Overview
Auto Viação Alpha operates some of the main bus lines in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, transporting more than 18.2 million passengers annually. They are part of the Guanabara Group, one of Brazil’s largest passenger transportation conglomerates, which includes Dedo de Deus and Nossa Senhora do Amparo, two operators that also use Optibus.
This case study focuses on the experiences of André Arantes, Director of Alpha, and Vitória Regina Souza, in charge of Planning and Scheduling at Alpha, who both use Optibus Planning and Scheduling, including Demand Optimization, to perform their work.
Battling rising diesel prices with reliable data
Alpha was looking for an operational planning platform that could provide accurate data and produce reliable, realistic results.
Using Optibus, Alpha became more resilient in the face of economic uncertainty. When diesel costs in Brazil spiked 23% between June 2023 and November 2023, Alpha minimized the financial risk by using Optibus’ optimization tools to allocate resources more efficiently.
“From June to October, while we were deep into onboarding the Optibus system, we coincidentally saw a significant increase in the cost of diesel. Fortunately, due to Optibus’ resource optimization, Alpha did not have to cancel any trips in the travel schedule we provide to the Rio de Janeiro city hall, and my operational diesel costs did not increase even fifty-percent of what they should have,” explained André Arantes.
Improving frequency with Demand Optimization
To improve passenger services, Alpha is preparing ticketing data and researching travel origin and destination using Optibus’ Demand Optimization function.
“Alpha has gotten much better at improving its operation and allocating resources between passengers and the company’s internal needs. Our next step is to conduct a more refined analysis on how demand is related to revenue. Now, with Optibus, we have the ability to conduct this type of study,” said André Arantes.
Because Alpha operates smaller vehicles on some lines, they often need to dispatch more vehicles during peak hours to increase frequency and match demand. Optibus’ Demand Optimization feature enables Alpha to easily adjust vehicle allocation between lines with high and low demand, resulting in shorter intervals (headway) that better serve passengers on high-demand routes without sacrificing quality on other lines.
“Optibus’ optimization provides visibility into the passenger experience. It is easy to see that we have a line with lower demand than this other one, and that those passengers won’t feel the impact of me removing a bus at that interval and putting it on this other line,” explained Vitória Regina Souza, who is in charge of Planning and Scheduling at Alpha
Higher driver satisfaction using rapid scenario creation
From Vitória’s perspective as a Planner and Scheduler, route planning should support three stakeholders: the driver, the passenger, and the company. To balance everyone’s needs, she uses rapid scenario creation, part of Optibus Planning.
“If the schedule is good for the driver and the passenger, the company will automatically have a good return. We were struggling with overtime, but Optibus has already given me a scenario where the driver works fewer hours and has more rest. That was great. I talk a lot with the drivers and they say they are feeling better and more rested. For me, as a planner and scheduler, this was wonderful news and an improvement at the company.”
More analytical planning
Using the Optibus transportation management platform, Vitória’s planning work became much more analytical, fast, and automated. Before Optibus, it would take an entire month to plan just one line and there was often a long delay in carrying out subsequent analyses to identify if planning was adequate.
“Today, my work is more productive because I can analyze service plans faster. Sometimes, a certain schedule doesn’t work. I am able to remove it faster and I can improve it, practically from one day to the next. So, my work is more productive and more analytical. Before it was much more manual. Now I press a button and everything is ready,” said Vitória.
“The platform is very intuitive. It helps operations a lot, at a time when companies are very interested in optimization. We provide the same services we normally do, just with fewer buses. So, we made good use of it. Optibus allows us to ensure that the operation remains the same, but at a lower cost, so I can offer a better operation for the passenger,” she added.
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