American Logistics Company (ALC)

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Challenge

ALC coordinates supplemental transportation benefits for at-need riders that are sponsored by an organization such as a government agency, healthcare facility or a school. By using low-capacity vehicles such as sedans and minivans, ALC increases the cost-efficiency of an organization’s high-capacity fleets while at the same time providing reliable transportation services for a client organization’s members.ALC’s old system relied primarily on phone communication and software tools, which were slow and inaccurate. Ride ETAs were difficult to predict, as neither ALC nor its partners had visibility as to the status of their drivers. This affected both passengers, who had to wait for pickup, and facility operators, who often had their own schedules to maintain.

ALC required a multi-platform solution that would increase ALC partner driver response time and customer satisfaction, while automating the record-keeping process for accurate cost tracking and billing. This solution would require both a web solution for use by ALC dispatchers, passengers and client facilities, and a passenger-focused mobile application for convenient ride requests.To build the solution, ALC needed a team that had the necessary skills and experience to develop a complex, multi-platform, industrial-grade mobile and web application. ALC also needed a team that was already familiar with ALC’s niche industry and did not need extensive onboarding.

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Solution

After some initial discussion, we determined with ALC that the My Ride Manager platform had to serve several needs.Firstly, eligible passengers would have to be able to request transportation via the My Ride Manager mobile application. Once requested, passengers could then track their assigned vehicle’s current location and ETA. They would also be able to chat with dispatch and contact member services.

Secondly, facility staff would have access to a My Ride Manager web application that functioned much the same way as an information desk.

Here, staff would be able to request rides on a passenger’s behalf and be able to conveniently process transportation for multiple people every day. Since this web tool was to be actively integrated into the ALC infrastructure, staff could quickly verify the memberships and codes being claimed. The solution would also allow partner staff to view the ETAs of other ride services being used, such as Lyft or Uber.

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Impact and Benefits

User-Centric Design

We collaborated with ALC as a team using design thinking to define use cases, UX and key features prior to writing a line of code. This critical, but often overlooked, step resulted in a clear vision of what needed to be built. Using User Centric Design best practices, helped identify challenges upfront so they could be addressed early and prevent time, cost and resource challenges.

More reliable ride estimates

The My Ride Manager platform is able to provide accurate ride estimates for all of its partner vehicles—even those from third-party companies. This is particularly valuable for clients in the medical industry, where facilities often have to adhere to strict appointment schedules and cannot afford to stay idle waiting for a passenger to arrive. Passengers, too, no longer have to rely on inaccurate ETAs and wait for long periods of time.

Reduced development time and costs

Using state of the art development tools including Visual Studio, Azure, Xamarin and React, we were able to complete both the web and mobile components of the My Ride Manager platform within an accelerated time frame without compromising quality.

Tighter platform and data integration

The My Ride Manager platform is able to provide accurate ride estimates for all of its partner vehicles—even those from third-party companies. This is particularly valuable for clients in the medical industry, where facilities often have to adhere to strict appointment schedules and cannot afford to stay idle waiting for a passenger to arrive. Passengers, too, no longer have to rely on inaccurate ETAs and wait for long
periods of time.

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Reduced number of support calls

The My Ride Manager platform had an immediate and significant effect on ALC’s operations, particularly in the area of transportation requests. In a single week, ALC dispatch handled 516 fewercalls requesting rides and ETAs, than was the norm, and now has virtually eliminated calls entirely across multiple client organizations. This speaks to the convenience and value both members and facilities are getting out of the web and mobile passenger transportation management platform that RedBit built with ALC.

100% Adoption

RedBit and ALC’s collaboration resulted in an exceptional solution that has seen unprecedented levels of adoption. According to Hants White, CIO of ALC, “For the clients we’ve done pilots with, they have gone from 0% adoption to 100% within a matter of weeks. Clients might start with a few MRM users, and then once they’ve experienced using the system all the dominos start to fall and all the users get on board very rapidly.”

Cost-effective Agile development

Proper resource planning allowed us to complete the project using an agile development team and approach. As such, development costs were drastically reduced, and maintenance costs further minimized as a consequence of their choice of development methodology.

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