ATLANTA, GA and NEWTON, NJ--(Marketwired - Jul 1, 2014) - Sussex County Skylands Ride of New Jersey has recently adopted RouteMatch Software's Cloud-based tablet and mobile data management solution. Coupled with RouteMatch Software's Demand Response technology, the agency has experienced numerous benefits, most notably in the reduction in paper, savings on hardware repair time and verification time, and improvements in driver accountability.
Located in the far northwest corner of the state, Skylands Ride serves a rural area with their Skylands Connect and Skylands On-Request transit services. Population pockets are sparsely scattered across Sussex County which includes senior citizens, the disabled, students from a local community college, as well as commuters.
Last year, Skylands Ride performed 114,000 trips and the demand for rider services was rising at the same time that funding opportunities were dwindling. This gap drove the need for generating greater operational efficiencies. As the agency's mobile data computer systems aged, Skylands Ride began examining alternative automated vehicle location (AVL) solutions to address some of the challenges they had.
"Previously, we were concerned that if a mobile data terminal would need repair, it would require a lot of down time," explains Carol Novrit, Director, Sussex County Division of Social Services. "After much vetting, we found that RouteMatch's technology was more affordable and offered us greater flexibility for how we work. For example we can now assign tablets to drivers. This means we can switch tablets to other vehicles at any time, and we have spares for our fleet. We liked having everything managed on Cloud Services in a monthly subscription model and having one point of contact for support were also pluses."
Install time for the tablets at the agency took less than 20 minutes per bus. RouteMatch's mobile data solution is now in Skylands Ride's 24 mini buses and two buses.
Like many smaller agencies, Skylands Ride sought technology to help reduce staff burden, improve operations and save costs of printing out paper. Previously, the agency performed most of their verifications manually. The tablets and mobile data features have allowed Skylands Ride to cut time from 6-7 hours per day to just minutes per day on verifications. Data capture is easier and they now get real-time data for rider pick-ups and drop-offs, and can playback vehicle locations for safety, managing rider complaints and driver accountability. The agency can also provide drivers with the number of trips each in a customized manner thereby eliminating confusion when same day manifest changes are made.
"It's been terrific," said Carol. "We previously had been running up costs in terms of paper, ink and printers alone. We are now 100% paperless when it comes to manifest printing. We've recouped much of the investment based on increasing efficiencies in bus routing, reducing time and paper waste alone, and our staff has been able to operate much more efficiently."
About Sussex County Skylands Ride
Sussex County Office of Transit and Skylands Ride provides over 126,000 rides a year to County residents through public transportation and paratransit services. Skylands Ride provides demand-response bus service to and from work, training and post-secondary education for the general public including senior citizens and people with disabilities, and alternatives for all commuters not served by regularly scheduled public transit.
About RouteMatch Software
RouteMatch Software is the leading provider of passenger transportation technologies and mobility management solutions. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, GA and works with more than 600 transit agencies across the U.S. and internationally, providing quality software and customer service. Partnering with public and private sector passenger transportation providers, the company's products address routing, scheduling, dispatching, billing, reporting, fixed route, CAD/AVL, demand response and fixed route integration, traveler information services, mobility management, business analytics, and more. Additional information about RouteMatch's ITS technologies are available at www.routematch.com or by calling RouteMatch toll-free at (US) 1-888-840-8791.
Contact Information:
Media Contact:
Brooke Phillips
RouteMatch Software
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P: 404-253-7839