Except to those in the transit or medical sectors, or those who have had personal or family experience with using paratransit services, the mention of the word paratransit in a conversation is likely met with a blank look. But for those who depend on this complementary transport option to get to medical appointments, to do their weekly shopping, or even to go to school and back, paratransit operations can be a lifeline.
How Transportation Technologies Will Improve Transit Agency Operations
The ever-quickening pace of technological development is bringing rapid changes to a wide variety of experiences, with everything from work to entertainment to healthcare to travel undergoing a transition toward more networked and automated systems. Although mobile and wireless technologies are nothing new, the speeds at which they operate are getting faster, and when coupled with 'smart' sensors and machine learning, better battery technology, and real-time geolocation systems, our phones, our vehicles, and our homes are now fast becoming a part of a hyper-connected future.
How Do Cities Determine Where to Put Fixed Route Buses?
Although the average transit rider doesn't often have a need to think about it, unless they're wishing for a more convenient bus stop or route, transit agencies spend a lot of time and energy determining where and when their fixed-route buses run. Making decisions about scheduling frequency, route timing, and bus stop locations are all part of the transit planning process, which takes into account not only short-term forecasts but also long-term predictions, while combining current ridership statistics, route performance, and geographic and demographic data in order to optimize existing routes and identify the need for new routes or stops.
Building a Culture Dedicated to Automotive Service Excellence
National Express Transit’s mission is providing the safest, highest-quality transportation services – on time, every time. Our operations focus on five core values: safety, customers, people, community, and excellence.
As an organization, we’ve been focused on initiatives that truly embody these five core values and will help us achieve our mission. One of those initiatives is automotive service excellence certifications. We encourage employees across the organization to become ASE-certified and are also encouraging entire shops to become ASE Blue Shield shops.
Although both customers and employees alike tend to notice the obvious and prominent features of a transport system, such as the look and feel of the vehicles, sometimes it's the invisible things that make all the difference. Even the newest or best-looking vehicle relies on myriad other elements in order to travel its routes safely and on-time, which would be incredibly challenging without a good transportation management solution.