Operations Information Windows

Sent Messages

The Sent Messages tab shows the text messages that you have sent for this business day and the responses to those messages. Following is an example of the Sent Msgs display.

Check or uncheck the Show Only My Messages checkbox to display either only the messages that you sent today or messages sent by all dispatchers. For each message, myAvail displays the following information:

Field	Description
Time	The time the message was sent.
Dispatcher	The dispatcher that sent the message.
Message	The text of the sent message.
Response Type	The type of response that was requested.
Responses	The responses received, e.g. 0/1 indicates that 0 responses were received out of 1 expected response.
Failed	The count of vehicles that failed to receive the message.

An asterisk (*) at the beginning of the row indicates a message that was sent or a response that was received since you last viewed this display. The count in the red badge on the Sent Msgs tab indicates the number of outstanding responses (i.e., expected responses that have not yet been received.)

To view the responses, click “+” at the beginning of the row to expand the message. The expansion grid contains one row for each vehicle that the message was sent to and indicates the response from that vehicle. Below is an example.

The response row shows the Msg ID, the Vehicle that the response is from, the Operator that sent the response (if the vehicle is logged in), whether this was a broadcast message, what the response was, and the time of the reply.

Timeline

Use the timeline to watch specific vehicles over time, as this tab displays a vehicles schedule for this business day. This feature allows you to see how the vehicle was running earlier and how that might affect future performance; such as transfer connections, driver reliefs, and for overall schedule adherence. This differs from the Status tab because you can see historical information from earlier for this day, much like a bread crumb trail. For example, instead of seeing only that a vehicle is currently running late, you can see that it’s been late for the last (x) number of time points and act if needed. To do this, use the scroll bar at the bottom of the timeline to go either forward or back in time. Click the Now button to return to the current time.

Right- click a vehicle record, then select "Add to Timeline", to add a vehicle's schedule to the Timeline. You'll see historical information for the vehicle displayed. For example, color coded icons indicate the on time performance of the vehicle for stops already serviced, upcoming stops display, events from the vehicle, such as communications, scheduled layovers, operator reliefs, and more. This feature allows you to monitor any vehicles of interest. You can even take actions directly from the timeline, to save you time. Examples include-  voice calls and sending data messages directly from the timeline.

Add Vehicle to Timeline

1. Right-click a vehicle record from the Status tab and select Add to Timeline.
2. Right-click on an Event record and select Add to Timeline.
3. Right-click on an Event in the Maintenance queue and select Add to Timeline.

1. 

Remove Vehicle from the Timeline

• Right-click the vehicle on the timeline and select Remove from Timeline:

View Timeline Statuses

The timeline allows you to hover over the icons for events, stops, and vehicles. While hovering over the icon, you can view more detailed information about the event. The below screenshot shows information for a stop that's been serviced:

Map

The Map tab displays the current location of vehicles that you are monitoring along with route traces, stops, and time points. An example of the map display is below.

The toolbar above the map is concealable. To display the toolbar, click the blue down arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the Map window. To hide the toolbar, click the same button and the menu will collapse. If the map does not display vehicles that you expect to see, ensure that your settings are correct. For the map to display a vehicle, you must both monitor the vehicle’s fleet group and select its route. To determine which fleet groups you monitor, click the gear icon on the top-right of the screen. Then, click the Routes button in the map toolbar and check the proper routes. myAvail remembers your selections for future sessions.

Detour Displays

For many reasons, you might need to create temporary detours for fixed routes. You can define these detours on the Detour tab. When there are active detours, the map displays the detour zones that affect the routes along with the detour route trace. The map will display the temporary trace for the vehicle to use instead while detours are active. The following is an example of an active detour.

This is how it appears before the detour:

This is how it displays with the detour:

Panning and Zooming

You can pan the map in two ways:

• Click, hold, and drag the mouse. The map pans while you are dragging the mouse.
• Click one of the four arrows under the map. The map pans in the direction of the arrow (east, west, south, north).

Change the zoom level of the map by clicking the magnifying glass below the map and selecting the zoom level you want or by using the scroll wheel on your mouse. You can also zoom in by holding down the shift key and using the mouse to draw a rectangle on the map, which zooms into that rectangle.

Displaying the Overview Map

A small overview map can be displayed by clicking the down arrow in the upper left corner of the map. This displays a small overview map with a rectangle that shows the area displayed by the larger map in the context of the larger surrounding area:

Displaying Layers

There are two types of layers on the map. The first are base map layers such as satellite, aerial view, and traffic. To turn these layers on and off, click the icon under the map and select the layers you want to see. The other types of layers are route layers, such as route traces, vehicles, stops, and time points. To turn these layers on and off, click the Layers button in the map toolbar and select the layers you would like to see.

Select Routes to Monitor

To enable the routes to display on the map, click the Routes button in the map toolbar and select the routes that you want to view. After you select a route, the map displays the route trace, its scheduled stops, and the vehicles servicing the route according to the rules below.

myAvail filters the vehicles that it displays on the map using the fleet groups you monitor and the routes you select. To determine which fleet groups you monitor, click the gear icon on the top-right of the screen.

The map displays routes traces and vehicles using the following rules:

• If you select a route to monitor, the map will display the route trace, all scheduled stops, and bus bubbles ( which indicate location of the vehicle).
• If you select a route that you do not monitor, the map displays the route trace and stops, but it does not display vehicles (bus bubbles) for the route.
• Any routes not selected will not display related information on the map, as the software requires a route selection first

An exception to these rules occurs when a vehicle is outside the yard area and the operator has not logged in. myAvail displays these vehicles to all users monitoring the Operations map, based on the vehicle's GPS information.

Set Label

Use the Set Label button in the map toolbar to control the information that is displayed on the map for a vehicle. You can choose to add any or all of the following information on the map display. Most agencies select the Vehicle Id only, as the other information is found on the Status tab:

• Vehicle ID
• Operator
• Block
• Run

Following a Vehicle

You can "Follow" a specific vehicle on the map to ensure its location stays within the dispatch view. The "follow" feature means the map will automatically pan, and follow, as the vehicle moves. To select a vehicle to follow, choose the vehicle from the Vehicle drop-down list and click the Follow button. To stop following this vehicle, click the Unfollow button. TIP: To collapse the Map menu, you must "Unfollow" the vehicle first, then close the menu.

Vehicle Information

Vehicles are displayed on the map using icons based on the vehicle type. The color of the vehicle reflects the current schedule adherence status of the vehicle - on time, early, or late. To see what the map icons and colors mean, open the map legend by clicking the button:

If a vehicle is traveling at an excessive speed, its icon flashes on the map. When speed limit information is available, myAvail compares the vehicle’s speed to the speed limit. However, speed limit information is not always available, particularly for secondary roads. Example: The overpass speed is set to 55mph, yet the road below is set to 35mph. In this case, the system compares the vehicle’s speed to a fixed value, such as 35 mph.

Using Individual Vehicle Menus on the Map

The vehicle bus bubble on the map provides two useful menus: one to enable communications, and one that displays service information for the vehicle. These are helpful for cases where you need to send vehicle messages and create incidents quickly.

Left click on a vehicle bus bubble to display service information:

Right-click on a vehicle bus bubble to use the communications menu:

Vehicle Group Messaging: 

To send a message to a group of vehicles in a similar location, you can use the map to create the region- for a specific group message, as shown below:

 To define a map region for a group communication, do the following:

1. Press the CTRL key.
2. Click and hold the left mouse button.
3. Select the map region that includes multiple vehicle icons.
4. Right-click the region and select an option from the communications menu.

All vehicles inside the map region will receive group communications from you, if you select 'Text Message" 

Views

Views allow you to define a map view, save that view, and return to it at any time. The definition of a view includes:

• The center point of the map
• The zoom level of the map
• Any selected routes

Defining a Map View

To define a view, pan and adjust the zoom level on the map to the desired location. Ensure that the routes you want to view are selected in the Select Routes list. Click the Save View button in the map toolbar. Enter the name for this view and click Save As New.

To change an existing view, pan and zoom the map to the desired location and zoom level, select the routes to display, click the Save View button, and click "Update".

To see a different view, select the view from the View drop-down list. The view that is active when you log out will be active at your next login.

Saving Map Locations for Later Use:

1. Locate area on map

2. Select the "Save View" button

3. Name the view

4. Select "Save as New" for a new view' / Select "Update" to override an existing view 

Saved Views- Click the saved view name to display that location on the Operations map. Select the X to delete a saved view: 

This popup will confirm the action:

Status Display

The Status Tab shows the most recent status of the vehicles that you are monitoring and the piece of work they're logged in to. For instructions on how to customize the grid layout, rearrange columns, and more, see  How to Configure Screen Layout.

Context Menu

Right-click on an individual vehicle record from the Status tab to display and use the context menu. This menu saves dispatchers valuable time, because it provides fast access to functions used in Operations. Example: Dispatch plans to add a Helper Vehicle to the current piece of work being performed by vehicle #1953 to get service back on track, so they'll open Decision Support Tools from the menu.

When you choose an option in the context menu, myAvail passes the relevant vehicle information to the next dialog box/ next set of actions. The options are:

• Text Message: Send a text message to the selected vehicle
• Voice Call: Establish a voice call with the selected vehicle
• Create Incident: Start an Incident Report for the selected vehicle
• Decision Support: Launch Decision Support for the selected vehicle
• Send Location: Send a text message that contains the vehicle’s current location (latitude and longitude) to the recipients that you choose.
• Add to Timeline: Add the selected vehicle to the Timeline
• Video Tag: Bookmark the current location of the vehicle

Status Information

The Status tab, by default, displays vehicle records from vehicles that are actively logged onto the MDT (actively performing pieces of work), and it uses color coding for each vehicle's status for dispatch ease.  Each color represents a 'status' for how the vehicle is performing its trips. For example, if a vehicle is late, the vehicle record displays in yellow. If a vehicle is departing its stops too soon, or early, its vehicle record will be red. Color coding simply provides dispatch with a fast way to interpret, and respond if needed, the performance of all vehicles logged into service, as a way to monitor on time performance. 

To view logged-off vehicles, check the “Show Logged Off Vehicles” checkbox, located near the lower left of the Status screen.

The status of a vehicle determines the color, and 'performance story', of both the vehicle record row in the status tab and on the map.

TIP: Why do the vehicle records move around on the Status tab? By default, the status tab displays the most recent vehicles that have 'reported back' to the backend software ( Operations) via GPS and the most important statuses display first ( for example, a vehicle's 'early' status).

The fields in the table are described below:

Field	Description
Time	The time of the most recent report from the vehicle. If this field is blank that indicates that we have not heard from this vehicle today.
Vehicle	The vehicle number/ Id
Block	The block the vehicle is currently operating. Displayed for vehicles on fixed routes.
Run	The run the vehicle is currently operating.
Operator	The operator that is currently logged in to the vehicle
Route	The route that the vehicle is currently operating. Displayed for vehicles on fixed routes.
Trip	The current trip number. Trip names/numbers correspond to the start time of the trip, in military time. Displayed for vehicles on fixed routes.
Direction	The direction of the current trip. Displayed for vehicles on fixed routes.
Stop	The last stop the vehicle departed. Displayed for vehicles on fixed routes.
Onboard	An approximate count of passengers currently onboard the vehicle. Displayed for vehicles on fixed routes.
Status	On time performance of a vehicle compared against its schedule. See the table below: Status - Possible Values.
Dev	Deviation in minutes from the schedule. Displayed for vehicles on fixed routes.
Fleet Group	Identifies the vehicle’s fleet group. If this vehicle is in more than one fleet group, myAvail displays only one of the groups.
Empl Num	The employee number of an Operator.
Pullout	The time that a block/run piece starts.
Pullin/Relief	The time that a block/run piece either finishes for the day or that the operator is relieved, and a new run starts for the block.
Relief Loc	The location (usually a stop or vehicle yard) where the operator relief happens.

 

Status - Possible Values

Status Name	Description	RGB Color
Bad Comms	The system has received no communications from the vehicle for a defined number of minutes (default 10).	101,132,7
Bad GPS	The vehicle has received no GPS signal for a defined number of minutes (default 10).	7,88,132
Off Route Excessive Idle	The vehicle is off route and has been idling over the threshold (usually greater than 5 minutes).	98,114,114
Driver Off Bus	The operator pressed a button on the MDT indicating they were getting off the vehicle.	145,0,109
Off Route Stationary	The vehicle is off route and has been stationary over the threshold (usually 5 minutes).	98,114,114
Off Route	The vehicle is off the route by a defined number of feet off (default 500).	219,112,147
Excessive Idle	The vehicle has been idling for longer than the defined number of minutes (default 5).	5,158,44
Stationary	The vehicle has been stationary for longer than the defined number of minutes (default ?).	76,131,220
Discharge Only	The operator has placed the vehicle in Discharge Only mode. Passengers cannot board the vehicle.	145,0,109
Early	The vehicle is departing a scheduled timepoint stop too soon/ is running ahead of schedule by a defined number of minutes (default 0).	178,23,0
Late	The vehicle departed its last timepoint stop after its scheduled time and is behind schedule by a defined number of minutes (default 5).	178,151,0
Estimated Late	The vehicle is behind schedule based on regular stops instead of timepoints.	178,151,0
Headway Bunched	The interval between two vehicles on a headway route is shorter than the scheduled interval by a customer-defined percentage. The vehicles are too close to each other.	145,0,109
Headway Gapped	The interval between two vehicles on a headway route is longer than the scheduled interval by a customer-defined percentage. The vehicles are too far apart from each other.	159, 127, 156
Manual	Do not use Manual Mode, unless advised. If advised, the operator is making announcements manually.	145,0,109
OOS Logged In	Do not use OOS unless advised. If advised, the operator placed the vehicle in Out of Service mode.	86,96,112
Special	The operator logged in with a Special Route number.	144,144,144
Training	The operator is performing training runs. The outside signs display “Training” while the inside signs and announcements work normally.	63,208,160
Maintenance	The operator is performing Maintenance testing. The outside signs display “Maintenance” while the inside signs and announcements work normally.	85,204,204
Headway	On a headway route in Discharge Only Mode.	Transparent
Trip Start	The vehicle has not left the first stop of the trip.	Transparent
On Time	The vehicle is not early or late.	00,59,00
Headway On Time	A headway route vehicle is neither bunched or spread.	126,104,153
Driver On Bus	The status when the driver returns to the bus but has not departed a timepoint or trip change to change status.	145,0,109
Logged In	The operator is logged in and at a 'Trip Start' status, and the vehicle has not reached the first stop.	00,00,00
In Service	When receiving only AVL reports.	Transparent
OOS Not Logged In	Do not use OOS, unless advised. The vehicle was changed to an Out of Service mode after the operator logged off.	144,144,144
None	A status is not provided on stored and forward records.	120,120,120
Inactive	The vehicle is past the last stop of the defined block.	Transparent

Status Tab View:

You can change the sort order for the columns display by clicking any of the column headers. The first click sorts a column from low to high. A second click reverses the order, so it is from high to low. You can also drag and drop column names, left or right, to re-sort where they display on the tab.

Example: Some agencies sort on Status, to group them ( late, on time, early, off route, etc.). Some agencies move the Block column to the right of the screen.

The Status tab displays number badges that indicate the counts of early vehicles (red), late vehicles (yellow), or vehicles with Bad Comms (pea green). These badges are also helpful if the tab is not open, to avoid losing sight of something on the tab:

You can filter the status screen by clicking the filter icon. An orange filter icon indicates that a filter is active, as shown below:

Decision Support Window

Decision Support Tools help your property perform recovery actions, for "on-the-fly" needs, to restore / continue service after a disruption occurs for this day of service. Decision Support has the following components:

• Operations: Identify disruptions and take restorative actions.
• Communications: Provides internal agency messaging to involved vehicle operators.
• Passenger information: Manage the information about the disruptions and the results of the restorative actions (e.g. departure estimation) to the passengers.
• Reporting: Generate reports that describe the differences between the scheduled service and adjusted service.

You can launch Decision Support from the Operations screen by clicking the grey arrow near the top right on the screen . Then select the icon from the menu.

TIP: The most efficient way to access Decision Support is by right-clicking on a vehicle record, or from on a vehicle icon on the map and selecting Decision Support from the menu. The right-click menu is shown below, but may appear differently for your agency as configurations vary and this setting is customizable:

You can access Decision Support on the following Operations tab windows, as configured for your agency:

• Status
• Map
• Route Status
• Route Map
• Events
• Communications
• Maintenance

Decision Support Tools

Decision Support opens as an HTML5 web page for ETMS.  In order to use decision support tools, the software first requires a vehicle ID. If you begin by using the right-click menu from a vehicle record in myAvail, the information will prepopulate / automatically pass over to the appropriate vehicle ID field in Decision Support in ETMS. On the other hand, if you launch Decision Support without first including a vehicle, you will be required to enter this in ETMS. Do so by simply selecting the vehicle Id from the drop-down list provided (shown below).

NOTE: The block/ service information will display for the vehicle, if it's been in service on this day AND you used the right-click function to access Decision Support.  In the below screenshot, the vehicle was not in service, so service-related information does not display.

The Decision Support window has two main sections. First, the top of the screen displays service information relevant to the selected vehicle. Second, the center of the screen includes 'action cards' ( what the action adjustment will be). Actions are described later in the article.

Right- clicking a vehicle record from myAvail provides service information in ETMS. Example below: 

• Selected Vehicle: The vehicle that the Decision Support action will reference. 
• Operator: The operator currently logged on to the vehicle.
• Status: The operational status of the vehicle and any known schedule deviation.
• Onboard: The last reported passenger count and the capacity of the vehicle. For myAvail to know the vehicle’s capacity, Seating Capacity must be entered during vehicle setup.
• Last Stop: The last stop that the vehicle departed.
• Route/Block/Run: The last reported values from the vehicle.
• Vehicle Schedule Grid: Displays the full day’s schedule for the block the selected vehicle is currently logged on Showing the following information:
  • Trip
  • Route Name
  • Stop Number
  • Stop Name
  • Scheduled Departure Time (SDT)
  • Estimated Departure Time (EDT)
• # Vehicles Available: The number of active vehicles that are not currently logged on to a run, including those scheduled for maintenance.
• # Operators Available: The number of Extra-Board operators that are currently checked in but not logged into a vehicle.

Decision Support Actions

Use the cards on the middle of the decision Support screen to specify the kind of corrective actions needed: Replace Vehicle card, Helper Vehicle card, Platoon Tripper card, Discharge Only card, Cancel Service card. 

The action cards all have the following shared properties:

• Sends the appropriate information to the GTSF real-time feed.
• The Messages fields are optional.
• Create Incident fields are required. 
• You must click Submit to commit the actions.
• When you click Submit, the window remains open, in case you need to perform other corrective actions.

The system sends Decision Support messages to the vehicles you specify immediately after you click the Submit button. Consequently, ensure that the operators in the target vehicles are logged on before you click Submit or the messages will fail. For replacement, helper, and platoon vehicles, you must wait for the operator to power up the support vehicle, which in turn powers up all the myAvail devices that are onboard. Depending on the equipment, this process can require up to 5 minutes.

Replace Vehicle

Use this option when you need to pull a vehicle off a block. This option allows you to select the replacement vehicle, select a replacement operator (if needed), enter messages for both vehicles, and open an Incident.

A red asterisk indicates the field is required.

Selecting a replacement operator is required, for situations where a 'driver change' occurs, or simply select the current operator, if applicable.

Helper Vehicle

Use this option when a vehicle is falling behind schedule significantly enough that service will be missed without the addition of a helper vehicle. Helper Vehicles assist in returning the service to schedule, by being dispatched to a stop ahead of the regular vehicle to continue on-time service. In the meantime, the regular vehicle completes service to the end of its trip, and, if necessary, can then drop one or more trips to get back on schedule.

This window allows you to select the helper vehicle, select the operator, select the trip and the stop for the helper vehicle to begin service, create and send messages to both vehicles, and open an incident, if applicable

The dropdown menus build upon themselves. For example, when you select a block, the software will only show trips available for that block. When you select a trip, the stops menu will display only those stops scheduled for the selected trip. This saves dispatch valuable time in entering the information.

TIP: Fields that have an asterisk near them are required entry fields. 

After you assign the helper bus, myAvail sets the block deviation to on-time beginning at the stop that the helper vehicle has been designated to begin providing service for.

Discharge Only

Use this option when vehicles servicing a route are nearing capacity. In this situation, you might want the nearly full vehicle to go into discharge only. This option allows you to message the operator to place the vehicle in Discharge Only mode and to open an Incident. Dispatchers often use this option in conjunction with the Helper Vehicle and Platoon Tripper options.

A red asterisk indicates the field is required.

Platoon Tripper

Use this option when a vehicle is nearing capacity. Add a Platoon Tripper to provide additional seating. Typically, you assign a Platoon Tripper to the same trip as the nearly full vehicle and it runs ‘nose to tail’ with that vehicle. This vehicle adds capacity to the trip, but it does not change the block’s deviation.

This window allows you to select the platoon vehicle, select an operator, select the trip and stop for the vehicle to start service, select the trip and stop for the vehicle to stop service, enter messages to both vehicles, and to open an Incident.

In the window, myAvail filters the Trip and Stop fields by the selected route and trip, respectively.

A red asterisk indicates the field is required.

Cancel Service

Use this option when you need to cancel scheduled service. You might need to use this option due to a lack of equipment or vehicle operators, inclement weather, or unexpected traffic congestion that make it impossible to provide the scheduled service. This option includes the ability to communicate to ridership  the canceled service on public information outlets (myStop applications, Facebook, Twitter feeds).

This window allows you to select the trip and stop for the start of service cancellation, select the trip and stop for the resumption of service, enter messages for the vehicle, and to open an Incident.

In the window, myAvail filters the Trip and Stop fields by the selected route and trip, respectively.

A red asterisk indicates the field is required.

Route Status Tab

The Route Status tab displays a summary of routes in service. Use this are to monitor the vehicles servicing the routes, their OTP (on time performance) status, how full the vehicle are ,and whether or not vehicles are too close/ far from each other. You can expand each route to display the status by direction, and then expand each direction to see individual vehicles. Below is an example of the route status display grid. TIP: Use the Route Status tab in conjunction with the Route Map. the Route Map will display only the vehicles on the selected route, which provides a great visual reference point for dispatch. We will describe the Route Map in detail further down in the article.

The screen displays a route when at least one vehicle is logged onto the route. The grid contains the following information:

 

Field	Description
Route	Displays the Report Label as shown in the Routes tab. This field can be edited only through DataPoint setup Route Information - Update.
Status	Displays the overall route status: Attention - An event, as determined by administrators, has occurred Monitor - One or more vehicles are off schedule ( late, early) Good - All vehicles are on schedule
Vehicles	Displays the number of vehicles logged onto the route. The gray badge indicates the total number of vehicles.  A red badge indicates the number of those vehicles that are early. And a gold badge indicates the number that are late.
Capacity
% Total	The percentage of the total route capacity that is currently in use across all vehicles on the route.
Max %/Veh	The maximum percentage of capacity for an individual vehicle on this route. How full is the fullest vehicle?
Min %/Veh	The minimum percentage of capacity for an individual vehicle on this route. How full is the least full vehicle?
Headway
Scheduled	The planned headway between vehicles on the route - can be either a declared value in a headway schedule or a calculated value in a fixed time schedule.
Min Gap	The minimum time gap between any two-consecutive vehicles on the route.
Max Gap	The maximum time gap between any two-consecutive vehicles on the route.
Events	A badge in this column indicates that a vehicle event on this route requires attention. Hover the mouse over the badge to display a description of the event.

myAvail can calculate a headway value for any route with service provided by multiple vehicles. The route does not need to be scheduled as headway to use the headway feature. Go to the Routes tab to set myAvail to monitor a route for headway.

myAvail calculates a vehicle’s capacity from a value included in the vehicle definition entered in DataPoint (EMTS> Operations> DataPoint). If that field is empty or zero, then a general default value is used, which is configurable by property. The default on this parameter is 50.

Filter the Route Status screen by clicking a filter icon in the heading row. When a user applies a filter, the filter icon is orange, as shown below:

Details Section

To display the details for a route, click the + sign, located to the left of the route. In the example below, the route 3 row has been expanded to show the direction, the vehicle servicing the direction, and the capacity/ bus bunching fields:

 

Field	Description
Time	The time of the most recent report from the vehicle. This field is blank when the vehicle has not yet sent a  report today.
Vehicle	The vehicle number.
Pullout	The time that the block/run piece pulled out.
Block	Displays the current block for vehicles on fixed routes.
Run	Displays the run the vehicle is currently on.
Empl Num	The employee number of the Operator.
Operator	Displays the operator currently logged in to this vehicle.
Route	Displays the current route for vehicles on fixed routes.
Trip	Displays the current trip number for vehicles on fixed routes. Trip numbers correspond to the start time of the trip in military time.
Direction	Displays the direction of the current trip for vehicles on fixed routes.
Stop	Displays the most recent stop that a vehicle has departed for vehicles on fixed routes.
Events	A badge in this column indicates that a vehicle event on this route requires attention. Hover the mouse over the badge to display a description of the event.
Stop Order	The order of the stop in the Route Stops list. In DataPoint Setup, select Routes Information - View, on the selected route pick the stops option. On the Route Stops page, pick the direction and this number corresponds to where the stop is in that list.
Actual Headway	Calculated interval since the preceding vehicle left the last stop completed by this vehicle. NOTE: This is only calculated if the route is being monitored for Headway.
Headway Status	The status of the vehicle relative to the headway of the preceding vehicle. This is only calculated if the route is being monitored for Headway.
Onboard	Displays the approximate count of passengers currently onboard for vehicles on fixed routes.
Status	Current vehicle status. For vehicles on fixed routes, myAvail displays the schedule adherence status - Early, Late, On Time, and Out Of Service (OOS). For paratransit or supervisor vehicles, myAvail displays Logged On when someone is logged on to the vehicle. This column also displays the following: Bad GPS when the vehicle is not in GPS coverage. Bad Comms when the system has not heard from the vehicle for several minutes. Bunched when the vehicle is bunched in a headway route. Off Route when the vehicle has deviated from the route pattern associated with the Trip ID.
Dev	Displays the deviation in minutes from the schedule for vehicles on fixed routes.
Pullin/Relief	The time that the block/run piece either finishes for the day or that the operator is relieved and a new run starts for the block.
Relief Loc	The location (usually a stop or vehicle yard) where the relief happens.

The color of the row indicates the status of the vehicle and matches the color of the vehicles on the Status window and map. By default, myAvail sorts the display by stop order. However, you can click a column header to sort the display by that column instead. The first time you click a column header, the sort order is from low to high. A second click reverses the order so it is from high to low. A third click returns the screen to the default order.

Context Menu

Right-click a vehicle in the Route Status to display the context menu shown below. The context menu allows you to perform several options, such as sending a message, opening a voice call, creating an incident report, send a latitude/ longitude location text, and even adding the vehicle to the Timeline for monitoring purposes. 

Uses for the Route Status Tab

The Route Status tab provides a summary of how vehicles on a select route are performing against their scheduled pieces of work for dispatch to act upon, if and when needed.  This allows you to see at a glance whether issues are occurring primarily on one or two routes or across the service area. The window helps dispatchers monitor their high-volume ridership routes to ensure consistent service. Additionally, the display quickly provides the information necessary to understand whether a capacity problem is confined to one bus or whether the entire route is at capacity. This knowledge helps the dispatcher make the correct adjustment before a service disruption occurs.

Route Status Map

The Route Status Map shows the activity of a single route, and works in conjunction with the Route Status tab. When you click on a route from the Route Status tab, the Route Map will display only those vehicles servicing the route on the route Map. It provides a fast way to see where vehicles are located in real time, further supporting dispatch decision making processes in managing the vehicles on the route.

TIP: The tools and controls at the bottom of the map are the same as the operations Map.

Select a route or route direction in the Route Status grid and the map automatically displays that route. You can also click the blue drop-down arrow in the upper-right corner of the Route Map window to choose routes from there. If you need to display multiple routes on the map simultaneously, click multiple routes in the Route Map window. The map displays the routes after you click the routes selection button to close the window. In addition to being able to manually select routes, the user can also filter by direction. The direction filter is useful to quickly assess the spacing of vehicles for a given route and direction.

When using the auto-select feature from the Route Status Grid, myAvail applies the direction filter when you select a direction-specific line or specific vehicle. If you select the general route line, the map displays all directions.

Mobile Personnel Tracking

Mobile personnel tracking provides dispatchers with information about the location and status of on-duty supervisors.

To use this feature, an administrator must assign the proper security permissions to both the mobile personnel and dispatchers.

Mobile Personnel

A system administrator must assign the Mobile Personnel function to the appropriate mobile users/positions. This action adds the mobile features to the Gear Menu for these users, which allows them to select their status, vehicle, and phone.

Users can find the Gear Menu in the top-right of the window as shown below.

Mobile users can update their Status, Vehicle, and Phone by choosing from the drop-down lists in the Gear Menu. Shown above.

To enable automatic status updates, mobile users must check the Mobile checkbox In the gear menu. In this mode, myAvail automatically updates the status to Logged In and Logged Out without any additional action on the user’s part. In automatic mode, mobile users can update / change their status.

Dispatchers and the Mobile Personnel Window

A system administrator must assign the Mobile Personnel Grid permission to dispatchers that need to access the Mobile Personnel window in the Operations Tab. This permission also grants the ability to designate users as mobile personnel regardless of their current status and to change the status of existing mobile users. Dispatchers can add new mobile personnel and update statuses without any action on the part of those employees.

The Mobile Personnel window is shown below:

The table displays the time of the most recent update for each mobile employee along with their vehicle, phone, status, and status description. By default, the window displays all active mobile personnel starting with the employee that has the most recent status update.

For Android phone users, an app can provide the location of their phones.

Click the column headers to base the sort order on a particular column. Check the Show Inactive Mobile Personnel checkbox at the bottom to display all personnel regardless of their status. This checkbox is useful when you want to identify off-duty personnel to call in.

Click the icon in the table heading row to open a popup window where you can add new mobile personnel to this list.

Choose an employee from the Employee drop-down list and set their status. Dispatchers can choose from all employees regardless of their mobile and logged-in statuses. Optionally, specify their assigned vehicle, phone, and status description.

myAvail does not add new mobile personnel to the list until you click the Save button. Click the Cancel button at any time to discard your changes.

Dispatchers can also update the vehicle, phone, status, and status description of mobile personnel that are already on the list. To do this, click the to expand a user’s row. The expanded view displays the times for all entries, the user who made the changes, and the statuses over time.

Update User Status: Click the plus sign to the left of the user name to update it:

Then, click the icon in the expanded section to add an update for a user. In the popup window below, dispatchers can change the status and add a description. Mobile users who can only access the mobile features on the gear menu cannot add or edit the status description.

Add Status:

Add a message, as preferred/ required:

IMPORTANT: myAvail does not update the status until you click Save (upper right of pop up). Click Cancel at any time to discard your changes.

Platform Management

This optional feature facilitates the on-time departure of vehicles from a selected stop. To accomplish this goal, Platform Management presents authorized users with a list of the scheduled pullouts from a designated platform stop while myAvail tracks all vehicles with work schedules that include any of these pullout times at this designated stop. Platform supervisors can use Platform Management to reassign vehicles from one block of work to a different block. This process can help ensure on-time departures and minimize vehicle time at the platform.

For example, suppose it is 3:10 PM and the vehicle that is currently scheduled for the 3:15 PM pullout is 10 minutes away from the platform. However, another vehicle with a later pullout time is already at the platform. The supervisor can use Platform Management to change the assignment for the vehicle currently at the platform to the 3:15 PM pullout to permit an on-time departure. The vehicle that was initially scheduled for the 3:15 PM pullout is unassigned from that pullout and can be reassigned as needed.

Avail designed this feature to support a downtown transit facility that provides commuter service to suburban Park & Ride lots. The vehicles arrive without riders; therefore, the block reassignment has no impact on the riders and only a small impact on the operators. If your property is interested in this feature, please contact your Avail representative.

Access to both Platform Management-related Operations Windows is granted with a single security permission.

Platform Pullout

This window displays the status of scheduled pullouts from the designated platform stop.

• Status: myAvail calculates the status value a configurable number of minutes prior to the scheduled departure time for the block. The possible status values:
  • On-time: The vehicle is expected to leave the stop on time.
  • Missed Departure: The scheduled departure time is past and the vehicle for this block has not yet departed.
  • Missing Vehicle: A configurable time prior to the scheduled departure has passed and no vehicle has logged on to the scheduled block.
  • Est Late Arrival: The estimated arrival time (ETA) is later than the scheduled departure time.
  • Departure Complete: The vehicle on the scheduled block has exited the platform stop.
• Block/Run/Route
  • The values assigned to this scheduled departure.
• Sch Dep: The scheduled departure time.
• ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival at the platform stop.
• In Area:
  • This box is checked when the vehicle has entered an area defined by a configurable radius of the platform stop. NOTE: This radius is used to calculate the ETA.
• Vehicle: The vehicle logged on to the block associated with the specific scheduled departure
• Operator: The operator of the vehicle.

Platform Vehicles

This window displays the status of vehicles that have logged on to a block of work which includes a pullout from the designated platform stop.

• Reassign: Allows a user to change the block assignment of this vehicle.
  • To change the assignment, click a row in the Platform Pullout window to highlight the row. Then, click the Reassign button for the vehicle you need to assign to the selected pullout.
  • When you click the Reassign button, myAvail sends a log off/log on message to the vehicle receiving the new assignment. If a vehicle has already logged on to the reassigned block, myAvail clears it in the Platform Vehicles display.
• Status: The status column relates to the “Reassign” process. The possible values are the following:
  • Reassignment Sent: The log off/log on has been sent to the vehicle.
  • Reassignment Ack: The vehicle has acknowledged the receipt of the log off/log on request.
  • Reassign Failed: The vehicle was not able to complete the log-off/log on request.
  • Reassignment Pending: The log off/log on is in progress.
  • Log on complete: The vehicle has completed the log off/log on process.
  • Manually Reassign: The vehicle operator is manually logging off and logging on to the reassigned block.
• Vehicle/Operator: The values logged on to this block.
• Sch Dep: The Scheduled Departure from the platform stop for that block.
• ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival for that vehicle to the platform stop.
• Est Dep: The estimated number of minutes after the vehicle’s estimated arrival time that it is scheduled to depart. NOTE: A negative number indicates an estimated late arrival.
• Block/Run/Route
  • The values assigned to this vehicle.

Vehicle Information and History

This section discusses the Block Info, Text History, and Vehicle Event History tabs. The information displayed in these tabs is always related to the selected vehicle for the current day.  See the Selected Vehicle section above in the Overview for information on how a vehicle becomes the selected vehicle.

Block Info

The Block Info tab contains the list of trips that make up the block for the selected vehicle as shown below.

You can use the block info view to quickly see upcoming relief times and layovers, or when the current trip ends.

Text History

The Text History tab shows all the text messages that have been sent to and from this vehicle. Therefore, it displays not only messages that you have sent to this vehicle but also displays messages that other dispatchers have sent to this vehicle. For messages sent from a dispatcher, it also displays the status of the message - whether it was received by the vehicle and, if applicable, the operator’s response to the message. This tab also shows all messages received from the vehicle. The messages are shown in time order, most recent at the top, as shown below.

Messages sent from the vehicle have blue labels. Messages sent by a dispatcher to the vehicle have green labels.

Vehicle Event History

This tab shows all the activities of the selected vehicle for today. These activities include check-in and the login time as well as other events detected for this vehicle, such as off-route, early, and transfer in jeopardy. This tab gives you a method to quickly view what events have occurred with this vehicle earlier in the day, which can help you better understand a current issue.

An example of the Vehicle Event History tab is below.

You can expand an event by clicking the next to the event to view any actions that occurred while that event was an active event. See the Taking an Event in Operations Tab Action Windows for more information on active events. The following example shows an expanded event and the actions that occurred.

Continue/Stop Dispatching

If you are on the Operations top-level tab and you select a different top-level tab that takes you away from the Operations tab, myAvail asks whether you want to end your operations session. If you click Yes, the system no longer considers you to be monitoring your fleet groups. Events from vehicles in your fleet groups go to another dispatcher and you do not receive emergency alarms from the vehicles. The system no longer considers you to be a dispatcher.

If you click No, that you don’t want to end your operations session, then a window drops down from the top of the screen that displays important information from the Operations tab. This window displays information such as how many untaken events are in the Communications queue and the number of early and late vehicles showing in the Status grid. Also, if an emergency message arrives, you receive audible and visual alarm notifications. In this manner, you can continue to monitor the vehicles in your fleet group and quickly go back to the Operations tab if an event occurs that you need to address. Below is an example of the drop-down window.

If you decide that you want to stop dispatching, click the Stop Dispatching button, and the system no longer considers you to be monitoring your fleet groups as described above. If you go back to the Operations tab, the small window at the top is no longer displayed.