Dial-a-ride with customer operated dispatching

Demand responsive bus operation generally requires some type of manual dispatching. If the volume of traffic is low and few vehicles are in service, the cost of dispatching relative to the total operating costs will be substantial. Consequently, many operators hesitate to introduce a dial-a-ride system.In a joint project between Gothenburg Transport Authority (GS) and Volvo, the latter has designed a device to be fitted to the general telephone system whereby a telephone dial can be used to transmit coded information over the public telephone network to a central recorder. In a dial-a-ride service this device can be used as a robot dispatcher.During a period of 11 weeks in 1976 this device was tested in practical operation in the northeastern part of Gothenburg, the second largest city of Sweden. During the same period a prototype Volvo vehicle for low volume demand was also tested in this dial-a-ride service.During this experiment it appeared that customers easily adjusted to the new procedure of getting their bus. These promising results have led GS to continue the development of this system for large scale operation.At the time of the experiment in Gothenburg, Mr. Elmberg was the director of planning of the Gothenburg Transport Authority.