transit
GoRaleigh Builds a Fairer System and Cuts Cost with Remix Scheduling
Raleigh, NC
GoRaleigh serves the municipality of Raleigh, North Carolina, a city in the “Research Triangle” region anchored by well known universities, and anticipates significant population and employment growth in the near future. GoRaleigh shows unwavering dedication to providing efficient, reliable, and safe service: in 2019 alone, GoRaleigh successfully implemented the largest service expansion in 10 years, built a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling station, and made a commitment to reduce passenger wait times. The agency’s continued betterment of the system earned them the North Carolina Transit System of the Year Award in 2020.
With voters approving the Wake County Transit Plan Referendum in 2016, GoRaleigh developed ambitious expansion goals to keep up with a growing city, and to meet future economic and sustainability initiatives. The agency’s manual methods of scheduling, however, stood in the way. Using pen, paper, and Excel to create driver bids was time-consuming, error-prone, and prohibitive to collaborative practices, making the delivery of the agency’s service goals feel insurmountable. With the staff they had on hand, it took GoRaleigh’s operations team six weeks to cut runs for just one day of the week. At that rate, it would take GoRaleigh nearly ten months to create a complete bid.
The agency recognized their methods had become untenable - “We got to the point where we couldn’t schedule by hand anymore,” describes Amy Proseus, Assistant Director of Operations with GoRaleigh. Without a dedicated transit scheduler on the team, the agency needed software that was easy-to-understand, visual, and seamlessly integrated with their transit planning software, Remix.
GoRaleigh chose Remix Scheduling to bring their transit plans to life through vehicle blocking, runcutting, and rostering. We asked Amy Proseus, Assistant Director of Operations, to tell us about how GoRaleigh has been using Remix Scheduling and what the organization has been able to accomplish. “Big picture: Remix Scheduling makes my life easier.” -- Amy Proseus
Before Remix Scheduling
We got to the point where we couldn’t schedule by hand anymore. There were three of us working on schedules - myself as the Assistant Director of Operations, and Craig and Derrick, both Operations Supervisors. For service expansions, we would add new service into our time tables, print them out, and piece work together manually with pencil and paper. There was a lot of pencil sharpening, erasing, and lots of tension.
It used to take us six weeks to do one day’s worth of scheduling by hand, exacerbated by the fact that transit scheduling is not our full time job. We have other supervisory duties that require the supervisors being out on the road. Now, with Remix, it only takes six weeks for a whole pick, or even multiple picks, and we can still keep up with other aspects of our jobs while avoiding overtime. For example, Derrick can spend more time out on the field, and I don’t feel like scheduling is competing with my other duties.
We used Remix to plan and schedule the system expansion. Without Remix, we probably would have had to hire a team of 4 to 5 people totally dedicated to scheduling the expansion by hand.
We used Remix to plan and schedule the system expansion. Without Remix, we probably would have had to hire a team of 4 to 5 people totally dedicated to scheduling the expansion by hand.
Building a fairer system
With Remix Scheduling, not only do we bring more efficiency to our scheduling process, but we also provide more consistency with the way that our schedules are created. We achieve this by removing human error and using software that allows us to input runcut parameters. Now that our runcuts are more consistent, the system is fairer for operators. A fairer system means we have an easier time justifying our schedules. It’s great for interviewing new drivers too. I can tell drivers during the interview process exactly what they can expect.
Now that our runcuts are more consistent, the system is fairer for operators.
Staying on top of driver overtime and reducing cost
Before we started using Remix Scheduling, we calculated overtime by hand, which made overtime hard to understand earlier in the planning process. Now with Remix, we are better equipped to understand overtime during the planning stage, making it possible to adjust schedules in advance of finalizing bids. Now the overtime we have is planned, and we’ve been able to cut driver overtime in half.
Seamless integration between planning and scheduling
We are continuing to add more frequency on certain routes, and using Remix for this process is much more streamlined. Before Remix, we were scattered with our tools: transit maps, Excel for timetables, and pen and paper resources. With Remix, you just make changes in the Remix Planning and then it’s fully integrated with blocking and other scheduling workflows - you’re good to go!
What makes Remix stand out as a scheduling software?
In Remix, you can be iterative. You can make modifications easily by just clicking on the route or the timetable, and the visualizations make everything very clear. It even helps me outside the context of scheduling. I use it when I’m on the road and need to check when a bus can be retrieved for maintenance -- I reference the blocks and runs depicted in Remix. It’s so great that Remix is web-based!
Also, the customer service is on point. I feel like all my feedback is heard and actually passed on to the product development team.
What’s next for GoRaleigh?
GoRaleigh is in the middle of a 10-15 year expansion, so we are hard at work with Remix on our side.
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