ST. JOHN'S, NL and DALLAS, TX and ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwire - Nov 6, 2012) - The City of St. John's, MVT Canadian Bus and RouteMatch Software have partnered to improve the City's GoBus Accessible Transit operations through expanded advanced intelligent transportation (ITS) technologies. GoBus Accessible Transit is operated by MVT Canadian Bus and serves the City of St. John's and the City of Mount Pearl, providing door-to-door accessible transit services to persons with disabilities and those unable to use public transit. MVT Canadian Bus assumed operations in January 2012 with 18 new vehicles equipped with state of the art technology by RouteMatch Software.
Technology enhancements include a recently launched Customer Web Portal and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technologies which is being deployed in Fall 2012 by RouteMatch Software.
The City of St. John's launched a customer web portal for GoBus to complement the system's existing RouteMatch scheduling, dispatching and automatic vehicle tracking technologies. The customer web portal is designed to allow riders to conveniently book, view, edit and cancel their own trips online, reducing incoming call volumes and also enable easier scheduling of trips for the hearing impaired. The City of St. John's will also be releasing an IVR system, which utilizes advanced speech recognition to deliver automated phone reservations.
"Our riders asked for this technology in a public meeting," says Cecil Whitten, the City of St. John's Chair of the Paratransit Advisory Committee. "They utilize e-mail and text messages in their day-to-day lives; we want to accommodate them by providing their preferred communication channels. RouteMatch helps us provide better customer support to our growing number of riders."
In 2012 alone, GoBus has seen their trips per day increase from 325 to 450. By embracing the new relationships and technology, the City of St. John's has seen enhancements across the board for the GoBus Accessible Transit operation which includes 18 buses, 12 dispatchers and 40 drivers.
"We have more visibility into our data and we are able to see our peak hours, locations and cancellations," says City of St. John's Councillor At Large Tom Hann. "This information allows us to streamline our scheduling and serve more people in our community. We have found our partnerships with MVT Canadian Bus and RouteMatch to be very beneficial and are excited about the new advancements to come."
Before utilizing ITS technologies, all scheduling had been completed manually and two-way radio devices were used for communication between drivers and dispatchers. Now, each bus is equipped with a mix of traditional mobile data computers and tablet mobile data devices, decreasing the need for radio communications. Dispatchers are able to process and address cancellations quickly allowing more flexibility in processing same day requests and thus increasing ridership.
For those agencies interested in learning more, The City of St. John's, MVT Canadian Bus and RouteMatch Software will attend the upcoming 2012 CUTA Fall Conference in Quebec City, Que., November 10 to 12, 2012.
The City of St. John's is the host city for the Canadian Urban Transit Association's (CUTA) Annual Conference occurring June 1 to 5, 2013. The conference will provide a platform for the City of St. John's to showcase operational and technological improvements.
About MVT Canadian Bus, Inc.
MVT Canadian Bus began operations in Canada in January 2009 as the contract provider to TransLink for the HandyDART service in the Metro Vancouver area of British Columbia. We are continuing our expansion across Canada with our second Canadian contract that commenced January 1, 2012 as the accessible transit service provider for the City of St. John's, NL.
MVT provides door-to-door transit service to those unable to use public transit without assistance. This is an essential service to customers who rely on accessible transit. For many seniors and persons with cognitive or physical disabilities, our service is their only means of transportation.
MVT Canadian Bus Inc. is a subsidiary of MV Transportation Inc., the largest provider of specialized transportation services for seniors and persons with disabilities in the United States. To learn more about our parent company MV Transportation Inc., please visit www.mvtransit.com
About RouteMatch Software, Inc.
RouteMatch is the leading provider and innovator of end to end passenger and vehicle technology solutions. Founded in 2000, the company is headquartered in Atlanta, GA, with Canadian offices located in Toronto, Canada. RouteMatch works with more than 550 transit agencies in North America and Australia. Partnering with public and private sector passenger transportation providers, the company's products address routing, scheduling, dispatching, billing, reporting, fixed route CAD/AVL, accessible transit and fixed route integration, traveler information services, fleet management, and more. Additional information about RouteMatch's ITS technologies are available at www.routematch.com or by emailing info@routematch.com.
Contact Information:
Daisy Wall
404-844-5323