Transit scheduling program that drew fire here named award finalist
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has been recognized in the America’s Transportation Awards competition for its use of standardized technology with 42 shared-ride transit providers.
The Demand-Response Transit Scheduling Software program was named as one of the Top 12 projects nationwide competing for the grand prize and the software company Socrata People’s Choice award.
It was named as a finalist for improving efficiency and service for the Pennsylvanians who use the door-to-door service.
Introduced in Washington County in 2014, Greene County Transportation Services began using the paratransit scheduling software in 2015.
Dissatisfaction with its rollout in Washington County resulted in a series of public meetings in which stranded riders or those who were not able to arrive at their destinations on time aired their grievances.
“We were on the early side,” said Sheila Gombita, executive director of the Washington County Transportation Authority. On the positive side, the agency gained GPS devices on all contracted vehicles to give the organization more information about its service providers.
Paratransit formerly known as Washington Rides now goes by the name Freedom Transit and it has an average on-time performance of about 94 percent, Gombita said.
“It’s a better scheduling system,” she continued. “We can now extract all kinds of data, such as the number of vehicles on the road and service during certain hours of a day.”
Freedom Transit uses two contractors – First Transit and Tri-County Access – for its shared-ride program.
The competition is sponsored by the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, Socrata, AAA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The 11th annual America’s Transportation Awards competition recognizes transportation projects in three categories: quality of life/community development; best use of technology and innovation; and operations excellence.
The service scheduling and dispatch software, called Ecolane, helps providers improve on-time performance, collect data, and maximize the number of trips provided.
Shared-ride service provides on-demand community transportation service and is available in all 67 counties. The Ecolane software is in use in all counties except Philadelphia and Allegheny, where the shared-ride service providers use their own software.
The grand prize will be determined by an independent panel of transportation industry experts. The Socrata People’s Choice Award will be selected through online voting by the general public. Online votes will be weighted to each state’s population, allowing for greater competition between states with larger and smaller populations. The winners will be announced in Atlanta Sunday, Sept. 23.
Online voting continues through Sept. 22. The link is: https://transportationawards.secure-platform.com/a/gallery/rounds/10/details/1584.