Optibus recently released the results of how Florida’s Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) is setting a new standard for on-time performance (OTP).

The JTA, which provides public transportation services across Jacksonville, offers core services like Route 30 Cecil/103rd Street — a key east-west corridor that serves major community destinations, including three local schools, a Walmart, and an Amazon fulfillment center.

In the Fall of 2024, JTA’s service department began searching for ways to improve OTP and enhance schedule reliability throughout the day. A particular concern centered on recurring delays near a local high school during peak student traffic hours. 

“After implementing Predictive Runtimes, we improved OTP by more than ten percentage points, giving our riders more reliable service and making daily operations smoother for our team,” said Tavis Bader, a planner at JTA.

Enhancing Schedule Accuracy with Predictive Runtimes

JTA used Optibus Predictive Runtimes, which uses real-time data to generate optimized runtimes that better reflect current operating conditions. The engine is powered by data from Snapper Services, whose Mosaiq Transit Intelligence Suite processed the agency’s real-time vehicle positioning data and made it available via API.  

Using data collected in Fall 2024, Optibus’ software analyzed traffic patterns. It proposed refined timetable suggestions, which JTA cross-validated against CAD/AVL data in Power BI dashboards to reveal that the predictive runtimes closely matched actual performance metrics.

Immediate results included:

• OTP improved by ten percentage points, from 83.4% to 94%.

• Schedule reliability increased.

• Drivers reported that trips were running “right on the nose.”

• According to the assistant SDM, the route reached up to 98% OTP some days.

The agency noted cost savings from reduced timetable delays. The new schedules accounted more accurately for peak school traffic, especially westbound on 103rd Street, improving punctuality without overcompensating with excess layover time.