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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