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Route Manager |
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Starting Monday 4 March service monitoring, timetabling and scheduling at First in
the north west is set to change dramatically thanks to the introduction of innovative mobile, state
of the art Information Technology. 
The new technology will provide for the fast and accurate
collection of the on-the -road service data, which will enhance the effectiveness of the company's
existing performance database. This in turn will enable service improvements to be introduced more
quickly and may prove indispensable in light of the traffic commissioner's recently proposed
nationwide bus timekeeping criteria.
Titled "Route Manager", the new system utilises standard Microsoft Pocket PC equipped with specialist bespoke Windows software to deliver a dynamic recording method that will provide First with highly accurate, up to the minute roadside information.
"Should the new nationwide bus timekeeping standards recently announced by the Traffic Commissioners
come into force, then in the event of investigations, operators will be required to demonstrate 
that
they have 'planned and controlled their services with responsible time keeping in mind', "said First north west divisional managing director,
Garry Raven. "We already have a comprehensive database of operational information, built up manually
over recent years, and this has been used to consistently improve our services and increase the number
of customers we carry each year. The introduction of Route Manager now raises this activity to a new
level and provides us with fast access to accurate information which will enable us to provide even
better services for our customers, and it will help us comply with any new statutory regulations."
There are four modules in the Route Manager application suite: Timetable, Schedule Adherence, Fare Table Management and Customer Comment Handling. At launch, the timetable and schedule adherence modules will be operational with others scheduled for progressive introduction.
The mobile software features a Microsoft SQL server database that allows users to control the latest version of the timetable data and provide analysis for a variety of data maintained within the system. Each time users synchroise their Pocket Pc's with the central database, normally overnight in the depot, they will automatically receive an updated copy of the latest timetable.
In use Route Manager allows the mobile user to define data recording criteria such as day, route and timing points, before it searches the timetable data to determine all service arrival and departure times at the point. It then features a simple input facility to record actual times encountered for the sector under review. As the actuals are input, the system measures and records any variances against the timetable data.
At the end of a duty users simply return the Pocket Pc to its base station in the depot and all the collected data is automatically downloaded onto the company's network server. Managers throughout First in the north west can then immediately access the collected data for analysis and review.
"Route manager will end the days of Inspectors with clip board, printed forms and timetables waiting at timing points to record data which then has to be manually keyed in to a system before it can be analysed, "add Garry Raven. "With this new technology the longest period of delay before analysis can be undertaken will be 24 hours, assuming that an Inspector does not return to the depot at the end of a duty and does not have a home internet connection. Route Manager will be able us to respond to trends before they turn into difficulties.
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