New fleet management system

Summary

The public transport company, CTSS, introduced a new fleet management system that enables the company to respond adequately to the mobility needs of the users. Encompassing planning and management elements, the new system help deliver a more efficient and attractive public transport system for Donostia-San Sebastian.

Implementing sustainable mobility

Donostia-San Sebastian set itself ambitious goals for improving the quality of its public transport offer and, as a result, increase its passenger numbers significantly. A state-of-the-art expert planning and fleet management system was central to the regular monitoring and a constant management needed to deliver high quality services. The main objectives of the measure were to:

• Increase all dimensions of quality of public transport in the city; and
• Rationalise costs to make public transport more competitive.

Progress

After conducting a review of a number of possible systems, CTSS purchased and implemented a HDSPA-3G communication system to enable communication between the buses and the central information system. Also a new expert planning and fleet management system was implemented and the specific data of the San Sebastian bus fleet, personnel and Public Transport network were entered. A group of employees was trained on the use of the systems.

After an 8-month period in which the system was tested and tuned, the new expert planning and fleet management system became fully operative in May 2010.

The new management system comprised a significant change in the way that services are scheduled and drivers’ hours assigned, which now takes advantage of the innovative developments in communication technologies.

Outcomes

With the new expert planning and fleet management system, the drivers’ planning timetables were optimized with less time losses during the operation, achieving an Optimization Index of 94.87 percent regarding the driver´s hours in relation to the offered service (1.21 percent points more than the situation before CIVITAS). The operating costs were reduced by a 2.5 percent in relation to the total company costs. As a consequence, the new management system helped CTSS to save 0.6 million Euros in 2010 and 0.7 million Euros in 2011.

The main changes perceived by the operational staff (drivers and operations management) were the new service schedule and drivers timetable. These changes were widely accepted right after the implementation of the new management system in 2010 (it achieved an acceptance index of 6.5 in the yearly survey among employees). Eventually, the acceptance level increased once that the new management system was consolidated and its benefits experienced by the operational staff. In 2011 the acceptance level reached an index of 7.0.