Imagine you’re a bus operator in your first week on the road. You must safely navigate the route, stay on-time, and deal with any detours—all while communicating with passengers and dispatchers. If you have a lapse in any of these responsibilities, you receive negative feedback from your supervisor, despite your best efforts.

This scenario plays out on a daily basis among operators of all experience levels, at agencies of all sizes.

Operators are a transit agency’s greatest asset in delivering reliable service. Yet the onboard tools they rely on today are plagued by inaccurate data, difficult-to-read information, and failure to integrate with operational tools.

Working with over 190 transit agencies today, we’ve seen how investing in onboard tools can deliver results for agencies’ biggest challenges:

1. Improving on-time performance
2. Managing disruptions
3. Hiring, training, and retaining operators

The team here at Swiftly has leveraged technological breakthroughs in cloud software, cellular networks, and data standards to create Onboard App: a modern onboard application for real-time performance management, turn-by-turn navigation, and additional operator tools.

More than 50 transit agencies across the country rely on Onboard App today to extend Swiftly’s reliable data and intuitive tools to bus operators.

Request a meeting with a Swiftly expert to learn how you can equip your riders with modern onboard tools.

What transit agencies are saying

MBTA (Boston, MA)

“As we continue to improve bus service for our riders, it’s important to put our workforce in a better position to succeed. We are utilizing technology to give our dispatchers and operators the tools to make timely decisions and deliver improved and more reliable travel for our riders.”

—Phillip Eng, General Manager and CEO at MBTA

CapMetro (Austin, TX)

“No rider likes the feeling of running up to the bus stop and watching the bus pull away. Onboard App is helping to solve that problem.”

—Daryl Weinberg, Transit Systems Architect at CapMetro

DCTA (Denton County, TX)

“Operators see the ‘ROI’ of Onboard App during their shifts. They have navigation during construction. There’s a safety aspect. Swiftly lets them focus on the road.”

—Javier Trilla, VP of Innovation and Information Technologies at DCTA

1. Improving on-time performance

In today’s climate of budget uncertainty, it has never been more important for transit agencies to streamline operations for more reliable service.

Operators are natural allies in improving on-time performance, but they do not always have access to reliable, real-time information on their own schedule adherence.

Providing operators with accurate, easily glance-able schedule adherence information through Onboard App has proven to improve on-time performance and reduce early departures. By implementing Onboard App across their fleet, the Denton County Transit Authority improved on-time performance by 18.6% and decreased early departures by 66%—an incredible impact for the rider experience!

Operators want to do their best work, and equipping them with modern tools is a proven way to improve service reliability.

“Onboard App really helps operators with frequency. They know how far away the next bus is—ahead of them, behind them,” said Daryl Weinberg, Transit Systems Architect at CapMetro. “Onboard App gives them confidence because the countdown is telling them when they should leave that timepoint or stop. It helps them leave at the appropriate time, and not beforehand.”

2. Streamlining disruption management

Disruptions, planned or unplanned, are a recurring challenge for transit agencies. When they take place, operators are on the front lines of executing detours.

Yet all too often operators lack sufficient support from their onboard tools. They typically receive a printed page with left and right turn directions or instructions over the radio that are difficult and potentially distracting to follow while driving. Every operations leader has seen cases where operators either skip a detour or take wrong turns—or even keep driving a detour after normal service has been restored.

Swiftly has pioneered a truly seamless disruption management solution that keeps dispatchers, operators, and riders on the same page.

Agencies like LA Metro, the RTC of Southern Nevada, and CapMetro use Swiftly’s Service Adjustments tool to create hundreds and even thousands of detours every month. With Onboard App, these same detours are placed directly in front of operators with intuitive turn-by-turn navigation. This process saves time for dispatchers with easy detour entry and gives operators a resource for foolproof detour navigation.

“Navigation in Onboard App reduces human error when it comes to changes to service,” says Ryan A. Mayers, Planning and Special Projects Manager at the RTA of Central Maryland. “Our staff previously had to manually write down the left-right instructions. This reduces the guesswork.”

3. Support training and retaining operators

Transit agencies are constantly hiring, training, and retaining operators. Despite all the resources agencies invest in this area, operators do not receive the support they need once they get behind the wheel.

Many onboard interfaces do not have any turn-by-turn directions, and, when they do, most MDTs rely on outdated maps and don't prioritize intuitive user experience design. Improving those onboard tools can have a huge impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of operator training.

Onboard App’s distraction-free interface and accurate, reliable information inspire confidence and help operators make smart decisions on the road.

“Turn-by-turn navigation will ensure a seamless transition as the T continues to update its routes and reinforce bus operators’ existing knowledge, giving them more confidence,” said MBTA Director of Bus Safety Asia William. “We tested this feature with our operators and instructors to ensure that the technology works seamlessly in real-world conditions, creating a safer on-board experience.”

Difficulty training and retaining operators impacts every aspect of service delivery. We have to consider onboard technology as critical support for operators to be successful.

Taking immediate action for immediate results

Two of the most limited resources for transit agencies are money and time. The process of ripping and replacing onboard technology requires a large financial investment, takes years, and still creates the risk of unsolved problems.

Cloud-native software, cellular networks, reliable commodity hardware, and transit data standards have finally empowered agencies to take a more agile approach to onboard technology.

Agencies have found success with Onboard App in large part due to the speed, ease, and economics of its implementation. Onboard App runs on a ruggedized commodity tablet installed alongside an agency’s existing CAD/AVL system, powered by Swiftly’s cloud-native Transit Data Platform. This allows agencies to take action to improve the operator experience without waiting to upgrade and replace their CAD/AVL system.

Your passengers deserve reliable service today, not years from now. That process starts with empowering operators to do their best work.