Real life lessons: Learned fleet management systems implementation

The internal fleet management evaluation and needs assessment study has been completed. Management has approved the plan. Funding has been identified, secured, and approved. A consultant has been hired. You've investigated the technology and understand the benefits to be realized. You've observed the system demonstrations highlighting the unique product capabilities of the industry leaders. The contractual wording has been added and the system specification is completed. You are now finally ready to release your Request For Proposal (RFP) for your competitive procurement of your brand new advanced technology Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) fleet management system - or are you? Have you covered all the bases? Are their any hidden pitfalls you may encounter? Will everything go as planned? Compounding the urgency in answering these questions is the fact that your operations life line - your current radio infrastructure - is near the end of, if not far beyond, its useful life. A two year procurement cycle will only make this matter worse. These system procurements are largely supported by public grants. What assurances do we have that these funds will always be there tomorrow? A CAD/AVL system is a multi-million dollar, highly integrated, computer controlled, advanced communication and information processing system. The fixed price development of such systems specifically for the transit industry is new territory for the supplier. The purchase of such systems is just as new territory to the transit operators. Therefore, it is not unexpected for both sides to be experiencing growing pains. The demand for the technology is out there and there are more than enough suppliers who are more than willing to accommodate those demands. Due to the complexity of these systems, the procurement process necessary is not the same process used to add new buses to an existing fleet or even to purchase new radio equipment. As technology advances, so must procurement methods. The operators are very anxious to begin using their new systems, and contractors are anxious to build a solid and satisfied customer base. A computer system purchase of this magnitude and complexity is most likely a first for many operators. Therefore, for the amount of money the operators are investing, not only is an on schedule delivery anticipated, but, so is a system that leaves them with no operational surprises. This paper focuses not only on what steps lead to a successful CAD/AVL system implementation and deployment, but also, more importantly, what factors transit operators should be aware of early in the procurement cycle that can lead to trouble down the road. The goal here is to present the transit operators with the necessary information to achieve a win-win situation between themselves and their selected contractor.