Improved Demand Response Productivity and Service Quality Through Dispatch Strategies

Project Description

With tighter overall budgets, many transit agencies must find ways to control demand response service costs and focus on productivity. Historically, transit agencies invested in advanced scheduling systems and put less emphasis on the dispatch function that controls actual service delivery. Transit agencies need to staff dispatch effectively and use technology to its full advantage. Sound routing decisions result in improved productivity and cost-effective service delivery. This project focused on improving productivity regarding operations and use of technology while maintaining service quality.

Researchers collected data from 42 demand response rural and small urban transit agencies and used five case studies to develop a guidebook for transit agencies. Benchmarking performance before making changes in policy, procedures, or service strategy provides a baseline and enables the transit agency to track progress toward meeting its goals. The guidebook produced from this research provides:

• the impact of maximizing productivity,
• policies and procedures that affect productivity,
• service delivery strategies that impact productivity,
• dispatch performance measurement,
• an assessment tool for productivity elements of dispatch, and
• steps to implement a productive dispatch operation.

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