Keolis Commuter Services has awarded GIRO, a supplier of planning, scheduling and managment software for public transit and paratransit operations, a contract for a HASTUS-Rail installation to optimize scheduling and manage daily operations of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) commuter rail system, which Keolis operates and maintains.
Keolis selected HASTUS-Rail after receiving on-site demonstrations of the software handling various scenarios “that showed significant efficiency gains, cost savings and flexibility to adapt to Keolis’ operations, including compliance with the Federal Railroad Administration’s hours of service regulations,” GIRO said.
“Keolis is focused on safety and adopting word-wide innovations that will make MBTA commuter rail the best that it can be,” said Keolis General Manager Gerald C. Francis. “GIRO’s HASTUS-Rail allows us to advance the way we can optimize scheduling and better manage our daily operations.”
“We are pleased to have been able to demonstrate HASTUS-Rail’s capacity to help Keolis Commuter Services achieve its goals,” said Éric Lebel, GIRO’s Marketing Director, HASTUS. “We look forward to putting our experience in implementing solutions for rail applications to work to support Keolis in satisfying the expectations of the MBTA and commuters in Greater Boston.”
Keolis said its key objectives in choosing the HASTUS-Rail software suite are “to increase efficiency, decrease costs, and facilitate data exchange with its other systems. The HASTUS-Rail modules that we selected will allow us to build efficient vehicle schedules, cover them with optimal crew assignments, and manage any changes to planned rosters promptly and effectively. By eliminating a paper-based system, the modules will also optimize the process that employees use to bid on work shifts and give employees access over the Internet to enter their bids, check their current and next-day assignments, and sign in using mobile devices.”
HASTUS-Rail is currently in use in major rail operations in, among others, New York, Belgium, Stockholm, Singapore and Hong Kong, and it is being implemented in Washington, D.C.