Technical_Proposal_003-24_TRC__Aug_2023__Redacted.pdf

Submitted July 6, 2023 Request for Proposals Scheduling & Dispatching Software for Transit Agencies in Ohio

Dick Alexander Chief Development Officer

The Routing Company 177 Huntington Ave Ste 1703 #32863 Boston, MA 02115 bd@theroutingcompany.com

Technical Proposal

The Routing Company 177 Huntington Ave Ste 1703 #32863

Boston, MA 02115 bd@theroutingcompany.com

July 6, 2023

State of Ohio, Department of Transportation Office of Contract Sales, Purchasing Services Jack Marchbanks, Ph. D., Director

Re: Cover Letter for Ohio Department of Transportation Invitation to Bid #003-24 - Scheduling & Dispatching Software for Transit Agencies in Ohio

Dear Mr. Marchbanks and the Ohio Department of Transportation Evaluation Committee, We are excited to submit this proposal to the Ohio Department of Transportation to prequalify as a vendor to implement scheduling and dispatching software for transit agencies in Ohio. Our Pingo platform is built for transit, offering our industry’s highest utilization microtransit solution through our robust rider, driver, and agency dashboard interfaces. This RFP highlights your eagerness to expand mobility choices for both urban and rural communities in Ohio, which is a vision we commend and are certain our platform will deliver.

Maximizing fleet efficiency is at the core of who we are. The state-of-the-art Pingo microtransit platform, first launched in 2020, is the successful combination of our Co-Founders’ on-demand microtransit optimization algorithm developed through years of advanced research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and our leadership’s prior experience working for public transit agencies across the United States and building ridesharing solutions across the world including UberPOOL.

Our aim is to provide agency dispatch teams and riders with an outstanding user experience while maximizing fleet efficiency. This is not an “either/or” proposition, as our Pingo platform will deliver both through our three core platform components:

1. Pingo Dashboard, our online full-service command center, will allow ODOT transit agencies to set-up, manage, improve, and report on their unique services.

2. Ride Pingo, our passenger-facing app, enables riders to request and pay for on-demand, pre-scheduled, and eligibility-based trips. Agencies can customize Ride Pingo with their unique branding and custom back-end service operating parameters.

and

3. Drive Pingo, our driver app, provides dynamic scheduling and turn-by-turn, hands-free navigation.

In this proposal, you will find our understanding of your project goals, and in-depth information about our platform. We are certain that our platform and team’s extensive transit experience will deliver a world-leading and customizable on-demand transit software platform to expand access to transit for all users, and improve service operations and efficiency for transit agencies.

We are excited by the opportunity to work together to fundamentally improve the way people travel in Ohio.

Sincerely, Richard Alexander Chief Development Officer bd@theroutingcompany.com

Table of Contents A. Management and Organization Support 5

A.1 Company Overview 5

A.1.1 TRC 5

Planning 6 Timetable 7 Scheduling 7

A.2 Project Team Resumes 8 | Senior Global Partner Success Manager 8 | Global Growth and Expansion Manager 8

| Senior Operations & Analytics Manager 9 | Senior Product Manager 9

| Business Development Manager 10 A.3 Organizational Chart 11

B. Product Specifications and Experience 12 B.1 Software Differentiators 12

B.2 The Pingo Platform 17 B.2.1 Pingo Dashboard 17

Planning and Setting Up Your Service 17 General Settings 17 App Settings 19 Simulation Tool 21 Managing and Monitoring Your Live Service 22 Performance Metrics 23 Trip Manager: Booking Ride Requests 25 Trip Manager: Editing Ride Requests and Manual Reassignment 26 Shift Scheduler 27 Coupon Manager 27

B.2.2 Ride Pingo 29 Getting Started 29 Booking a Ride 30 Connecting with Transit 32 No Smartphone? No Problem. 34 Payment 34 Pick Up, On Board, and Drop Off 35

In-App Rider Engagement Tools 35 B.2.3 Drive Pingo 37

Getting Started 37 Hitting the Road 38 Taking a Trip 38 Safety First 40 End of Shift 40

B.3 Highlights of Pingo Platform Compliance with RFP Specifications 41 B.4 Listing of Transit Agencies Currently Using Pingo Platform 43 B.5 Launch Plan 48 B.6 Training Plan 50

Training Materials 50 Training Sessions 51

C. DBE Participation Plan 53 D. Cost Proposal 54 E. Completed Front Page 55 F. Completed Signature Page 56 G. Completed and Signed FTA Federal Clauses 57

A. Management and Organization Support A.1 Company Overview

A.1.1 TRC

Founded in May 2019, The Routing Company (TRC) was born out of years of academic research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States and TU Delft in the Netherlands focusing on the complex mathematical problem behind large-scale shared ride solutions. This research developed an algorithmic solution proven to match over 24+ passengers per vehicle in real-time while successfully adhering to agency-defined parameters such as maximum passenger wait time and in-vehicle delay time. As a result, we are able to offer significantly more service efficiency than any other routing technology existing today. Our core routing engine is unique from our competitors because it was designed from its inception as an on-demand transit algorithm - not as a modified ridesharing engine. As such, it is unprecedented in its scalability and productivity for shared rides in a mass transit environment.

To leverage this algorithmic breakthrough to solve real-world problems for transit agencies and passengers, we developed the Pingo Platform. First launched in 2020, the platform includes our rider-facing app, Ride Pingo, driver-facing app, Drive Pingo, and web-platform, Pingo Dashboard. All provide simple and user-friendly interfaces that deliver easy access to our powerful core routing technology. Pingo is the successful combination of our Co-Founders’ state-of-the-art algorithm and our leadership’s prior experience in operating public transit and building ridesharing solutions across the world including UberPool. Utilizing our leadership’s interdisciplinary backgrounds, Pingo facilitates a simplified transit experience for your riders, drivers, and team.

Like ODOT, we work to provide equitable services that benefit all populations.

“A community of any size, in any place, with any resources, can meet the transportation needs of its people.” - TRC’s Company Mission

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A.2 Project Team Resumes

| Senior Global Partner Success Manager

Years of Experience: 10

Education:

● Master of Urban Planning & Policy, Urban Transportation, University of Illinois (2017)

● Bachelor of Arts, World Politics & Hispanic Studies, Hamilton College

(2013)

Summary:

has led TRC’s partner success team since the Spring of 2022. maintains close contact with our transit agency partners ensuring that all of their requests, questions, and concerns are promptly addressed and escalated as necessary. In this role thus far, he has been a part of more than ten microtransit projects. Prior to joining TRC, spent nearly a decade in the transit space, both on the public and private sides.

was a transit planner at Marin Transit in California from 2018 through 2021 where he oversaw their on-demand “Connect” microtransit service which spanned over 80 square miles. In this capacity, he oversaw two separate technology providers (Uber and Via) and two contracted operators (Vivalon and MV). handled the program’s implementation, ongoing rider inquiries and customer service, and program performance analysis. has also worked at the Chicago Transit Authority and Uber Transit.

will be heavily involved in the day-to-day communications with ODOT agencies after project launch ensuring all questions, concerns, and requests are promptly addressed.

| Global Growth and Expansion Manager

Years of Experience: 7

Education:

● Dual Degree: Bachelor of Arts - Spanish and Bachelor of Science -

Mathematics, Xavier University of Louisiana (2016)

Summary:

has led the Expansion team at TRC since August 2021. In her role thus far, she has been involved in over a dozen microtransit projects. Prior to TRC, worked at various startups in operations and expansion including more than four years at Uber.

has deep experience collaborating with teams internally and externally to ensure every microtransit service is set-up for success. She has directly overseen the deployments of many of our services over the past 1.5 years including King County Metro in Seattle, WA; FAST in Fairfield City, CA; CyRide in Ames, IA; Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Virgina; and several internationally including in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Australia. will work closely with ODOT’s transit agencies during project launch and will help train drivers, dispatchers, and operators on the Pingo applications and agency dashboard.

| Senior Operations & Analytics Manager

Years of Experience: 8

Education:

● Bachelor of Arts, Marketing, Psychology, International Business, Indiana University (2013)

Summary:

has led TRC’s Data and Analytics team since August 2021. is passionate about optimizing the microtransit space in order to maximize mobility access for riders and efficiency for transit agencies. In his role thus far, has been involved in over a dozen microtransit projects. Prior to joining TRC, worked for more than six years at Uber. In his first three years at Uber, launched UberPool in New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia. These projects required heavy analytics, close collaboration with product, engineering, data science, marketing, operations and senior leadership teams. then spent the next three years on the UberEats dispatch optimization data science team, where he focused on efficiency and timeliness.

and his team will provide the analytics infrastructure to support ODOT’s transit agencies in NTD reporting, ad-hoc/custom reporting, and trend analysis.

| Senior Product Manager

Years of Experience: 7

Education:

● Master of Science in Civil Engineering - Transportation, University of Washington (2016)

● Bachelor of Science - Economics, Tulane University (2012)

Summary:

leads product for our Transit Experience team that builds and maintains our agency-facing service management and monitoring tools. In his role thus far, he has been involved in over a dozen microtransit projects. After graduating from the University of Washington with a Master’s Degree in Transportation Engineering, has worked in the public transit world ever since. This work includes roles as diverse as a Senior Transit Planner for Cascades East Transit in Bend, Oregon to transportation technology companies like Swiftly and Uber Transit. During his time at Uber Transit, he assisted in the deployment of microtransit programs across the United States.

brings transit agencies the technology they need to provide better service. His career mission is to make the world more livable without a car and he is excited to work with ODOT’s transit agencies to help expand mobility to your communities.

| Business Development Manager

Years of Experience: 3

Education:

● Master of Urban and Public Affairs, University of San Francisco

(2021)

● Bachelor of Political Science, San Francisco State University

(2013)

Summary:

Before Joining TRC in the autumn of 2022, worked at Swiftly, inc. leading their Transit Development team. While there he helped over 30 agencies incorporate new technologies into their existing fixed-route service, and utilize these new tools to solve issues pertaining to GTFS-Rt and passenger communications.

will work with ODOT’s transit agencies, before, during, and after project launch to ensure a successful deployment.

A.3 Organizational Chart

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B. Product Specifications and Experience B.1 Software Differentiators We say TRC is built for transit. What we mean by this is that we carefully studied existing on-demand and paratransit systems and then thought critically about how we could improve the experience and efficiency of these to benefit agencies and end-users. Our platform distinguishes itself from other on-demand and paratransit software providers and uniquely helps transit agencies providing the best services possible by:

Our Pingo platform is unique in that it is capable of providing multiple operating modes of service all in one platform. These services can include: eligibility-based paratransit and commingled services along with general public on-demand point-to-point, first/last mile feeders, flexed-routes, and shuttles. We put the choice in your hands to implement the mode of service that best fits your needs. Regardless of ODOT’s preferred operating modes, all types of service can be accommodated in the single Pingo platform and easily modified at any time for no additional cost. For example, some agencies may initially utilize Pingo to deliver paratransit services and then transition into offering a commingled on-demand and paratransit service. This flexibility allows you to maximize your fleet’s utility and address your community’s evolving needs as your service matures.

● Paratransit: serve persons with disabilities who are unable to utilize traditional fixed-route services due to a disability. Paratransit services are designed to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. These include the ability to restrict service to eligible riders who can then book reservations in advance or same-day through our mobile app, website, and call center.

● Commingling: a hybrid between on-demand and ADA paratransit services.

Commingling offers paratransit riders the opportunity for same-day service.

● Point-to-Point: allows riders to book an on-demand trip in either real time or pre-book in-advance anywhere within a geofenced zone. Pick-up and drop-off points are based on point-to-point service.

● First/Last Mile: riders are required to connect to nearby fixed-route transit hubs designated by ODOT’s transit agencies. Typically riders will have to either start or end their trips at an agency-designated transit hub. This is where our Transit Connect and Pingo Journey features, detailed in B.2.1 Ride Pingo, allow riders to plan and make their onward connections.

● Flexed Routes: hybrid services in which fixed routes can deviate to pick-up or drop-off riders outside the route’s typical walking service area. Routes can flex all of the time or during specific periods (e.g. peak service hours). Flexed routes also allow for vehicles to be at particular points at particular times. For example, one of our agency partners offers a flexed-route that always arrives at their local ferry terminal aligned with ferry arrival and departure times.

● Commuter Services: offers passengers the ability to book space on scheduled buses to guarantee availability. This mode is most popular for corporate commuter programs. These are unique from shuttles because they require making a reservation in advance. This feature is popular for corporate campuses.

● Shuttles: customers are provided visibility into the location of circulating vehicles that operate on a fixed route. This operating mode is particularly useful for services that don’t operate on set schedules and is most popular on university and corporate campuses.

Our project team will assist ODOT’s agencies in leveraging the full range of service operating modes available through the Pingo platform.

One of the core differentiators we are most proud of is that our Pingo Dashboard allows agencies to self-service their own operating parameters as well as providing significant room for human intervention in running their service. This means that your agencies, without any intervention from TRC, can make any changes to service area, operating hours, and all other service parameters at any time. With many of our competitors, agencies have to request parameter changes to their software provider, which can be time consuming and take up to two weeks. Pingo Dashboard’s capability ensures that agencies will never be dependent on us - or any third party - to make changes to their service. While we of course can assist with any changes, our sincere goal is that after the initial start-up, whenever agencies want to modify service settings, their team will have the ability, training, and confidence to make any desired changes.

We empower dispatchers by giving them the tools they need to quickly and easily make system changes that will optimize your service. These include: manual reassignment, trip editing, and driver shift scheduling, among others. These human intervention features will allow dispatchers to supplement our system with their local operating knowledge and reduce the amount of mundane tasks your dispatchers do, improving their work lives and increasing their productivity.

Put simply, the Pingo Dashboard empowers teams to customize parameters as needed as well as offering dispatchers the agility and autonomy they need to ensure service remains functional.

Have you wondered why effective routes appear so hard to generate? The truth is, effective routing is a very complex problem, and the volume of solutions increases exponentially as service requests increase even by a small amount. It’s difficult to identify the best sequence of pick-ups and drop-offs while evaluating the best solutions for both passengers and agency service productivity, all while new trip requests are continuously added. Picking the best solution in the amount of time a passenger is willing to wait for a response, typically 15 seconds, is near impossible.

Through research conducted at MIT, our co-founders developed a groundbreaking algorithm which evaluates the best options for shared rides within your agency constraints.

As a result, we can calculate efficient routes for an entire fleet of vehicles every 15 seconds, enabling hyper-efficient routing in real-time. Our algorithm does this in a way that others can’t.

The challenge with other on-demand algorithms is that they don't optimize in real-time, meaning they respond too slowly to what's actually happening on the ground. TRC’s algorithm is different – it uses live data and rapidly eliminates the most inefficient routes as well as those falling outside any agency-defined constraints (e.g. service area, maximum wait time, in-vehicle delay time, etc.). Consider it a “pruning the tree” approach.

Once that’s done, our algorithm considers the remaining combinations at a much higher speed.

This routing optimization enables our transit agency partners to match more passengers per vehicle in less time than our closest competitors.

For executives mindful of paratransit costs, our algorithm will increase mileage efficiency and produce operational savings.

More than that, our routes This means Pingo Access powers a better rider experience, at a lower cost.In other words, we offer a more sustainable model for providing paratransit services.

Customer input helps us design new innovative features and update our product roadmap accordingly in a very transparent manner. Put simply, we will take feedback from ODOT and its transit agencies to keep updating and innovating our Pingo platform.

TRC’s product team routinely updates its product roadmap based on the needs of our existing and confirmed new partners. Not only do we have a history of reliable on-time development of new critical features, but we also take a unique approach in continuing to develop new product functionalities after the go-live date and through the duration of the contract. This is not the case of our competitors - you only need to look in the App Store or Google Play to see that many other on-demand apps are rarely (if ever) updated after the service launch date. Rushing development in order to meet all functionality for a launch date, but then never updating the app to resolve inevitable software bugs or offer new features, is not a sustainable way to develop, deliver and maintain a microtransit platform.

We are constantly improving the rider experience by listening to our agency partners who help us drive innovation forward.

Our product development and roadmap are based on your feedback and needs. Our one-app approach allows our transit agency partners to benefit from new features developed for other agencies without any upselling. The concept is simple: let transit agencies benefit from each other’s lessons learned and creative thinking. This allows cutting-edge innovations to spread easily across transit agencies, benefitting the entire public transit ecosystem utilizing Pingo.

t

This may be very relevant for ODOT’s transit agencies as your services are composed of several agencies who all may want new functionalities built.

B.2 The Pingo Platform

B.2.1 Pingo Dashboard

Pingo Dashboard will be the full service, cloud-based command center for ODOT’s transit agencies, empowering them to set up, manage, improve, and report-on their services. We designed the dashboard to be user friendly to give teams the tools they need to easily modify and scale service in real-time combined with historical analysis.

Planning and Setting Up Your Service User Management To begin using the Pingo Dashboard, agencies must register and set up accounts for admins, managers, and dispatch staff. Different accounts can have different permission levels across the dashboard. This is done under the User Management tab and takes only seconds. Once we set up an initial agency administrator account, your teams will have full control over access to the dashboard. Administrator(s) will simply enter new team members’ emails, names, and roles. Agencies won’t require any further intervention from TRC in adding and modifying dashboard user accounts.

General Settings

The General Settings tab will enable ODOT’s transit agencies to easily input critical service settings. As service scales, agencies can easily modify settings 24/7/365. These settings include, but are not limited to:

Fleet Parameters TRC’s routing algorithm only considers itineraries that allow riders to meet all routing constraints set forth by ODOT’s transit agencies. For example, agencies might want to limit passenger wait times to a maximum of 15 minutes, while other agencies may prefer to move a greater number of people per vehicle even if wait times exceed 15 minutes. The Fleet Parameters tab will enable agencies to easily input their preferred service parameters.

Through our experience with dozens of deployments, we’ve come to understand best practice parameters for a successful launch. Our operations team will assist ODOT’s transit agencies in setting up parameters that are right for their services. There are more than 30 unique parameters agencies can customize, including the key ones listed below:

Driver Manager & Vehicle Manager The Driver Manager tab is where agency staff can create, modify, and delete driver accounts. After hitting the “+” button on the bottom right corner, agency staff enter their driver’s email address. The driver then receives a verification code to register on the Drive Pingo app.

Displayed nearly identically to the Driver Manager tab, the Vehicle Manager tab allows agencies to add, modify, and delete vehicles operating your fleet. Staff will enter the vehicle ID, make, model, license plate number, capacity, whether it is wheelchair accessible, and whether it is active. Recent improvements include ensuring online vehicles will, by default, show up at the top of your vehicle list to make it easier to see your active fleet.

App Settings The App Settings tool will enable ODOT’s transit agencies to activate and deactivate app settings for your fleet. This is how we customize our platform for partner agencies, allowing you to customize your service. As we partner with more agencies, additional settings become available to all of our clients, allowing them to further customize their services. If and when we develop new settings to the app, agencies will have the choice to use or not to use these new features free of charge.

Our agency clients have found this feature very helpful in customizing their service settings. Some of the easily configurable settings include:

Venue Overview The Venue Overview will allow ODOT’s transit agencies to customize which local landmarks, attractions, and other local points of interest will appear as virtual stops. When a rider requests a ride at a virtual stop, they will automatically be directed with walking directions toward the closest “snap point” which is a pre-designated specific pick-up and drop-off point at that location. This maximizes shared rides and minimizes delay time dropping-off and picking-up people at different parts of the same location. This feature is commonly used at local hubs like airports, train stations, and shopping malls.

Configuring Transit Protect Using Transit Protect, agencies can create custom, specific restrictions to prevent on-demand service from cannibalizing existing fixed-routes. These restrictions include, but are not limited to:

Simulation Tool The dashboard’s Simulation Tool will allow agency staff to test the performance of unique fleet compositions in different geographies prior to and during deployment. Simulations can be run with either real historical passenger data or simulated data. The simulation then applies our algorithm to test service performance. Simulation results include critical information like average wait time, average drive times, percent fulfilled vs. unfilled trips, etc. At a high level, the simulation tool is very helpful for our agency partners to understand the effectiveness of their service zones and how many vehicles will be required to hit your targeted KPIs.

Managing and Monitoring Your Live Service Fleet Overview The first page your team will see every time they open the Pingo Dashboard is the Fleet Overview screen that displays useful high-level information to understand how service is running.

Live Map The Live Map is one of the most useful - and popular - features on the Dashboard. When you open the Live Map, it defaults to displaying the live status of your fleet including current vehicle locations, drivers’ routes, and upcoming pick-ups and drop-offs. The Layer Selector tool allows your staff to modify the map display, including to view items like historical vehicle paths or distance between requested vs. actual pick-ups and drop-offs.

Feedback from our transit agency partners has led to recent Live Map upgrades including

(1) a new darker basemap that better accentuates local transit stops, other points of interest, and your vehicle icons; and (2) the ability to hover over a specific trip or area and quickly see high-level individual or aggregated rider information.

Additionally, a timeline located at the bottom of the Live Map allows agency staff to see historical mapping of their fleets from the first day of service through the present. This ensures that ODOT can see where their fleets have been, where it is, and where they’re going.

Performance Metrics When it comes to tracking performance metrics and data sharing, agencies will own their own data. Our philosophy is that while you own your data, our job is to give it to you in the most digestible manner possible. This is important because one of the fundamental powers of on-demand transit is its flexibility, and quality data reporting is the key to continuous service improvement. Put simply, you can’t manage what you can’t measure.

The Performance Metrics tab gathers both out-of-the-box metrics and custom datasets to assist ODOT’s transit agencies in making data-driven decisions to modify and improve services. We built this feature to provide easy access to robust and informative data sets that agency staff can access at any time. Users can easily export data directly from our dashboard as CSV files for analysis in Excel and other platforms. We also provide NTD reporting to make your regulatory requirements frictionless.

This tab provides the following comprehensive metrics to help your team understand your service’s performance:

Riders and Growth Vehicle Data Supply Efficiency

● Total passenger load ● Unique active vehicles ● Average passengers/hour

● Total unique riders ● Vehicle revenue miles ● % Miles w/ passengers

● Average passenger rating ● Fuel consumption ● Average wait and delay

● Trips/passenger/week ● Trips/vehicle ● % Hours w/ passengers

● Average trips/hour ● % Period active ● Request completion rate

Trip Manager: Monitoring Ride Requests The Trip Manager tab lets agency staff monitor and edit all ride requests. This feature allows staff to see a rider’s contact information and trip information including origin and destination, time of booking, pick-up and drop-off ETAs, whether the trip was pre-booked, and whether the trip was completed or canceled. Based on feedback from our current transit agency partners, recent updates make data easier to view and organize, including:

Dispatchers can easily bookmark their preferred Trip Manager configurations for future use. With an abundance of information available, agency staff can easily investigate customer complaints or issues.

Trip Manager: Booking Ride Requests

The Trip Manager tab is where agency call center staff can add ride requests that come in through the phone. Staff can manually enter the rider’s information and modify customer accounts. The “Book a Request” button at the top right of the screen adds ride requests.

Staff are then prompted to enter:

If ODOT’s transit agencies’ staff prefer to only view trips booked through the call center, your teams can filter the Trip Manager tab to only see these trips.

Trip Manager: Editing Ride Requests and Manual Reassignment

Once trips are booked, the Trip Manager tab gives dispatchers the ability to edit trips.

This allows dispatchers to easily provide local context to the system. For editing trips in progress, this includes overriding automatic vehicle assignment, changing riders pick-up locations, changing pre-booked pick-up times, and changing passenger counts (e.g. if a reservation was for two people but three show up), and more. Additionally, dispatchers can now override the system to manually move trips from one vehicle to another.

There will always be occasions where an unforeseen circumstance requires intervention, such as when a vehicle breaks down and passengers need to be reassigned to a new vehicle. Additionally, there are times when dispatchers have situational knowledge that our software cannot account for that may require human intervention to meet riders’ and drivers’ needs. Put simply, manual reassignment ensures dispatchers are always in control of your service.

The Trip Manager function empowers dispatchers to do what they do best: handle situations in real time.

On-demand transit and complimentary ADA paratransit services have many edge cases where dispatchers, not an algorithm, are uniquely equipped to solve with their situational awareness of riders, drivers, and vehicles. The Trip Manager feature empowers dispatchers to make the changes they need to keep service running smoothly.

Shift Scheduler The Shift Scheduler tab will allow ODOT’s transit agencies to create dedicated operator shifts and assignments.

All your dispatch team has to do to create shifts and assignments is drag-and-drop their mouse over the selected date and time of a shift and then simply input the shift name, vehicle capacity, and wheelchair capacity (if applicable). Dispatchers can make as many last-minute changes to operator assignments as needed.

The Shift Scheduler tab has important functionality on several levels. First, by creating dedicated shifts, transit agencies can offer riders guaranteed pre-booked rides. Put simply, with drivers’ schedules already locked in, our algorithm will ensure that riders who pre-book rides are guaranteed a ride when they request it. Second, when logging onto Drive Pingo, drivers will be able to easily find and sign onto their shifts in a mandatory pre-driving checklist. This is crucial in ensuring your drivers are accountable and performing the right shifts.

Coupon Manager The Coupon Manager will empower ODOT’s transit agencies to provide riders with promotional discounts and reduced fares. You can entirely customize these coupons and who can use them. For example, agencies could create coupon codes to provide subsidized rides for local low-income populations or reward frequent riders who might unlock a free ride after completing a certain number of journeys. Some of the configurable parameters for creating custom coupons include: name of coupon, coupon code riders will enter in Ride Pingo, description of the coupon, how many times a rider can use that coupon, and the amount of the coupon (as a percent against the original fare).

B.2.2 Ride Pingo

Ride Pingo is TRC’s rider-facing app that allows users to book, track, pay, and provide feedback for their on-demand rides. This is the app that ODOT’s transit agencies’ riders will utilize.

Getting Started

Riders can download the user-friendly Ride Pingo app for free on the App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android. Creating an account takes about one minute and requires only the rider’s name, phone number, and email address. Recent upgrades include a passwordless registration process - meaning riders will no longer be required to create and remember a password. They can now use the app via a secure phone or email login.

To promote accessibility for more riders, Ride Pingo comes in approximately a dozen languages including Spanish, Chinese (simplified), Arabic, Ukrainian, Dutch, Catalan, Russian, Tagalog, Somali, Korean, Punjabi, and Vietnamese. Ride Pingo automatically adjusts to the user’s device default language.

When a rider creates their profile, they can easily indicate any accessibility requirements they might have, including the use of a wheelchair. Our algorithm considers all available vehicle capacities and capabilities (i.e., if they are Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles) and the additional boarding and alighting times based on the rider’s individual mobility needs.

The app then lets the driver know of the rider’s accessibility needs in advance, to help them provide an excellent customer experience.

After creating their account and signing in, a rider can simply open the app to book a ride and begin a journey.

Booking a Ride

To book a trip for an individual or several riders, a rider simply opens the app, enters a destination, and requests a ride. Riders can book both same day on-demand or pre-book in-advance. The home screen includes a local map with the rider’s location, indicated by a blue dot, along with a search bar below to enter a destination. Riders can manually enter their destination, which is supported by an autocomplete feature that helps fill-in and confirm the address, or select from a list of frequent destinations.

To simplify booking, the app also allows riders to pre-save favorite locations like their home, office, or school, as well as displaying recently selected destinations along with agency-determined local attractions.

Alternatively, Ride Pingo allows customers to drop a pin on a destination, allowing them to directly select on the map where they’d like to go. This process of selecting and confirming a destination takes only seconds.

Once the rider confirms their origin and destination, pick-up time (whether now or pre-booked in-advance), how many riders are in their party, and if they have any mobility devices (e.g. wheelchairs), Ride Pingo then provides on-demand transit options including fare and estimated pick-up and drop-off times. This process takes only seconds.

On-Demand Booking Flow:

Pre-Booking Flow:

Connecting with Transit Public transit is at its best when it uses diverse service types and lets riders plan and accomplish complicated trips. Unfortunately, on-demand transit has not historically been easy to use as part of a multimodal journey because on-demand public transit typically exists in its own silo with minimal connections to other public transit modes. Fortunately, our Pingo platform addresses this head on and takes on-demand journey planning to the next level with three core features: (1) Transit Connect; (2) Pingo Journey; and (3) Transit Protect.

Transit Connect Ride Pingo is built to connect with fixed route transit. Through our Transit Connect feature, Pingo helps riders access the rest of your transit network by connecting on-demand trips to nearby fixed-route services. This expands your network with flexible on-demand coverage. When an agency runs its service based on a GTFS feed, our technology will integrate transit stops near a rider’s on-demand destination such as a university or transit center. Ride Pingo’s Transit Connect feature will ask the rider if they want to connect with an upcoming fixed-route departure. If they say yes, Ride Pingo will show the upcoming departures near their destination, backed by real-time GTFS RT feeds. In our current deployments, Transit Connect has a

. This success demonstrates Ride Pingo’s commitment to making on-demand transit a key part of the overall transit network.

Pingo Journey Released last year, Pingo Journey is our in-app multimodal trip planning tool that includes local fixed-route service. This feature empowers riders to plan fixed route, on-demand, or multimodal journeys directly through one easy-to-use interface.

Pingo Journey enables riders to see how they can get from their origin to destination through the best possible option, not just an on-demand option. Riders will see fixed-route transit options (bus, train, etc.), compare them to on-demand options, and then make the choice that is best for them. If a rider chooses to take a hybrid option -such as on-demand to fixed-route - Pingo Journey will provide complete trip planning. If a rider chooses to take a fixed-route option, Pingo Journey will show them walking directions to their stop, which stops to take/transfer at, and follow their trip progress on a map. This feature is supported by GTFS and GTFS RT feeds.

Transit Protect Complementing our Pingo Journey tool, a new feature, Transit Protect, allows agencies to prioritize your fixed-route service over on-demand service in situations where both modes can fulfill a rider’s request. On the Transit Protect option screen, on-demand options will be shown as unavailable and riders will only be able to tap on fixed-route options and learn why on-demand options are not available.

No Smartphone? No Problem.

While our rider app reduces the need for traditional call centers, most transit systems still need alternative booking mechanisms for riders without smartphones or those uncomfortable using mobile apps. We offer a web-booking platform (the Trip Manager tab on our Pingo Dashboard) that allows agency staff to book a ride on their behalf. Riders are provided with automated reminders via SMS notifications and phone calls. Lastly, riders can also call dispatch for updates as the control center can view real time vehicle locations.

Payment Riders have multiple options for paying for rides. Depending on agencies’ preferences, riders can pay with cash upon boarding, in advance with a credit or debit card in the app, or with third-party payment platforms such as Token Transit.

Using Stripe Payment Processing, Ride Pingo allows users to securely add and store their credit/debit card information. When a rider enters their card information, the app will confirm it’s ready for use. A rider is free to delete their payment information whenever they like. We also have experience integrating with regional transit cards, like the ORCA Card in the Puget Sound region of Washington.

Ride Pingo also allows coupon codes, which allows our agency partners to distribute special promotions or allocate to those who are eligible for free or discounted fares. The Pingo Dashboard section provides further detail on setting up the coupon feature.

Pick Up, On Board, and Drop Off Ride Pingo provides riders with real-time tracking of their driver’s status including updated pick-up and drop-off times and seeing where their vehicle is on a map. Ride Pingo provides riders with a unique three-digit ticket number and/or names to verify their identity with drivers upon boarding. Ride Pingo also provides riders with the agency vehicle ID or license plate.

Ride Pingo provides notice when a driver is both five minutes and then two minutes away from the rider. Ride Pingo delivers these notifications via in-app messages or SMS texts for trips booked through a call center. If there is an issue, the rider can either contact the driver or agency dispatch center pending whichever method the agency prefers. To protect personal privacy all phone numbers are anonymized. Once on board the vehicle, users can continue to track the progress of their vehicle in real-time with updated drop-off times updated every 15 seconds. The Ride Pingo map automatically recenters around a riders live location, easily helping riders keep track of where they are.

In-App Rider Engagement Tools After drop off, Ride Pingo prompts riders to submit feedback on a five-star scale (with five being the best feedback). Riders can also submit written notes to our Customer Support team at any time. We take all passenger feedback very seriously and share relevant details with our agency partners (i.e. driver was speeding, vehicle smelled nice, etc.) After completing a trip, a rider can easily view their trip receipt as well as entire trip history.

Additionally, we can create custom in-app rider surveys for ODOT. For example, several agencies recently asked us to conduct surveys to determine how riders would have traveled if their on-demand service did not exist.

B.2.3 Drive Pingo

Drive Pingo is our user-friendly driver application. The app presents drivers with an intuitive overview of upcoming pick-ups and drop-offs, turn-by-turn navigation, and updates with the most efficient routes based on new passenger bookings. Since your drivers will be on the app all day, we designed Drive Pingo to be intuitive enough that a new driver can use the app with as much ease as a seasoned user.

Getting Started

ODOT’s transit agencies’ drivers will require a conventional, internet-enabled iOS or Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite or higher (S7, S8, etc.) for optimal performance or phone loaded with the Drive Pingo app. Drive Pingo can be downloaded for free on the App Store or Google Play. Drive Pingo comes in English, Spanish, and nearly a dozen other languages for drivers of all backgrounds.

Hitting the Road After selecting their profile and entering their pin, a driver must complete the following steps before going online to pick-up passengers:

● Ensure Drive Pingo has access to device locations while using the app;

● Select from a dropdown list which vehicle they are driving;

● Check that the vehicle has adequate fuel and the tablet/phone has adequate charge; and

● Confirm completion of the checklist.

After completing the above, a driver simply taps “Start Driving” to get started.

Taking a Trip Drive Pingo notifies drivers of new ride requests through a discreet pop-up and soft audio cue. Drivers are provided turn-by-turn directions for the most efficient routes visually on a map. Drivers can also utilize audio directions, if they prefer. These directions include the vehicle prominently displayed on a map and its upcoming direction, street names, and mileage until the next movement. If drivers go off route or have to deviate due to an unforeseen issue, such as a temporary road closure, Drive Pingo will automatically create new updated routes.

When drivers arrive at a pick-up location, they confirm in the app that the passenger has either boarded the vehicle or marks them as a no-show. If the rider is a no-show or the driver has to cancel the request for any other reason, the driver can enter why the ride was canceled (this feature can be turned on or off by agencies).

As the passenger boards, Drive Pingo notifies the driver if the passenger paid in advance in-app or is paying with cash upon boarding. When multiple passengers board at the same location, Drive Pingo lists each passenger’s three-digit code and/or name next to their payment status (i.e., already paid or owe fare).

As additional ride requests are added to the driver’s cue, Drive Pingo’s algorithm places them in the most efficient order for pick-ups and drop-offs. The driver can view upcoming destinations along with the number of passengers to be picked up and dropped off at each location.

When the vehicle reaches a passenger’s destination and the passenger disembarks, the driver simply swipes right to indicate the passenger has disembarked. If there are more passengers in the queue, Drive Pingo automatically updates navigation to lead to the next, most efficient, pick-up or drop-off.

Unlike some of our competitors who update their driver apps only once every few years, we routinely update our driver app - on average monthly - based on direct feedback from our agency partners’ drivers. This includes frequent meetings between our product team, operations team, and agency drivers. Recent driver feedback has led to important in-app improvements including but not limited to:

All these recent updates reflect our commitment to learn from and work with our agency partners to improve our product.

Safety First Drive Pingo allows drivers to cancel all passengers on their queue in the event of a vehicle malfunction, accident, or other issue. The app allows drivers to immediately relay relevant information to their agency’s dispatch. Drive Pingo then automatically reassigns passengers to a different vehicle.

End of Shift Driver shifts are managed through the dispatchers based on the Shift Scheduler tab mentioned in the Pingo Dashboard section. Start and end times, as well as scheduled breaks, can be adjusted as required based on service demands. When a driver goes offline, Drive Pingo’s DAMS feature automatically logs them out of their personal profile.

This ensures the next driver to utilize this tablet has to select their profile when going online.

B.3 Highlights of Pingo Platform Compliance with RFP Specifications

Routing Experience

✔ Dispatcher rerouting of buses ✔ Grouping of passengers by location ✔ Capable of integrating service data with mapping / GIS applications

Business Experience

✔ Capturing client data ✔ Identifying and capturing trip denials, refusals and other 3rd party payee information ✔ Integrating to other solutions via API ✔ Pingo Dashboard, a web interface capable of executing all dispatching/management functions

Security Requirements

✔ TRC’s platform was built to exceed the highest standards of data privacy and security. TRC uses cloud-native platform services for the storage and transit of all customer personal and non-public data. We utilize Google Cloud to run our entire platform. The Google Cloud platform holds ISO 9001:2015;

ISO/IEC 27001; ISO/IEC 27017; ISO/IEC 27018; and ISO 22301:2019. All customer data is encrypted in transit and at rest using cryptographic methods that meet or exceed FIPS 140-2.

Our data security model is based on least privilege, meaning only authorized users can access information that is required to perform the functions of their specific roles.

✔ Data retained and owned by transit agency ✔ Ability to lock in-vehicle tablets to prevent distractions

Driver Experience

✔ Real-time direction routing within the app ✔ Able to provide ADA integration for vehicle features (annunciator, driver/passenger communication, etc.)

✔ Dispatcher-driver communications ✔ Capable of pre-trip inspections that are customizable by vehicle type/agency

Passenger Experience

✔ Mobile app available if a transit system selects it ✔ ADA compliant passenger interfaces, including screen readers and TTY/TDD ✔ Capable of trip scheduling directly by a dispatcher ✔ Capable of communicating real-time tracking to the rider if a system requests a mobile app ✔ Ability to provide automated IVR (Interactive voice response) calls to customers if a trip is cancelled if the system chooses this option

Scheduling Experience

✔ Capable of scheduling same-day trips ✔ Capable of auto-scheduling ✔ Capable of storing/searching trip history ✔ Capable of real-time additions or changes to scheduled trips

Dispatcher Experience ✔ Provide vehicle tracking capabilities to dispatcher

Financial Experience

✔ Software is capable of separating financial and fare collection by category, service type, billing codes, and other categories as configured by the transit agency

Reporting Experience

✔ Software capable of providing customizable reports for ODOT and FTA

B.4 Listing of Transit Agencies Currently Using Pingo Platform

Agency Location Description

Anne Arundel Office of Transportation

Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Located between Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD, Anne Arundel County is home to more than 550,000 residents and large employers such as the National Security Agency’s Fort Meade, universities including the US Naval Academy, and regional transit hubs like Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (“BWI”) which serves more than 27 million annual passengers. Supplementing the Maryland Transit Adminstration’s (“MTA”) statewide services, the Anne Arundel County Office of Transportation (“AA OOT”) maintains a fleet of more than 25 vehicles providing Dial-a-Ride and paratransit services across Anne Arundel.

AA OOT and TRC collaborated to bring our Pingo platform to their South-County-Call-n-Ride service. AA OOT were specifically looking for an efficient routing algorithm and user friendly rider app that could also enhance connectivity to their existing fixed-route bus service.

This 3-vehicle point-to-point on-demand deployment launched in March 2023 and is currently active. Moving forward, AA OOT leadership have already stated their intention to expand service from our current 3-vehicle South-County-Call-n-Ride deployment toward an additional 5-vehicle deployment for their North-County-Call-n-Ride and up to 20-vehicles for a…