, reducing or eliminating wait time for consumers. Faster validation of transactions allows staff to generate fare tokens and tickets quickly. AFC systems also have lower maintenance costs

The Automated fare collection system enables faster transations, allows for higher revenue and reduces ticketing costs. The system can provide real-time passenger data and the ability to offer flexible far policies such as electronic ticket sales.

The system can provide real-time ridership data and the ability to offer flexible fare policies like electronic ticketing. This enables an operator to implement variable fares based on the time or mode of travel, type of passenger, etc. This is a big advantage because it allows the operator to manage passenger demand by incentivizing travel during non-peak periods or via a certain mode.