November 2008 – GIRO announced today that ComfortDelGro Cabcharge Pty Ltd. (CDC) has selected HASTUS scheduling software to help improve vehicle and crew scheduling of its commuter bus operations in Sydney, Australia. HASTUS will replace the existing scheduling software for CDC’s fixed-route bus services operated by the company as part of the New South Wales Metropolitan Bus System under the Westbus, Hillsbus, and Hunter Valley Buses brands.
The contract was signed after HASTUS testing at CDC revealed two percent savings above the solutions produced by the CDC team using their existing software. The company has already begun installation of GIRO’s scheduling software, which includes Vehicle, Geo, Crew, CrewOpt, and Roster modules. CDC also purchased the Minbus option, a complementary module to Vehicle designed to further minimize vehicle and crew costs. Primarily used for managing minor exceptions to regular daily operations and schedule amendments, Minbus takes the process of block creation a step further by providing tools for: creating block characteristics that reduce crew costs; interlining with complex constraints; block-to-garage assignments in multi-depot environments; and trip shifting.
“The HASTUS modules we tested clearly showed that implementation would bring immediate cost savings and improved scheduling to our bus service,” said CDC’s Adam Timewell, planning manager – Scheduling and Projects. In addition to the main benefit of enhanced scheduling and, by definition, better service, CDC believes HASTUS will also assist the company with recruitment of new schedulers. “HASTUS lives up to its reputation as a flexible, easy-to-use solution, and that’s what schedulers are looking for above all else for their day-to-day tasks. We’re confident that HASTUS will give us an advantage in attracting more scheduling personnel as our service continues to improve.”
“We are pleased to have ComfortDelGro Cabcharge among our HASTUS clients in Australia. CDC is the leading operator in New South Wales and now one of GIRO’s largest customers worldwide,” said Daniel Pelletier, senior account manager at GIRO. “We fully believed our software would deliver the level of improvement CDC needed for its scheduling system, but the additional benefit of attracting and retaining scheduling staff reinforces the idea that HASTUS is fast becoming the standard solution for public transit operations in Australia.”
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About ComfortDelGro Cabcharge (CDC)
Parramatta-based, ComfortDelGro Cabcharge Pty Ltd. is the largest private bus operator in New South Wales, with a fleet of 800 buses. The company also operates the Sydney Coach Terminal, located within the Central Station in Sydney. CDC is a joint venture established in 2005 between Singapore-based ComfortDelGro Corporation and Cabcharge Australia Limited.
