ETA (Electronic Transport Arrangements)
- ETA™ Fact Sheet (346kb)
Electronic Transport Arrangements, or ETA, is a software system designed to interface with FLO, for providing functionality in the routing and scheduling of passenger transport.
Registered customers phone in to request bookings in advance. The ETA user enters the booking information, which includes the following:
- Passenger code
- Pickup and destination locations
- Pickup and/or arrival windows
- Number of manual or electric wheelchairs, and/or seats required
If the customer requires additional assistance, this is indicated in the booking and extra time is allowed for loading/offloading. Where a passenger does not have to be anywhere by a particular time (i.e. no arrival windows), the user indicates this on the booking so that the scheduler allows more travel time than normal. Parameters, like “travel time” and “extra time”, can be set by the user.
Trial schedules can be run throughout the day, as frequently as necessary, to get an idea of how full the schedule is. This determines the number of feasible bookings and confirms existing bookings. Once bookings are closed for a particular day, the final schedule can be run to obtain fully optimized routes.
When selecting locations, the user can choose from the passenger's history, predefined locations (e.g. hospitals, libraries, etc.) or suburbs. Suburb locations are used when the exact location is unknown. All booking information can be edited at a later stage, unless the booking has been confirmed by FLO (the routing and scheduling engine).
When a new customer is registered, their location needs to be entered into the system. This is done via the standard geocoding interface as used by FLO.
Through the tracking integration with FLO, users are able to monitor the progress of their vehicles and detect any deviation from the planned schedule.
ETA has three user profiles to provide the correct level of access for different types of users, e.g. A booking entry can be done without access to confidential information like driver costs.
There are several reports which can be generated; including trip sheets, customer information, and management reports like costing and driver performance.
Apart from single bookings, ETA also allows for the creation of block bookings. A wizard takes the user through the steps needed to create bookings for any length of time on specific days (e.g. Every Weds-Thurs for the next 6 months).