Case Study: How RATP Dev took a proactive approach to safety with safety management software from Ideagen

In the United States, the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP) Final Rule requires operators of public transportation systems in receipt of federal funds to develop safety plans that include processes and procedures necessary for implementing safety management systems (SMS).

The PTASP rule kicked in from July 2019 and by July next year operators must certify they have a safety plan in place that meets the requirements of the rule.

RATP Dev USA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RATP Group – the organisation which operates and maintains urban and intercity transportation in 12 countries, including the Paris metro in France – is responsible for the safety and training framework throughout all of RATP Dev’s locations in the United States.

Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, RATP Dev USA provides management, planning, and operation services for bus, rail, and paratransit systems at over 30 locations across the nation. With such an expansive operating landscape, each location operates independently while remaining closely connected to corporate support, but this can be a challenge.

“After conducting site assessments, we found that no two locations were managing safety in the same way,” says the Director of Safety and Security at RATP Dev USA. “Safety was managed through a lot of hard, very manual work and sometimes locations rarely communicated to each other on safety matters.

“At some of RATP Dev’s operating locations, it was hard to have a line of sight to those processes and their outcomes and the organisation quickly began to realise that a solution using technology which supported their SMS would be necessary.

“As we went about our analysis, we took a look at where we were, compared to where we wanted to be for a full safety management system and then identified five components that made up what we trademark now as our drive2zero™ safety solution.”

What is drive2zero™?

drive2zero™ is RATP Dev USA’s safety and security framework and is central for the firm in successfully monitoring safety, risk and operational performance across its bus, paratransit and rail services.

The framework is comprised of four components – Safety Policy, Risk Management, Safety Assurance and Safety Promotion – which is designed to realise continuous improvements to transit operations and support RATP Dev USA’s commitment to an unparalleled safety record for its customers and employees. This approach is at the heart of their safety culture.

How did software help RATP Dev USA’s drive2zero™ initiative reduce vehicle accidents by 19%?

“drive2zero™ is our internally developed safety solution,” explains the Director of Safety and Security. “We worked and partnered with two different companies, Ideagen – a UK-based software firm – and SmartDrive, the video and analytics fleet safety technology experts. Both organisations helped us to develop some of the electronic components of our safety management system.

“Coruson, from Ideagen, supports our SMS by providing the means to house our policies and procedures, to manage risk and also to perform all of the functions of safety assurance through its reporting and audit functionality. All of our subsidiaries and locations adopting drive2zero, powered by Ideagen and SmartDrive, automatically meet the requirements of the PTASP rule that will be due in July 2020.”

One aspect of RATP Dev’s drive2zero™ system is that it encourages on-the-spot reporting – with accidents and near-misses being reported straight away using mobile devices and apps.

The Director of Safety and Security added: “It’s very easy to take a manual process and convert it into an electronic process. In terms of reporting, the real advantage of that is, once it’s electronically captured, the data can be sent for tracking and trending. The data is accurate and clean, as the Coruson application allows you to use drop down lists to ensure names and locations are correct and the GPS location on the form is exactly where the incident occurred. Not only does it encourage active reporting, thus improving safety, but the accuracy of these reports improves as well.”

The Director of Safety and Security continues: “It’s very easy to give operators the means to proactively identify risk now. We use mobile devices such as iPads with the Coruson mobile app so that an operator can now identify any hazards through the app or through the browser, which is very nice because people can choose how they want to report.”

What safety and operational results have RATP Dev witnessed?

Implementing drive2zero™ started in 2017 at selected RATP Dev USA operating locations across the States.

To date, RATP Dev USA has implemented the SMS in eight out of their 30+ sites,” says the Director of Safety and Security. “Although there is still much work to be done, the initial results are very promising!”

Through using the Coruson safety management software from Ideagen, RATP Dev USA announced that it has reduced vehicle accidents by 19% across all bus, paratransit and rail services.

As part of the same framework, SmartDrive Systems, a leader in video-based safety and transportation intelligence, has improved RATP Dev USA’s fleets, drivers, and management with driving performance insight and analysis, helping save fuel, expenses, and lives.

Where in the past RATP Dev USA had seen operating locations report positive results in 9 to 12 months, they now saw results in 6 to 7 months. That’s due to an increase in hazard reports as the systems encouraged people to immediately report where risk is in the organisation and allow the organisation to comprehensively manage that to highlight and fix potential issues before they have chance to develop.”

The Director of Safety and Security adds: “We can do so much more work, much faster and much easier with a systemic, comprehensive, cohesive programme like Coruson that allows us to share information and learn from each other in developing better safety solutions.”

RATP Dev USA transports more than 70 million passengers across the United States through various transportation services such as bus, urban or intercity rail lines (streetcar), and shuttle services.

RATP Dev’s aim is to continuously improve transit operations and support its commitment to an unparalleled safety record for customers and employees.

Gordon McKeown, Head of Product at Ideagen, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the team at RATP Dev USA.

“We are absolutely delighted that our Coruson software has played such a crucial part in helping to reduce vehicle accidents across eight RATP Dev USA subsidiaries and we are confident of seeing even more success across the wider network as the project progresses.”

Meanwhile across the US, the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP) Final Rule requires operators of public transportation systems to develop safety plans that include processes and procedures necessary for implementing safety management systems. The PTASP rule takes effect from July 2019 and by the following year operators must certify they have a safety plan in place that meets the requirements of the rule.

The Director of Safety and Security adds: “Any of our subsidiaries or locations that adopt drive2zero will now automatically meet the requirements of the PTASP rule that will be due in July 2020.”