Optibus creates a continuous plan for mass transit: city-wide planning and scheduling – determining where every vehicle and driver should go, while ensuring that the service will be both cost-effective and on-time.
Think of it, if you were looking for a new job in technology right now, which criteria would be on top of your list? My 20-year career in high-tech taught me a lot about great and not-so-great places to work and about the huge impact they have on my quality of life.
One of the great things about working for Optibus is the ability to apply math to the solution of real world problems. Bus scheduling is a NP-hard problem and as we were developing the Optibus platform in its early days, we encountered many cases that forced us to put our thinking hats on.
The overtime crew scheduling (or runcutting) challenge
Everyone has opinions about overtime. Some think it’s an opportunity to earn more money, others are concerned about the resulting safety implications (or regulatory problems), as drivers drive long shifts and become fatigued.
Optibus, the leading provider of real-time operations and planning for mass transportation, announced today the opening of its UK offices in London, and, simultaneously, the appointment of Dave Joshua, as its UK Country Manager.
The UK mass transit market is one of the oldest and largest public transit operations in the world. This fits perfectly with the Optibus vision to provide technology that will drive better and more efficient means of mass transit, making it the first choice for passengers and cities alike.
London’s Paddington Station has borne witness to a great part of history, dating all the way back to 1852. This included the transport of goods (particularly milk and parcels), all types of passengers , the onslaught of World Wars (although no damage was done to it), upgrades, reconstruction and preservation. Additionally, the children’s…
It’s difficult to decide whether the future of Electric Buses is already here. One article titled “Electric Buses Will Take Over by 2025”, discusses how Shenzhen in China became an example of successful bus electrification. Yet read “US Transit Agencies Cautious on Electric Buses” and you will learn about the setbacks of using new technology…
Have you ever solved a Rubik’s Cube? If not, maybe you’ve solved a Sudoku puzzle, or even just a maze on the back of a cereal box. If you have ever solved one of these things, then congratulations! You’ve solved a Non-deterministic Polynomial problem! This terminology could sound quite intimidating, but you don’t need a…
Bus bunching is one of the most common — and simultaneously most complicated — problems that transit companies face. Picture this: you’ve been waiting at your bus stop for fifteen minutes, and your bus is running more than ten minutes late. Finally, you see your bus in the distance. As it approaches, you see that…
This webinar was held as part of the announcement of OnTime module of the Optibus platform. The OnTime module uses artificial intelligence and historical data to predict and analyze on-time performance. Doing that allows schedulers to tweak and change schedules so that the entire schedule has a higher likelihood of on time performance, leading to…
How MV Transportation Uses Optibus for Scheduling: a case study We recently interviewed Liz Stayner, Planning Manager at MV Transportation. Stayner uses Optibus for runcutting and scheduling for multiple MV divisions and agencies. Stayner started working at MV as a dispatcher in the Bay Area. She quickly moved into operations and special projects, helping different…
Why timetables? Timetables are the backbone of any mass transit service – or really, timeplans – the aggregate of timetables and routes. They are the underlying service commitment – when and where should transit go, where to stop (or not, for express lines), and where service is measured (time points to measure punctuality). Generating detailed…
