Improving Passenger Experience for Work Shuttles

Overview

Interacting with passengers and evaluating how service plans roll out is all part of designing a quality transportation network.?

Based in the United Kingdom, Somerset Passenger Solutions uses Optibus Planning , Scheduling , and Rostering to ensure services run on time in alignment with passenger demand and work schedules, as well as to incorporate into their service plans observations from the field that can improve passenger experience.

Background

Somerset Passenger Solutions (SPS) is the shuttle operator providing all employee and passenger transportation services for the Hinkley Point C project in the United Kingdom. Their routes transport passengers from across Somerset, Minehead, Weston-Super-Mare, Taunton, and Bristol. In 2021, SPS became part of First Bus.?

"I think the biggest challenge that we have is the demand," said Josh Tobin, Operation Scheduler, SPS

Challenges and Solutions

Staying connected to passengers

SPS plays a key role in connecting people to work. Their services transport 10,000 people each day to Hinkley Point C, carrying as many as 4,000 people during peak hours.?

“I think the biggest challenge that we have is the demand,” said Josh Tobin, operation scheduler at SPS. “We have thirteen different schedules, one hundred and twenty eight buses, all running at the same time to the demand of the client.”

“It is a big job,” he added.?

“I think the most important thing is with scheduling you can become very distant,” Josh explained.?“Once we get the nitty-gritty hard work done, it’s then actually looking at how can we make it more effective? How does this impact people?”?

SPS encourages Josh and his team to remove that distance by regularly observing how service plans fold out in reality, actually being at the bus stop when passengers board and alight, seeing the daily impact of schedules, and then trying to improve that service or maintain efficiency. Josh visits the work site anywhere from one to four times per month to assess how schedules are working out on the ground.

Those site visits help SPS to understand more about the passenger experience and discover opportunities for improvement.

“It’s not very often you get the opportunity to speak to someone you directly impact daily,” Josh noted.

SPS also collaborates with local communities in the area to ensure that journeys are managed to benefit local road users as well as the work site.?

"I don't think we would be in a position now to meet the expectations of the client without Optibus, without that automation," said Josh Tobin, Operation Scheduler, SPS

Read the full Case Study here:

?