For years, ABQ Ride and its IT Division have searched for ways to reduce the cost of communicating between its Sun Vans and dispatch. Now, it has paired new equipment with the latest technology to create a substantial savings.
In looking for a less expensive way to communicate between dispatch and the vans’ computer database, ABQ Ride substituted $500 Samsung computer tablets for mobile data terminals which only four years before had cost over $6,000 per vehicle. The result was a system that not only helped the department serve customers as efficiently as before, but also saved taxpayers almost a quarter million dollars.
“In 2012, we installed onto 40, new Sun Vans mobile data terminals. These were rugged, reliable and viable for paratransit vehicles,” said Bruce Rizzieri, director of ABQ Ride. “However, each one cost approximately $6,500 per vehicle.”
ABQ Ride’s IT Division employees were looking for a communication system that was reliable, suitable for a vehicle environment and inexpensive. In 2014, IT staff determined that tablets had evolved sufficiently and had enough processing power to run the paratransit mobile software. IT developed a pilot program with five tablets. With no negative feedback from drivers during this trial period, ABQ Ride equipped its 40, new Sun Vans with the Samsung tablets. The department also established the protocol that this type of system would be the standard for Sun Vans.
Technical Manager Joe Saraphon and former IT employee Christopher Taylor came up with the tablet idea. Staff members Ron Dupuy, Deborah Anaya and Michael Liggins worked to configure and deploy the tablets. IT Program Manager Stan Low was instrumental with inter-departmental coordination and project management.
“At $500 for each tablet, protective case and mounting hardware, ABQ Ride spent only about $20,000 this time around to equip our new Sun Vans with computers,” said Rizzieri. “That’s a substantial savings for taxpayers.”
