Computers are heavily relied upon for information, but sometimes the answer you want isn’t the one you always get. When it comes to scheduling, spotting when something isn’t quite right is a vital skill.

Can you trust technology? And the biggest question is: Can you trust your operation to be in the hands of technology?

With over 25 years’ experience providing public transport operators and local authorities with systems that meet their needs, Omnibus is one of the industry leaders in providing passenger transport software, whether that be to timetable, schedule, staff, record, manage and publicise services. 

Omnibus has a range of software solutions to meet any demand within the running of your operation, but it isn’t software that Omnibus discusses with routeone – it was the people who use it. 

Don’t de-skill a trade 

Scheduling is an art and a skill, and one that requires training. Most of all, it requires a scheduler, not just scheduling computer software. 

Transport is more than just a vehicle taking passengers from a to b, as operators will know, there’s hours of planning and organising that goes into running a functioning and successful bus service. 

Peter Crichton, Omnibus MD, says: “We still believe passionately that we need somebody that understands what they’re doing in the job. 

“If you’re the one controlling the computer, you should have a knowledge of what you’re actually controlling – having an understanding of what manual scheduling involves.” 

In a time where technology is evolving at a rapid rate and technological solutions are making tasks simple and easier – even if it means putting someone out of a job – Peter expresses his concerns about the “spin” computer systems get. 

“There’s quite a lot of spin these days about computers being able to do everything, but computers are only controlled by human beings who need to know what they’re controlling. 

“Scheduling is a skill. You don’t de-skill your accountants or your finance managers when you get a new piece of software, so why do people do it for schedulers?” 

Need to understand 

Using a computer system, if one chooses, is acceptable. But as Peter explains, someone will still need to understand what the outcome of the process should be. 

“At the end of the day, the whole thing with computers is, it’s garbage in, garbage out – and you only know whether it’s producing a good result if you know what you’re aiming for in the first place,” he says. 

“I think there is a tendency sometimes to undervalue schedulers, but with a stroke of a pen they can save companies hundreds of thousands of pounds. 

“You only have to input one – even when using a computer – silly parameter and make a meal-break twice as long as it needs to be and then suddenly your duties are costing a lot more,” Peter explains. 

Omnibus isn’t saying to rid the industry of computers, admitting that its computer systems will help just as much as the next, but it’s promoting the need for human control surrounding the job of scheduling. 

Whether a firm chooses to use a computer system or manual, someone will be at the helm inputting data – however, there is a disregard for training those people in control of scheduling. 

No magic box 

“There’s so much praise for how wonderful these computer systems are, and it might be seen as a bit of a luddite approach to be saying ‘oh you need to be trained’, but the only way you can judge something and to benchmark it is to know what it’s supposed to be achieved. 

“I think so many people think there’s a magic box, you just press a button,” Peter says. 

He also explains that while it will produce a result, someone will still need the knowledge to guide it to get that result. 

He adds: “It’s got to have parameters and you’ve got to understand the rules the parameters are there to achieve, what you’re trying to get from those and how to tweak those parameters to get the result you want – it’s not just a case of press a magic button and it’ll all work. 

“Schedulers need to understand what they’re actually doing. This is why we’re saying there is a need for the industry to start training again.” 

Essential training 

Omnibus is running a scheduling training course, which it says is getting enquiries because people are realising they need to have the skills to understand what it is they’re trying to achieve. 

The course is based at Omnibus’ own training rooms in Oldham and lasts for two days. It is open to anyone interested in planning and scheduling and takes place throughout the year. 

The training sessions come after the company decided to takeover Jim Hulme’s schedule training course TransACT. 

Peter says: “Jim wanted to retire, and we decided that this vital course needed to carry on, so we’ve taken over the rights to it.” 

The course gives an insight into how to produce timetables and schedules manually, which might seem counter intuitive for a company that specialises in scheduling software. But by understanding the manual process, it gives an ability to know what answer to anticipate from the computer and becomes easier to spot anomalies, usually caused by restrictive or incorrect parameters. 

Peter adds: “You would never ask someone who didn’t know how to do accounts to run your year-end figures. Likewise, with scheduling, you shouldn’t expect someone with no knowledge of how the process works to get the best from the software.”

This article originally appeared in routeone magazine.

For some, bus scheduling seems like a dark art that is practiced in shadowy corners of the operator’s head office.

Others may assume that algorithms and AI make all the decisions in the misty reaches of the cloud. But which is it? What do schedulers do and why do they do it? To explain, it is easiest to look at the basics. 

Building blocks for bus scheduling 

We should all be able to agree with the statement that a scheduler must compile the most cost-effective and operable set of timetables, driver duties and rosters possible. 

Creating efficient duties is good, but operable duties are what is really required. 

A scheduler could ensure that duties pay only the bare minimum and weed out any pay for unproductive time. But that is no good if you lose all the flexibility within the schedule. Is it really efficient to reduce your pay by 15 minutes on paper, only to actually pay two or three hours’ overtime on top? 

Another statement is that a scheduler needs to feed a multitude of downstream systems with data. 

The most basic example of that is informing allocators of the duties that have been planned. However, in a fast-moving world where data is king, it is usually schedulers who provide data in various formats to more and more downstream systems. 

They include ticket machines, real-time information providers, websites and mobile apps, to name but a few. Additionally, the Bus Services Act will soon require more data from every operator – much of which, I am sure, will be administered by the scheduler. 

Controlling costs via clever bus scheduling 

It could be said that a scheduler controls all major cost centres within an operator. 

The scheduler dictates the number of duties a set of timetables requires. That filters through to how many rota lines exist and how many holiday weeks are needed, the number of DCPC days and so on. 

If you have a scheduler who consistently schedules more duties than are required, there will obviously be big knock-on effects. 

Perhaps less obvious is that the scheduler will also dictate the number of vehicles your company runs. The more that are in use, the more engineers, spare parts and land to house them are required. 

It is also worth saying that utilising unsuitable vehicles on certain routes or journeys has the real potential to increase the amount of work your engineers have and the number of vehicles that are needed to meet PVR each morning. 

What actually is a bus scheduler’s job? 

The three points above outline what a scheduler does. However, none of them explain what the scheduler’s job actually is. Put simply, a scheduler’s role is to keep everyone happy. 

That may sound like quite an abstract concept. But when boiled down, the person with responsibility for bus scheduling has the task of keeping the whole business ticking over. That surely works better when everyone is happy. 

A good set of schedules can keep all the below satisfied: 

• Allocators 
• Customers
• Drivers 
• Engineers 
• Local authorities 
• Shareholders 
• Traffic Commissioners

The skill of schedulers is in successfully balancing the different needs and wants of every stakeholder invested in the company. Too often, schedulers can be pressured into only satisfying one group of people, which ultimately fails. 

An example of that would be trying to keep shareholders happy by reducing paid time and layover time. 

That will decrease costs and should increase profitability (on paper at least). But it can also decrease reliability, causing late or missed journeys. That will turn customers away from the service and ultimately leading to shareholders being unhappy as revenue falls. 

Give schedulers the right tools

There is, however, one person that the scheduler often does not keep happy. That is, of course, the scheduler. 

The responsibility for keeping the scheduler content falls on those who manage the company. They must recognise the enormity of what schedulers are trying to achieve and give them the support they need to do it. 

That can be as simple as giving schedulers the tools they need to do the job. It may include computer aids but what is really needed is some help. 

If you have multiple depots with multiple changes each year then why put all that pressure on one person? 

We should also invest in our schedulers. Keeping everyone happy is a difficult job. Schedulers should be given the time and opportunity to learn their trade. You wouldn’t let a school leaver with no experience do your year-end accounts – so why do it for bus scheduling? 

Operators should respect their schedulers

Schedulers have possibly the hardest job of all: Keeping everyone happy. 

As an industry we should recognise how difficult the job is and give those who do it the credit they deserve. 

We must support those who are in the role by giving schedulers the tools they need and the time to learn their trade. After all, if we keep schedulers happy, they should do the same for everyone else.

The article originally appeared in routeone magazine.

Kieran Proctor leads a discussion on the importance of good bus schedulers and the wider impact they have on an operation.

Good scheduling is not just a benefit for passengers, but it has massive implications throughout an operation, Kieran told CILT’s (Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport’s) Busmark meeting. 

An important aspect to keep in mind when scheduling is that a cost-effective route is not specifically an operable route. The industry is getting a lot more data driven and it is the schedules that drive this. 

A surprising place to find out whether schedules are being run affectively is social media. Kieran said: “Bus spotters like to tell you why you’ve cocked up. But if you have got that on social media, it gives you somewhere to look when making changes.”

Scheduler’s job

The power bus schedulers have is they control the number of drivers and duties required. They also dictate the number of buses needed. If they schedule more vehicles during the day, then more engineers are going to be required. Kieran said: “The scheduler’s job is to keep everyone happy.”

To keep drivers happy, they need to create sensible duties with reasonable breaks. He said: “It may be more cost effective to have a short break, but it’s not operable. Where they need a single rest day, try to avoid going from a late to an early shift.” 

He suggested educating ourselves on what drivers have to deal with. 

On keeping depot allocators happy, he said: “If you keep them happy you keep the drivers happy. It’s all about flexibility. If you build flexibility into the schedule, you won’t have to knock out trips and it helps them a lot.” 

Making sure drivers are well-scheduled helps engineers. Kieran said: “Tired drivers make mistakes and it’s the engineers that have to pick up the pieces.” 

To conclude, he said: “We ought to recognise scheduling is a skilled job and it needs the right kind of people to do it.” 

This article originally appeared in Bus & Coach Buyer.

Kieran Proctor explains why new schedulers need manual training to understand and learn their trade.

Scheduling is an essential job. It is the art of planning. With effective scheduling, it can minimise costs, increase efficiency and workflow and keep a business moving. Without it, a simple mistake can have a huge negative effect on the running of an operation. 

Technology has certainly made a scheduler’s job easier, but anyone joining the industry cannot rely on this alone. How can you be certain that the computer has provided the best answer? This is where our training can help.

Essential training 

There are systems out there to make scheduling easier. Omnibus is one of the industry leaders in providing passenger transport software, whether that be to timetable, schedule, staff, record, manage and publicise services. Its managing director, Peter Crichton, agrees that technology alone is not enough for effective scheduling and says, “there’s no magic button”. 

routeone was invited by Omnibus to take part on its TransACT Manual Scheduling for Local Bus Services course, a two-day intensive course at Omnibus’ Oldham offices. 

It is open to anyone interested in planning and scheduling and takes place throughout the year. 

Kieran Proctor and Paul Wreghitt are the principal trainers, however, it has a larger team of experienced schedulers who are able to deliver the course if either one of them is unavailable. 

Keiran says: “We have both been running the courses since Omnibus took over, initially with Jim Hulme there to guide us but we are now running these ourselves.” 

Mystery of scheduling 

This course has a long history and was originally developed by Jim in the late 1970s. 

Kieran says: “When Jim first entered into scheduling, he encountered a very experienced scheduler who would protect his work by covering it with his arms, and created a feeling of mystery as to how the schedules were actually produced. 

“Jim recognised that this was a very good scheduler, but he just couldn’t explain how he actually did what he did. 

“This made Jim determined to find a way to explain to others exactly how timetables, schedules, duties and rosters are created and having found a way, he ran his first course in 1977.” 

Since then, the course has developed in line with the operating practices of the day, however, despite 40 years passing since its inception, the core lessons and methods outlined have remained true and continue to be relevant today. 

Omnibus took on the running of this course with Jim’s blessing in 2018 and hopes to continue developing and delivering these lessons for the next generation of schedulers entering the industry. 

Kieran adds: “We firmly believe in giving people all the knowledge and tools they require to do their jobs as best as they possibly can, so this course fits perfectly into this ethos.”

Course welcome 

The course covers a broad range of subjects: service specification, timetable design and construction, public timetable, bus scheduling, bus workings, working timetable, running board, duty scheduling, daily duties, duty rostering, duty roster and allocation – all of which are connected to form the scheduling system. 

“It gives the attendees a good idea of what is involved in getting bus services out there onto the roads in the real world,” Kieran says. 

“It would seem easy at first to say that a service should run every 15 minutes between the town and the outskirts, however, certain factors such as peak-time congestion and the availability of both drivers and buses have huge effects, and it is the skill of the scheduler that determines how well these issues are addressed.” 

He explains that also understanding how and why certain things may happen within a network schedule is important throughout all roles within the industry. “I believe this course arms all who attend with the knowledge required to do just that.”  

Omnibus says its TransACT Schedules Training Course is “designed to serve as a good foundation for those who need to create or have a working knowledge of bus timetables and their operational effectiveness”. 

During the training, it introduces the theory of good bus timetabling, including the creation of efficient vehicle workings and the relationship between these two disciplines. 

It also focuses on the creation of cost-effective driver duties and the impact that these can have on the vehicle workings and timetables, before also touching on the production of workable driver rosters. 

It adds: “This is all aimed at arming attendees with the tools required to produce efficient schedules that work for you as the transport provider and, perhaps more importantly, work for your customers too.” 

Says Kieran: “Jim had people on the course say ‘yes, that is exactly what I do’, so the method must be right.” 

routeone’s experience 

We soon discovered that it does not matter whether you’re a new scheduler, never scheduled or just want to brush up on the skill – the course is suitable for everyone with an interest in “the art”. 

Omnibus provides all of the tools needed to complete the course, pen, pencil, ruler, rubber and a booklet with all of the information needed. 

The course provides an in-depth look at manual scheduling, and is hands-on, so you are required to do the work in the book provided. 

Part one/day one of the course looks at timetables and bus scheduling, and part two/day two looks at duty scheduling. 

The maths is fast and the tip given at the beginning, which everyone stuck to was, “always use a pencil” – but the Omnibus team provide all the support needed to help get the right answers. 

No calculators are provided, however, for some trickier of the sums, but exceptions were made to double check the answers. 

You learn some tricks of the trade such as: “Don’t discourage drivers by having days off further apart. If when planning the roster you give a driver, for example, Friday and Sunday off, they may call in sick on the Saturday to get a three-day weekend. Try and give them consecutive days.” 

There’s no denying that this course could have many benefits on an operation, making it more efficient and saving time and money.

This article originally appeared in routeone magazine.