Introduction
West Coast Motors uses the Optibus public transportation management platform to improve work schedules for drivers and give them a better work-life balance. In this case study, Paul Borthwick, their operations and systems supervisor, discusses how Optibus’ easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) tools have made it possible to create better crew schedules in less time and with less effort.
Background
West Coast Motors is a family-owned bus operator headquartered in Campbeltown, Argyll, Scotland. In 2021, the company introduced Optibus to digitalize its operation and improve collaboration among its 600 staff members at several operations including City Sightseeing Glasgow, Kintyre Express, and Borders Buses.
An easier, faster way to create driver-centric schedules
When Paul Borthwick started working in public transportation twenty-three years ago as a bus driver, bus graphs and crew graphs were written down on paper. Today, planning and scheduling methods have changed drastically with digitalization. As operations and systems supervisor at West Coast Motors, Paul takes advantage of those new technologies to meet the evolving needs of bus drivers and positively impact crew schedules.
“The last three or five years [that] I’ve been working, especially with Optibus, the scheduling side of things has improved massively,” said Paul.
“The day of the longer shifts and longer schedules are over,” he continued. “A lot of drivers want better family life and I think that’s important to try and get a better balance.”
“I think that Optibus helps with achieving that.”
Today, Paul uses Optibus to harness AI technology that makes it easier to account for all the factors of a good schedule, including driver preferences, relief vehicles, and break rules, and to run crew and vehicle optimizations that improve duties and work-life balance, leading to higher employee morale.
Because Optibus’ software can perform optimizations in seconds to minutes, not hours or days, Paul can also run multiple scenarios in a short period of time and choose the best ones for his drivers.
“Especially Optibus, it has given us a quicker turnaround for making schedules and timetables and it gives us a better variation, if need be. We can have a look at different variations and decide pretty quickly which one we choose to keep.”
The impact of artificial intelligence on scheduling operations
Optibus’ roll out at West Coast Motors has given their team access to user-friendly yet cutting-edge AI scheduling tools that make it easier to plan smarter bus driver shifts.
“Artificial intelligence is a big part of our operation now. It is powering about 60% of our schedules and timetabling,” said Paul.
“AI has helped improve the business for improving schedules and improving drivers’ needs and getting a better work-life balance for drivers, which is very important.”
The future of scheduling
Paul’s hope for public transportation in the future is that it will be more environmentally friendly, better connected, and easier to use for passengers.
“I can see data being king over everything. Which is a good thing, so you can design and build better services, better timetables for customers’ needs. And I think that’s only going to improve as technology comes along. Services and timetables will only improve as data analysis improves. And this will be a great thing for customers, drivers, and everybody in the business,” said Paul.
“There’s new technologies coming in. I like that. It keeps you on your toes,” he added. “I think I might be getting gray and old but I’m up for the challenge every day for it.”
To discover more about how Optibus can improve crew scheduling and bus driver shifts, request a demo here.
Further Reading:
- 600 employees
- 55 routes
- 11 depots
- Quicker turnaround times for scheduling
- Powering 60% of operation using AI
- Public transportation operator
- Products: Planning, Scheduling, Rostering