Dave DeMatteo, RIPTA operations coordinator/dispatcher, right, takes calls while attendees at a national transit convention in Providence get a tour of the facility from Liz Harvey, operations manager, far left.

The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

PROVIDENCE — The state transit authority says that its new computer system, bought to help run its para-transit program and now almost fully operational, is a success, improving scheduling and reducing the number of workers needed.

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority’s new system largely automates the complicated job of scheduling 150 vans that make nearly 3,000 trips per day carrying the elderly and disabled to doctors’ appointments and other errands.

Doug Wood, who manages RIPTA’s RIde program for the elderly and disabled, said the authority is saving thousands of dollars per day just by reducing the number of taxicabs it has to hire to fill gaps. It also helps run its “Flex” service, where customers in eight communities can call for service 48 hours in advance or catch a bus at regular stops.

Wood said the new system replaces a combination of software that didn’t work very well and some work that had to be done partly or entirely by hand, such as scheduling and data entry. It is also saving through more efficient scheduling and a reduced need to respond in person to inquiries, he said.

The system includes global positioning, which has two major features, one more popular with the drivers than the other. It gives the drivers directions, an advantage where a driver isn’t familiar with an area. However, it also lets RIPTA keep track of where its vans are. Wood said that prompted some resistance from the drivers because of its “big brother” implications, but he said he thinks they have accepted it.

In the past, staff members juggled service requests telephoned in by customers, putting them together as efficiently as possible.

“They had to eyeball things, and choose” what trips to put together, Wood said. Now, when customers call to schedule rides, the computer system looks for customers in the same area who are going in the same direction and groups them automatically, presenting proposed routes to the staff members handling scheduling. Wood said the result is more efficient scheduling.

When a driver goes to work, the system sends an electronic manifest of trips and times to a computer in his van. That eliminates a paper system and allows RIPTA to more easily shift schedules during the day in case a van gets behind or breaks down.

It also automates reminder calls to customers about scheduled rides, reducing the number of calls RIPTA receives to check on scheduling and allowing the elimination of a job in RIPTA’s call center. Not yet put into service is another element, the system’s ability to understand customers’ voice requests and schedule rides for five of their most-used destinations.

Now, when drivers start and end trips, they punch that information into their computers. That avoids manual data entry, letting RIPTA more easily bill the agencies paying for the trips. As a result, Wood said, the agency has been able to reduce its billing staff from three to two.

Called an “intelligent transportation system” and sold by RouteMatch Software Inc., of Atlanta, the combination of hardware and software cost $1.6 million, Wood said, including the mobile computers in the buses. RIPTA has a five-year contract, and Wood said, “I’m sure, well within the five years, it’ll pay for itself.”

The system went into use in April 2008. Like many new computers systems, Wood said, “We had problems at the beginning. The first couple of days weren’t pretty.” But he said most of the problems have been worked out.

blandis@projo.com