The Hop Employs Demand Response Software to Increase Service Without Adding Drivers

• Functional Applications - Fleet Management Systems (FMS)
• Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
• Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems

• Transportation
• Cities & Municipalities

• Logistics & Transportation
• Business Operation

• Fleet Management
• Predictive Maintenance
• Remote Asset Management

• System Integration
• Software Design & Engineering Services

When the Hop began operation in the 60s, and onward through the 90s, they were still entering information in Excel spreadsheets. Information regarding trips (i.e.: locations, addresses, pick up times, number of miles traveled, etc.) was entered manually on clip boards. A driver’s location was determined over the radio. The whole operation was time-consuming, error-prone and generally inefficient. Service was undependable at times, leading to complaints, which in turn was also slow when it came to complaint resolution. As ridership demands increased, they desperately needed a solution to help them increase the number of trips. However, because operational costs are a priority as well, they also needed to minimize the amount of drivers they hired. Integrating the Hop’s paratransit service with its fixed route service was also a priority that needed attention. Having the two halves working together was integral to being able to move all types of passengers, from daily commuters to those with special accessibility and mobility requirements.

The Hop is operated by Hill Country Transit District. It began operation in the 1960s to provide both fixed route public transit as well as ADA complementary paratransit service for citizens and visitors of the Central Texas area. Their mandate then, as it is now, is to provide mobility and quality of life, leading to a stimulation of economic development. Over the past 50 years, the Hop has grown to serve a nine-county area covering over 9,000 square miles. With so much territory to cover and the increase in ridership demands for their paratransit service, the Hop has scheduling needs that require constant supervision and attention. Attention to detail is very important to their planners and especially to their Technical Manager, Luis Pino, who became instrumental in the deployment of an ITS solution in 2008.

In 2008, Luis was part of the team that implemented a new ITS solution. This included a paratransit scheduling/dispatching component in the form of TripSpark’s demand response software suite. The ruggedized Ranger (in-vehicle mobile data console) was installed in vehicles, which helped to support the data collection software and communication needs of their paratransit fleet. This solution helped immediately to enable same-day scheduling, electronic manifests, and real-time messaging. The Hop can now automate data collection and driver scheduling in order to use their resources more effectively. They have been able to achieve their goal of increasing the number of runs without the budgetary stress of adding new drivers. Their employees experience faster scheduling, while their riders experience faster connections. The complaint process has also been streamlined, affording staff more time to deal with issues of greater priority. The overall result is a greater attention to detail. As Luis describes it, if “we needed to add a trip, we had to radio our drivers to see who was closest to the pickup location.” Now, the same day scheduling capability assigns the right vehicle to the right location without the need to use a radio at all.

• The Hop can now automate data collection and driver scheduling in order to use their resources more effectively.
• They have been able to achieve their goal of increasing the number of runs without the budgetary stress of adding new drivers.
• Their employees experience faster scheduling, while their riders experience faster connections.

• The Hop serves a nine-county area covering over 9,000 square miles.