Operators pilot TAS bus delay software
13 August 2007
Public transport consultant The TAS Partnership has announced that two major bus operators are conducting in-house pilots of bus delay software developed by the company. Gateshead-based Go North East and Stagecoach in Manchester are conducting the trials in-house.
The software enables TAS to take data from Electronic Ticket Machines and report average waiting times, bus speeds, journey times and, more importantly, journey time reliability.
The software routines were developed by TAS Associate Director Philip Higgs using the QData system for analysing electronic ticket machine data, developed by Iain Macbriar of QV Associates, himself now a TAS director.
Higgs said, "We developed the routines during an in-depth investigation into the causes of bus service unreliability for Greater Manchester PTE. We realised that operators collect literally gigabytes of data every operating day, and I was convinced that there had to be a way to use this."
In Manchester, TAS Partnership concluded that delays are caused by two broad factors:
- 58% by traffic factors (roadworks, congestion, traffic signals etc), and
- 42% by operational factors (ticket issuing, vehicle failure)
Since then, the routines have been used by TAS consultants in over 100 network reviews.
As punctuality climbs higher up the Department for Transport's agenda, TAS believes that operators will need to monitor their own punctuality and reliability much more closely - but claims that few operators are in a position to do so accurately and cost-effectively.
Higgs continued, "Unlike rail operators, bus operators are lagging behind in the publication of performance standards. Punctuality Improvement Partnerships appear to have resulted in the issue going off the boil but the reality is that operators do not have monitoring data to demonstrate whether reliability is getting better or worse and where the hot spots are".
The TAS reliability analysis suite has diagnosed problem areas for several bus networks, recommended actions that achieve significant running time savings and improved the 'predictability' of the bus services.
"Reliability is a joint issue that bus operators and local authorities can work in partnership to deliver. In some cases only moderate savings are needed and some low cost interventions can achieve a real change in reliability and deliver bus services that are much more predictable," Higgs added.
Further details of the TAS methodology . If you would like a demonstration of the software contact Philip Higgs on 01772 204988 or by email philip.higgs@tas-part.co.uk
Ends
For further information:
Contact Philip Higgs at philip.higgs@tas-part.co.uk
telephone 01772 204988 or visit our website www.tas.uk.net
Notes to editors
- TAS was founded in 1989 and has grown to be the UK's leading specialist public transport consultancy, with a current turnover in excess of £1.5m a year and over 25 full-time staff.
- Our client base includes all the major UK transport groups, Department for Transport, Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly, Northern Ireland Government, Passenger Transport Executives and local authorities throughout the country.
- The company also publishes regular reports on the financial and commercial performance of the passenger transport industry.
- TAS recently signed a contract to market the QData analysis software to operators for in-house use, or can provide analysis services under contract.