Pilot study with individualized duty rotas in public local transport

The planning of duty rotas in public local transport (PLT) was the main topic of a research project which was finished in 1998. "Individual duty rotas", is one of the models developed within the project. This new approach focuses on the participation of employees. The central aspect of the model is the planning of individual duty rotas for each individual driver. The planning process is cyclic. First the preferences of the drivers are collected. In planning, all of the laws and company requirements in PLT are fulfilled. When finished the rotas are put into practice and the process restarts. In the development of the model, the company's needs were also taken into account. The demands for feasibility and self-financing were relevant aspects in the development process. By integrating an implementation-concept and a software tool for rota planning, the companies are able to adapt the model to meet their needs and to achieve a cost-effective implementation. Since 1996 the model has been in use in a medium sized company in PLT. Besides the implementation costs no further costs were incurred in the pilot-phase. The pilot group consisted of 24 employees. In this group, the rate of accidents was reduced by 20%; customer complaints declined by 52%. Due to these results the company has continued in using this model and several other PLT companies have implemented the model. The use of the model is not limited to PLT. Virtually no other area has more complex framework conditions regarding working time than PLT. Therefore it is possible to use the model in other areas, where employees work shifts.