Efficiency and Effectiveness - Key Productivity Variables

Productivity parameters have been drawn from the literature and developed during the course of this study. The project’s study site presented challenges to data collection, verification and classification. Challenges arose with identifying seemingly simple measures as load factor and revenue hours, because pre-implementation data was insufficient to support meaningful

comparison with the post-implementation period.

Measures in this study have been split into three categories - Efficiency, Effectiveness and

Quality. The following sections first outline the measures used in this study, and then display the before and after comparisons using the study site’s data.

6.1 Base Financial Indicators

Table 47 contains the basic financial variables used in this study’s efficiency and effectiveness measures along with their respective pre and post-implementation changes. Base variables used include all salaries and wages, operating expenses and total costs. Other cost categories

demonstrated unacceptable variation linked to exogenous influences. Financial variables falling into this category were not considered. All variables in Table 47 are monthly averages of each six-month implementation period. The post-implementation data were adjusted for changes in the Consumer Price Index and for additional personnel that were unrelated to the implementation of the CASD.

Table 47 Average Monthly Financial Variables

Category

• Administrative Salary $10,246 $11,780 $10,244 0.0%

Driver Salaries $36,876 $38,094 $37,280 1.1%

Dispatch Salaries $8,692 $8,554 $8,372 -3.7%

Maintenance Salaries $1,930 $2,979 $1,975 2.3%

Total Salary $57,744 $61,407 $57,871 0.2%

Operating Expenses* $ 23,761 $ 23,644 $ 23,139 -3.0%

Other Costs $18,634 $22,888 $22,399 20.21%

Total Costs $ 100,139 $ 107,939 $ 103,409 3.27%

* - Operating Expenses = Fuel and Lubricants, Vehicle Insurance, and Vehicle Maintenance (Only)

** - All adjusted financial data reflects a reduction of 2.1348% CPI and appropriate reductions of increases due to additional personnel not associated with CASD implementation.

6.1.1 Administrative Salary

Administrative salaries include only those salary expenses directly related to staff not performing driving, maintenance or dispatch/scheduler duties. During the course of this study, the

administrative staff was augmented by adding an operations manager. This manager was

required by the new contract with the Greater Peoria Mass Transit District and was not related to the implementation of the new CASD. The salary of the operations manager was deducted from the adjusted totals before CPI adjustments were applied. After salary and CPI adjustments, administrative salary remained unchanged (a difference of less than $3.00) between the pre- and post-implementation periods.

6.1.2 Driver Salaries

Driver salaries include only those costs of paying permanently assigned drivers (full and part-time), excluding the salaries of dispatchers who occasionally provide driver support. Driver salaries increased by 1.1% over the test period, despite total vehicle hours actually decreasing slightly during this period, and no additional driver positions being opened. Although nearly 20% of the driver staff turned-over during this period, total driver staff numbers remained essentially unchanged. Temporary, unfilled positions were covered by existing drivers using overtime and dispatch staff. The slight increase in driver salaries despite reduced miles and vehicle hours seems to reflect additional overtime of those drivers who extended their working days to cover routes for absent drivers.

6.1.3 Dispatch Salaries

This cost item includes only those expenses paid to personnel filling permanent

dispatch/scheduler positions, excluding the occasions when drivers may substitute for or augment dispatcher/schedulers. Observed salary changes are linked to a combination of

reductions in overtime for senior scheduler/dispatchers and lower wage rates for newly assigned dispatchers in the post-implementation period. Only two dispatchers were still employed at the site at the close of the post-implementation phase. Salary changes were not linked with any organizational or procedural changes resulting from implementation of the CASD.

6.1.4 Maintenance Salaries

Maintenance salaries were increased by the addition of both a part-time and full-time employee in the post-implementation period. The additional maintenance cost is not related to installation of the CASD.

6.1.5 Total Salary

Total salary includes only direct salary expenses excluding FICA and associated salary/wage costs. Adjusted average total salary remains essentially unchanged over the pre and post-implementation periods, increasing only 0.22%. Driver and dispatcher salaries represent about 79% of total salaries in both implementation periods, representing the largest cost components of salary.

6.1.6 Operating Expenses

Because of tremendous variations in the study site’s financial data, “operating expenses” has been modified to include only the three major contributors to the category, vehicle insurance, vehicle repairs and fuel & lubricants. The balance of operating expenses has been included in

“other costs”. Operating expenses fell by 3% in real terms from $23,761 to $23,139. A decrease in operating costs follows a decrease in vehicle miles and hours, lower fuel prices and a

reduction in total passengers in the post-implementation period.

6.1.7 Other Costs

Other costs include non-vehicle insurance, depreciation, and worker’s compensation, none of which are affected directly or indirectly by CASD installation. This category also varies significantly by month preventing meaningful analysis. Of the balance of cost categories included in other costs, salary related expenses and specifically, worker’s compensation has contributed most to pre and post-implementation change, adding an average change of nearly

$5,000.

6.1.8 Total Costs

Total costs include depreciation, rent, legal fees in addition to the major categories listed above.

Dispatch salaries, operating costs and other costs show the greatest change, however none of these changes can be directly connected to CASD implementation.

6.2 Base Non-Financial Variables

The basic set of non-financial variables is listed in Table 48. Non-financial base measures include employee counts, Passenger hours, One-way passenger trips, Peak vehicles, and vehicle hours/miles. The following discussions describe pre- and post-implementation changes. All figures in Table 48 are monthly averages, of two-month periods from each of the implementation periods except peak vehicles which is the average maximum number of vehicles dispatched

during weekday periods. . Pre-implementation system performance data is an average of March and June 1998; post-implementation data is an average of September and November 1999.

Table 48 Base Average Monthly Non-Financial Measures (Average Monthly Weekday) Category

(Average Monthly Mon. – Fri)

Pre

This is the average employee count in each implementation period. Pre- and

post-implementation employee levels changed with the addition of a full-time operations manager, and one full-time and one part-time maintenance employee. One additional part-time employee has been added to assist in run posting, augmenting permanent staff when needed. The

operations manager position was added as a result of a change in the transit district’s contract requirements, while maintenance personnel were added to assist an already over taxed

maintenance staff. No direct or indirect CASD influences were observed in the operations manager or maintenance personnel additions. The part-time run-posting position is a direct result of CASD implementation, reflecting the added task of updating the CASD database with every passenger manifest. CASD operations require run-posting activities to update projected database arrival/departure times, passenger loading, no-shows, etc.

Run-posting is a process change directly related to CASD installation. The CASD must be updated with accurate odometer, time stamp and rider no-show information to produce reports and billing data. Run posting transfers passenger manifest data entered by the driver to the CASD system. Run posting is a particularly important task in that the input accuracy at this point has direct impact on all CASD performance reporting.

6.2.2 Passenger Hours

Passenger hours were calculated as the product of passenger trips and mean passenger ride time.

Calculated average monthly passenger hours decreased 3.9% in the post implementation period to 8,026, following a slight increase in passenger ride time and a decrease in the number of passenger trips.

6.2.3 One-way Passenger Trips

One-way passenger trips is a count of one-way weekday trips. Holidays falling on weekdays have been excluded as have days where significant weather events seriously degraded

performance. Total one-way passenger trips dropped from 11,793 reported in the pre-implementation period to 11,021 in the post-pre-implementation period. This 6.5% reduction

reflects changes in contract service agreements between Door to Door, Inc. and its many contract agencies rather than any influence of CASD implementation.

6.2.4 Peak Vehicles

Peak vehicles are an average count of vehicles dispatched during the busiest part of the study site’s days. Fleet peak numbers follow the service area’s local work schedules, as a significant proportion of Door to Door, Inc. passenger trips transport riders to work sites. Peak vehicle data fluctuates within a narrow range because of contractual prohibitions limiting the use of some vehicles, reducing the potential optimization of those vehicle assets.

Peak vehicles are limited by the following constraints:

• Contract for the part of the customer base represented by the district contract. A maximum number of vehicles are allowed in service at any one time,

• Contract with both district and certain sponsor agencies. Passengers may not normally be mixed on vehicles operated with certain funds, restricting optimization,

• Potential vehicle availability in the DTD fleet. Few spares are available, limiting maximum dispatched vehicles,

• Service area restrictions. A large part of the service area is non-urban, with lighter population and limited access routes. As the passenger pick-up or drop-off location is scheduled farther from the central business district, progressively fewer roads access the area, requiring more vehicles and drivers, and ride time.

• Driver availability (chronic driver shortages reduce maximum fleet size)

Due to these constraints on vehicle usage, average vehicle fleet size remained essentially constant between pre and post-implementation periods.

6.2.5 Vehicle Hours

Vehicle hours is the difference between reported last drop-off and reported first pick-up times on the manifest. Vehicle hours decreased by approximately 3%, likely driven by the reduction in ridership described above. Vehicle hours were also likely influenced by demographic changes in

the ridership base due to service contract changes; riders living in more rural areas or having more severe disabilities require longer ride or loading times.

6.2.6 Vehicle Miles

Vehicle miles is a monthly average of all odometer miles reported on the passenger manifest during each implementation period. Vehicle miles (difference between last drop-off and first pick-up odometer readings) decreased nearly 7%, following the change in ridership volume and demographics associated with changing contracts with the service agencies.