Using Technology to Enhance the Coordination of Services for the Transportation-Disadvantaged

in Multi-Provider Communities: Planning a Travel Management Coordination

Centre (TMCC)

September 2016

Brendon Hemily, PhD <brendon.hemily@sympatico.ca>

Agenda

Need for Coordination and Technology Goals and Objectives of TMCC Planning Guidebook Mobility Services for All Americans (MSAA) R&D Initiative Planning for a TMCC TMCC Vision: A Framework Institutional Foundation for a TMCC The Future

The Need for Coordination: Customer Barriers

Suppressed Demand Limited Service Area and Hours Complex Customer Communications Limited Coordination among Area Providers Limited Integration of Human Service Transportation with

Traditional Public Transportation

Using Technology to Enhance Coordination: The TMCC Concept: One Call-One Click and beyond….

Goals of TMCC Planning Guidebook

Summarize concept of TMCC from MSAA R&D Encourage adoption of TMCC Facilitate TMCC planning (make it easier) Objectives: ◦ Summarize Lessons Learned

◦ Provide a framework that captures at a high level all the main alternatives

◦ Identify Generic Stages / Components of TMCC

◦ Identify Key Decisions at each Stage

◦ Make Choices Visual

◦ Illustrate Alternative Strategies

◦ Provide List of Key Resources

The Guidebook is primarily aimed at those communities that have

agreed that human service transportation coordination is of the highest priority,

already taken concrete steps to create an appropriate institutional framework, and

concluded that technology is a valuable "enabler" of enhanced transportation coordination.

Coordination is SHARING

Using technology to share: ◦ Resources ◦ Tasks ◦ Clients

Sharing of non-technological resources as well ◦ Pooled development and implementation of travel training ◦ Pooled purchasing of products (e.g. fuel) or services (e.g. insurance)

◦ Shared maintenance facilities

Concrete steps to creating an institutional framework would include:

Consultation process to identify the key pertinent stakeholders;

Institutional structure for ongoing communications between key mobility stakeholders;

Formal agreement among key stakeholders that SHARING (of resources, tasks, and / or clients) is critical

Development of a consultation and governance process to pursue this agreement; and

Agreement to pursue the use of advanced technology (ITS)

Planning a TMCC

Knowledge of ITS Technologies Systems Engineering Approach ◦ ConOps ◦ Systems Requirements ◦ High-Level Design

From Institutional Agreement to….Systems Engineering: There is a need to clarify the Institutional Vision of the

TMCC

Observations from MSAA R&D

Target for TMCC includes many small agencies with very limited resources and little knowledge of technology

No “one-size-fits-all” model of a TMCC ◦ Common elements but many variations (great and small)

Non standardized components and terminology Very few deployments and actual experience ◦ No multi-platform, multi-supplier deployment to date (The

Travelocity Vision)

Systems Engineering V-Diagram

But Need a Higher Level Basis for Clarifying TMCC Institutional Vision

Barriers and Unmet Needs Vision of Desirable Customer Experience 9 Stages of Service Provision Process TMCC Vision: Consensus of what TMCC will do High Level Decisions at Each Stage: ◦ Level of Sharing: Centralized, where resources are shared, or

Decentralized, with each stakeholder carrying out the tasks on their own.

◦ The second dimension is technological: desire to see the tasks of the stage automated where feasible, or continue to conduct them as manual processes. In several cases, hybrid choices also exist.

Secondary Choices at Each Stage

The Customer Experience - Key Choices

Discovery Service Transactions

Focus here is on Service Transactions: Request for a trip reservation Confirmation of booking Reminders about trip Payment “Will Call” return trip

Trip Reservation – Questions to be asked about desirable customer experience

What are the customer needs to access the TMCC: by telephone, internet, kiosk, smartphone?

For telephone access, does the customer have a single number to call in the region regardless of which agency will provide the ride?

How should the TMCC's call center services be made available: live person (if so, what days and hours of operation), IVR, internet?

Does this call lead to a call agent, or does the customer have access to a self-service menu to request a reservation?

Are calls made during business hours to an agent of the TMCC placed in a “queue” or directed to an agent’s voice mail system for a return call? If queued, is the customer told how long the remaining wait time is?

Does the customer experience different trip reservation procedures after business hours than during business hours?

Does the customer have the choice to call either a central number or the number with the service provider that they are familiar with?

Can the customer make a reservation through a web site on the internet or a kiosk?

Etc...

Nine Stages of Service Provision (Service Transactions)

Customer Access Mechanisms Trip Request Classification Scheduling / Routing Booking and Confirmation Dispatching Vehicle Management Fare Management Data Management Reporting / Billing

Developing TMCC Vision: Two Dimensions for Key Choices

The first dimension is organizational: for each stage: ◦ Centralized way where resources are shared? Or ◦ Decentralized activities with each stakeholder carrying out the

tasks on their own?

The second dimension is technological: for each stage: ◦ Automated where feasible? Or ◦ Continue to be carried out as manual processes.? ◦ In several cases, hybrid choices also exist.

Customer Access Mechanisms-Primary Choices

Primary Choices Manual Centralized (e.g. single 800 number with operator) Automated Centralized (with Manual Option): (e.g. single 800

number with IVR) Automated Decentralized (with Manual Option): TMCC

stakeholders retain individual customer access means, but decide to use IVR to automate process

Automated Hybrid Centralized / Decentralized (with Manual Option): (“No wrong number” approach)

Secondary Choices Automated interfaces (IVR, web portal, kiosk, mobile app) Special Customer Interface Needs/Features (TDD/TTY, multi-lingual)

Trip Request Classification-Primary Choices

Manual Centralized: Centralized database and shared staff resources so that a call to the centralized access number leads the customer to a call center where a call agent can classify on the spot what service the customer is eligible for. If the requested trip is not eligible, the call agent can carry out an Information and Referral service for the customer,

Automated Centralized: Centralized database and automated trip classification portal in order to automate the access into the scheduling stage.

Automated Decentralized: Customer databases are not shared. Technology is used to create an automated classification database portal (referring to individual database for each request).

Visual Mapping of of Service Provision Stages and Primary Choices for TMCC Vision

Map: One Call-One Click

Map: Centralized Reservation / Scheduling

Map: Centralized Approach: Transportation Agency Lead

Map: Coordinated Reservation / Decentralized Provision

Phased Deployment

Institutional Foundation to Build and Sustain a TMCC – Lessons Learned

Partnership of Stakeholders Leadership, Champion, and Sustainable Cohesive

Project Team Understanding and Using Technology

Looking to the Future: Developing Interfaces Between Different TMCC Software Platforms

Isolated Initiatives ◦ Portland, CO: Ride Connection ◦ Wake County, NC: WCTS / Raleigh ADA ◦ Longmont, CO: CnR / VIA (Thursday Workshop)

The vision of a multi-platform, multi-vendor deployment (the "Travelocity" Vision) is not yet a reality.

Need for interfaces ◦ Standardized Data for Mobility Management (TCRP Web-Only Doc)

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_w62.pdf

TCRP Project G-16: Development of Transactional Data Specifications for Demand-Responsive Transportation

Draft Updated TMCC Planning Guidebook Looking for interested reviewers of draft ◦ Contact <Brendon.hemily@sympatico.ca>

Thank You!

TMCC Guidebook Update (FTA Project)