Stark Area Transit

minutes or five minutes or two minutes –howev- er long it takes you to get to the stop–when the bus will arrive. You no longer have to stand there, waiting for the bus. You actually know when it will be there.” SARTA’s employment of the latest technologies in the transportation sector extends to its pa- ra-transit service for persons with disabilities who are unable to use the fixed-route system. “What we tried to do through the use of technology and scheduling software is to continually optimize our schedules,” explains Nick Davidson, Transporta- tion Planning Manager. “Prior to this shift, drivers would have a piece of paper that had their entire schedule for the day, on it – all their pickups and drop-offs.We’ve moved to dynamic scheduling. We have mobile data terminals (MDTs) on all of our buses, now, to communicate to them through the network, so we can actually push the driver’s manifest directly to their interface on the bus. If we receive cancellations or additional trips, we can optimize trips around.We’ve seen a dramatic increase in on-time performance, a decrease in onboard time, and a decrease in miles, which all contribute to cost savings.” “As part of that we have our IVR system–our interactive voice response,” adds Smith. “We actually provide reminder calls, much like if you were to go to the doctor or dentist and receive a reminder call the night before.We provide that and we also provide schedule arrival calls; we’ll call you roughly 15 minutes before, saying your bus will be arriving shortly and if you need to can- cel, there’ll be an option to cancel that trip. You can schedule online, on the phone, or you can speak with a live reservationist.We try to use technolo- gy to enhance and maximize the experience our customers have.” Regardless of these innovations, Conrad recog- nizes that the most important task of SARTA is simply to get people moving in the most efficient way possible, for their own purposes. “You need to understand what people are using your system for in order to build that transportation system. Instead of looking at a road or the infrastructure, we’re looking at the individual’s mobility needs,” he relates. “One of the things we’re seeing here in our community is a shift in population from the city of Canton to the outlying areas. So, we’re having to respond to those changes. And some of our routes run hourly or on a two-hour basis and it’s hard to plan your day around that. Most planning efforts try to get their mainline routes down to about 30 minutes, so that’s one thing we’d like to do– increase our route frequency and then try to get some of our routes started earlier in the morning.We try to build our system around the motivators in riding transit: information, safety, and dependability. Everything we do works around these motivators. You have to build ser- vice around the mobility needs of your communi- ty and region - or no one is going to ride.” THE STARK AREA REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY PREFERRED VENDORS n BAE Systems Inc. www.baesystems.com BAE Systems Inc. is the wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of the British defense, security, and aerospace company BAE Sys- tems plc, the world’s second biggest defense company. The American unit employs approximately 30,000 workers within U.S. borders and several thousand more in Israel, South Africa, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Major business lines of BAE Systems Inc. include: electronic warfare, sensing and communications equipment, armored vehicles, artillery sys- tems, naval guns and naval ship repair, and cybersecurity and intelligence services. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is based in Arlington, Virginia. With annual revenues of $10 billion, BAE Systems Inc. contributes over a third of the parent company’s global revenues and is typically ranked among the Pentagon’s Top-10 suppliers. n Stanley Miller Construction Co. Dave.Miller@smillerconst.com Phone: (330) 484-2229 Fax: (330) 484-4510 2250 Howenstine Dr SE East Sparta, OH, 44626 Proud partner of the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority