The same volume of service — at lower payroll and fleet costs
Under modern service contracts, the operator receives a table of trips and builds shifts and duties on its own. That is an opportunity to save — if you have the right tool. Opturan builds optimal shifts for the contract and produces the roster automatically
Financially viable from ~100 vehicles. The impact is confirmed by free test runs on your own data
What hurts an operator
- Shifts and duties for the service contract are computed by hand — days of work and human error
- One or two shift sets per year: the timetable changes, the shift plan does not
- Split shifts at a premium pay rate, and driver turnover
- Driver shortage: shifts go uncovered, trips are missed, revenue is lost
How Opturan solves it
Three modules cover the whole process: contract or headway-frequency matrix → timetable → shifts and duties → assignment of people and vehicles → ready roster
Timetable
Builds a trip timetable from a headway-frequency matrix — the basis for calculating shifts and rosters
Dynamic Shifts
Builds an optimal set of shifts and duties for drivers and vehicles from the trip table of the service contract. Denser shifts — less paid idle time; a unique shift set for every day, not two per year
Auto-Rostering
Assigns specific drivers and vehicles to shifts, respecting qualifications, shift patterns, work-and-rest rules and employee preferences. A roster in minutes, not a full dispatcher shift
Economics measured in real deployments
Figures measured in real deployments with real line dispatch. Financially viable from ~100 vehicles
Control without rebuilding your IT landscape
- Works alongside your existing systems — schedules, staff and qualification data are loaded from them
- “What if” scenarios: timetable, headcount or fleet changes are compared before a decision is made
- 100% of feasible assignments covered — no dependence on human factors
- Compliance with Ministry of Transport work-and-rest regulations (orders No. 424, No. 339)
- Listed in the Russian software registry — entry No. 20933; data stored in Russia (152-FZ)
Not just buses
Planning rules are configured for any fleet and crew — from electric transit to other industries with shift-based staff
Public Transit in production
Buses, trolleybuses, trams: proven in production
Emergency Medical Services
A solution for EMS stations: crew duty around the clock
Fire Services
A solution for fire departments: watch schedules and crew composition
Utilities
A solution for water, heat and power utilities: crews and special vehicle duties
Rail Transport
Shift rosters for train drivers, assistants and conductors that respect work-and-rest rules (order No. 339) and train-set turnaround norms
Key planning challenges
- Many factors to account for: routes, timetable, maintenance schedule, regulations, internal rules, qualifications and staff preferences, costs
- Competing objectives: even workload, minimising headcount, minimising costs, meeting employee requests
- A large volume of activities: maintenance, vacations, training, medical checks, shift assignments
- No centralisation across divisions and depots — each site plans on its own
- The “domino effect”: a single change to the timetable or headcount unravels the entire roster
- Difficulty synchronising the process across dispatchers, planners and units
- Familiar planning habits — it is hard to move away from manual practices
- A changing environment: the timetable keeps shifting throughout the planning period
How a roster is built — the workflow
- STEP 01
Data preparation
Load and refresh data on drivers, conductors, train drivers, assistants and route timetables
- STEP 02
Run calculations
Based on the data and settings, launch parallel roster calculations with different priorities
- STEP 03
Pick the best roster
Compare the results and choose the most optimal roster by its analytical metrics
- STEP 04
Publish the roster
Publish the selected roster and export it to your other systems
Value for every role
For dispatchers and planners
Fast computation (one day takes about 2 minutes), automatic selection of the optimal plan across a 1–31 day horizon, enforcement of legal and internal rules, roster quality scoring by analytical metrics, and data-driven communication
For drivers, conductors and train drivers
Less fatigue through work-and-rest limit tracking, even and fair distribution of work, respect for individual preferences, a work and rest plan known in advance, and fewer call-outs on days off
For management
Lower overtime costs, faster planning, reduced staff turnover, higher satisfaction, lower accident risk, better vehicle utilisation, lower fuel consumption, centralised control and quality oversight
Let us compute the savings on your data
Free test runs on a single route, division or depot: the effect evaluation methodology is agreed in advance, and line dispatch carries no risk to your service
Request a demo