Keys to Implementing an Integrated Rail Scheduling Solution M ANY TRANSIT ORGANIzations are seeing improvements in cost, visibility, safety and customer satisfaction by implementing an integrated planning solution to keep plans and schedules in sync across all areas of operations. For agencies considering shift - ing toward an integrated solution, a return on investment will likely be realized within a short time frame. However, there are some key implementation best practices that you consider to make you implementation a success. 1. Take Stock of What You Have When integrating data from existing systems, such as payroll or asset management, transit organizations face two signifi cant hurdles: • Determining data needed • Evaluating its quality Th ink about the systems you currently use. Which will you choose to “retire” during the transition to planning platform, and which will you maintain? For those that you will maintain, think about their abilities to import and export data. What are their limitations? Importing and merging data from disparate systems oft en exposes discrepancies. You may discover that you need to perform data cleansing in order to get the most out of your new system. 2. Keep Security Front and Center While you are working to improve communication between systems, security data should be a major consideration. You’ll need to be aware of what data is being shared between systems and employees to ensure that your customers’ and employees’ right to privacy is being protected. As a way of mitigating these concerns, I recommend having separate server environments as a best practice. Th e number of separate environments would depend on your organization’s methodologies and budget. It’s possible that your planning solution vendor could host the development and test environments for your project. Another precaution to 20 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | DECEMBER 2016/JANUARY 2017 take for security is to make sure any test data is prevented from actually getting into production. Also, make sure that your organization has an information security policy that describes all the processes that are in place to ensure that data is being handled securely. 3. Break Down Silos in Your Operations One barrier to implementing a true integrated planning environment is the organizational, and sometimes even physical, siloes that exist between planning units in your transit operations department. Each planning unit may use diff erent tools or systems, or use diff erent processes to achieve the same task. In SOME ASPECTS of integration can be more challenging. iStock 4 By Daniel Crown The time and eff ort invested in the transition will surely match the benefi t of fl exibility and adaptability achieved as a result of your integrated scheduling solution. “Involving leaders from labor unions and organizations from the start is an important step to avoid challenges down the line.”
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