Business View Magazine - January 2024

it goes right to the tablets that the drivers use. So, technology has just been amazing.” The maintenance department is also on trend, utilizing Ron Turley fleet management software to ensure buses are well-maintained. “That does a lot of our tracking and lets us know when the bus is due for preventative maintenance. It gives work order information and full reports on everything.” TRIUMPHING OVER CHALLENGES While the COVID-19 pandemic led to a temporary decline in ridership, Montgomery Transit has been resilient. Tensley elaborates, “In essence, before COVID, we were doing close to 500,000 rides per year, and when COVID came in, it dropped down almost to 200,000. Now it’s picking back up. Last year we had over 400,000 and right now we’re on the way to doing another 400,000 and more.” He admits that COVID did have an impact on the operations, adding, “We learned a lot. We learned how to be more careful with each other hygiene- EMBRACING SUSTAINABILITY AND TECHNOLOGY In a city steeped in history, Montgomery Transit is a testament to progress, as it seeks out future electrification opportunities, in line with the government’s mandate for zero-emission transit by 2035. “We have applied for what is called Zero Emissions Grants, which would allow us to purchase some electric buses as well as the infrastructure for an electric system,” Tensley details. Despite not yet securing these grants, the system is gearing up for a greener future. “We’re working towards that goal to get there. But in place right now we are doing some renovations. We’re purchasing new vehicles, and we’re also looking at our water separator system and having that revamped, as well as our fueling system. We’re trying to build up and stay current on all the technology as well as the environmental issues, so we can have a safe operation,” he acknowledges. In addition, a $1.1 million investment into the renovation of two of Montgomery Transit’s satellite facilities is currently underway, along with a new bus wash system. “We are planning on doing quite a few projects and improvements that are based on the CARES Act money that we receive from the government as well as some other grants,” says Tensley. Reminiscing about a time when locating a bus required sharing location codes over the radio, Tensley says that Montgomery Transit is fully embracing the latest technology, creating more efficiency and simplifying the rider experience.With Moovit, passengers can effortlessly schedule bus rides akin to booking flights, while Transloc provides a real-time visual location tracking system, allowing dispatchers to track buses with precision. Even the paratransit service has evolved frommanual manifest creation to seamless computer-generated operations.“I can remember a time when I served at one location, it was done by hand. They would call in and the dispatchers would have to write down everything by hand and get it out to the drivers,” Tensley remarks.“And with micro-transit, people can use an app and book everything themselves, and 233 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 01 MONTGOMERY TRANSI T