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All You Gotta Do Is Talk: Building Effective Ties Between Planning and Operations

Kristin Thompson

Metro Transit, Supervisor of Service Analysis

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN

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Martin J. Ruter Garage

East Metro Garage

St. Paul LRT OMF

South Garage

Nicollet Garage

Overhaul Base

Fred T. Heywood CampusOffice BuildingGarageTransit Control CenterInstruction Center

LRT Support Facility

Metro Transit Police Headquarters

Metro Transit Overview:

Operating FacilitiesCommuter Rail OMF

East Command Center

Minneapolis LRT OMF

• 912 Buses

• 86 LRVs

• 6 Locomotives

• 18 Commuter

Rail Cars

The Bad Old Days

• Periodic visits to

operating garages by

Service Development

staff

– Gripe sessions

– Issues could not be

researched on the

spot

– No way to close the

loop later

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Breakthrough: Service Advisory Teams (SATs)

• Monthly meetings held at each operating garage to

promote communication, issue prioritization, and broad

input into planning and scheduling

• Participants

– Service Development staff

• Analyst

• Planner

• Schedulemaker

• Rotating manager

– Street Operations staff

– Garage training coordinators

– Garage managers

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Service Advisory Team (SAT) Format

• Originally envisioned as a collaborative work plan

development process

• Evolved to a less structured discussion of issues,

including:

– Upcoming service changes

– Detours/construction

– Feedback from operators

• Garage-led– Training coordinator handles agenda and scheduling

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Additional Communication Tools

• Operating Conditions Reports (OCRs)

• On-Time Performance Committee

• Running Time Committees

• Operator Outreach

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Operating Conditions Reports (OCRs)

Operating Conditions Report Process

Operator fills out paper

OCR

Garage Coordinator

enter OCR into system

OCR Coordinator assigns OCR to department

Department assigns OCR

to staff

Staff review and respond

to OCR

Garage Coordinator

sends response to operator

Service change added to work

plan

Implement service change

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On-Time Performance Committee

• Pilot launched in 2005 to make use of AVL data

• Standing group of staff from:

– Service Development

– Garage Operations

– Field Operations (Street Supervisors and Control Center)

• Review worst-performing routes

• Identify action items for follow-up

– Schedule changes

– Monitoring (field or TCC)

– Working groups

– System factors

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Running Time Committees

• Each pick, one route chosen for in-depth review

• 3-5 operators who drive the route are selected to

participate

– Other participants include Service Development staff,

street supervisors, and garage staff

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• Two meetings with

operators:

– Gather input

– Report findings and

recommendations

• Publicize results

Operator Outreach

• Garage visits focused on a specific topic

– A recent round of visits focused on the OCR process

• Presentations to full-time operator classes, covering:

– Service Development staff groups and responsibilities

– Transit planning trade-offs

– Pick work plan process

– OCR process

– How schedules are written

– Q & A

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Service Development Communication Tools

Frequency

Field

Operations

Garage

Management Operators

Service Advisory

TeamsMonthly

Operating

Conditions Reports~20/month

On-Time

Performance

Committee

Monthly

Running Time

CommitteesQuarterly

Operator Outreach Varies

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Challenges

• Commitment levels vary

• Staff work styles

• OCR/pick timeline

• Barriers to operator

participation

– No pay for OCRs

– Staff turnover

– Assume we know issues

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The Future

• Improve the use of

operational data in

these processes

– Foster discussion

– Identify issues to

address

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Tips for Success

• Persistence

– Progress can be slow & bumpy

• Honesty

– Clearly communicate what can and can’t be done, and why

• Willingness to adapt

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All You Gotta Do Is Talk: Building Effective

Ties Between Planning and Operations

Kristin Thompson

Supervisor, Service Analysis

Metro Transit

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota