Europe is the world’s most urbanized continent, with 73% of its population living in urban areas. A great example of this trend is London. It’s growing at an average of six new residents every hour. To keep these cities moving, public transport providers need to fulfill the growing demand while being safe, efficient and environmentally friendly – all without breaking the bank.
Developing strategic public transport plans for the future requires answering some tough questions for the continued growth of their network. Can they anticipate future HR needs to ensure there’s enough crew and staff? Will they be able to continue guaranteeing excellent service levels in an industry this dynamic?
That’s just the beginning. At present, public transport providers also have their hands full dealing with issues related to:
- Network planning
- Multiple modes of transport
- Ensuring continuity during school holidays
- Recruitment plans
- Training management
- Budget monitoring and reporting to the public authority
Optimization and monitoring work hand-in-hand
Since public transport is supervised by multiple stakeholders, it’s incredibly important to ensure accurate monitoring of its operations – including the disparity between planned and realized performance.
It’s not at all uncommon to face disruptions due to holidays and cultural and sporting events, making it even more necessary to adjust and rebalance capacity across multiple sites. These operational changes must be accompanied by transparent monitoring, while being supported by a powerful solution capable of end-to-end planning and optimization.
Mileage and budget planning
Mileage and budget planning is a key step that takes place annually over a period of several months. During this phase, public transport providers consolidate the supply of each line for the coming fiscal year and come up with budget estimates.
The commercial mileage-driver ratio is optimized to meet the hiring, training and leave requirements based on anticipated network growth. Hiring and training both impact the budget significantly.
This time-consuming process involves a combination of internal tools, spreadsheets and employee know-how. The stakes lie as much in the automation as in the integration of certain tasks, which usually carry low added value for the employees involved.
Could the secret to an agile business lie in workforce planning?
An innovative planning and optimization solution is no longer just a luxury. Operational agility requires an intelligent planning solution that’s powered by industry-proven optimization technology.
DELMIA Quintiq takes all industry requirements into account in order to optimally plan the two main assets: The workforce and fleet. DELMIA Quintiq offers total operational visibility, allowing planners to generate and analyze what-if scenarios. It becomes easier to plan workforce changes, limit the use of external or temporary workers and optimize schedules with regard to sick leave, holidays, labor regulations and strike absences.
Another advantage? It’s possible to integrate training hours directly into the system to guarantee maximum satisfaction of current employees and new hires.
Discover for yourself why Virgin Atlantic, Eurotunnel and Thalys have chosen DELMIA Quintiq to optimize their workforce – and transform their operations in the process.
