Metro News Release

For immediate release: December 27, 2007

Metro uses Palm Treo smartphone to improve communication and service

When Chris Moore was a rail supervisor buried by paperwork, he thought, “Wouldn’t it be great to quickly send customer complaints, inspection and repair reports and extra service requests electronically?” Moore also wanted to improve accountability and spend more time in the field helping customers. Now, it has become a reality.

Moore and 11 other team members initially purchased Palm® Treo™ smartphones with their own money and spent many nights and weekends over the last four years developing a software application that could be used on the mobile phones with PC functions. The group also developed a short course to train employees to use the devices. The phones have replaced some of the paper forms that rail managers would spend hours filling out, then send off to various departments.

Since January, more than 80 rail supervisors with Treo smartphones in hand, access the forms electronically every day from the field. They can send them to departments from various locations in the Metrorail system.

“This is exceptional within the transit industry,” said Moore, manager of special projects. “It has the potential of saving us millions of dollars in time, productivity and paper.”

Many rail supervisors used to carry a backpack or briefcase stocked with forms and other information. The paperwork was usually turned in at the end of each day, but other information needed to provide better customer service could only be accessed once they returned to their offices.

“Now, the Treo smartphone is our mobile office,” Moore said.

The portable devices not only have phone, text, Internet and email capabilities, but also Metro specific databases, maps, forms, a union rule book, safety handbooks and profiles of each rail station, such as the addresses and number elevators. Rail and custodial supervisors can watch training videos on their phones while in the field. They also can take photos to facilitate faster cleanups and repairs.

“The tool is helping us provide better service to customers,” Moore said. “There was a game at the Verizon Center and a supervisor used the Web browser to monitor the score of the game. This way he knew when and how many extra trains to dispatch. If it was a blowout, he knew people would leave early.”

Metro managers also are using the software application as a productivity measure. They can gain faster access to reports from the field on a train operator’s or rail supervisor’s performance.

“If an operator needs reinstruction on making smoother stops or better announcements, a report is sent that day to his or her supervisor. Before the Treo application, the paper report could be lost or bogged down in the paper reporting cycle for two to three weeks, before action was taken,” Moore said. “It’s also easier to access information. Something that used to take hours to find now takes seconds,” he added.

Metro also has saved boxes of paper by switching to the electronic devices.

“More than 168,000 sheets of paper and counting, which supports Metro’s ‘Going Green’ environmental initiative,” said Moore.

“Palm offers organizations the flexibility to customize Treo smartphones through third-party applications to create a solution that fits their individual needs,” said Amy Flounders, director of account management, at Palm, Inc. “The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority offers public transportation agencies nationwide an excellent example of ways to improve customer satisfaction and safety, while reducing operations costs.”

For their efforts, 12 Metro employees won Metro’s annual Corporate Culture Teamwork Award this year.

Moore and the team now are working on expanding the program for use by rail and bus training, and elevator and escalator employees.

News release issued at 12:00 am, December 27, 2007.