MENTZ – a reliable partner on the fifth continent
With the “Transport Connected Bus” (TCB) program, Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) has introduced state-of-the-art technologies to their regional bus network. MENTZ know-how played a major role in the successful implementation of the TCB.
Here’s whats new: the TCB Program has expanded travel choices through the integration of school bus services in more rural areas. Customers can choose from a range of trip options and access all required information – in real-time and from different, updated sources.
Customers will be able to make more informed travel choices, operators will benefit with more accurate data and tools to improve their services, and par-ents will have better, more reliable in-formation on their child’s school bus loca-tion, helping them to plan their last mile transportation.
The three phase 1 sites that launched on July 14th 2020 – Bega, Dubbo and Coffs Harbour – offer vehicle tracking, automatic passenger counting as well as service analytics and reporting on around 300 buses.
MENTZ DIVA is the core component of the TCB Program. Although the DIVA system is only a small part of the overall TCB program, it provides a portion of the data basis for all subsequent consuming systems. With DIVA as a standardized planning tool, MENTZ was able to provide fast and reliable turnaround times.
Operational Planning with DIVA and Block Scheduling Extension
All operational planning was performed in DIVA Schedule’s block scheduling extension – combining timetable planning and operational planning in one sleek module. Even though the geographic conditions in rural Australia are globally unique, the planning tasks that result are familiar and have been solved in DIVA. Whether in rural Germany, in the Austrian Alps, or in the Australian Outback, the efficient organization of driver relief points is not feasible or may lead to extended, unproductive trips. In order to provide economically viable schedules under these conditions, both a sound data model and special tools are required. So similar to other regional customers, Transport for New South Wales performs their operational planning without differentiating between driver shifts and vehicle blocks – the core strength of DIVA Schedule’s block scheduling extension.
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