Kitsap Transit ACCESS has transformed its on-demand trip booking process by utilizing new tools and capabilities available in SharpStack’s scheduling platform, which powers TripSpark’s Demand Response transportation software. This transformation has led to a remarkable 75% reduction in customer callbacks, which is estimated to save their staff over 1,500 hours of manual work annually. Customers now enjoy immediate confirmation of any deviations from requested trip booking times, and staff have seamlessly transitioned to using real-time trip negotiation through targeted training—thereby allowing agency staff to focus on higher-value tasks.
“Let TripSpark and SharpStack help you. They are interested in making your agency successful in using all the automated scheduling and optimization the software can provide.”
– Karl Farnsworth, ACCESS Information Systems Coordinator
Overcoming Scheduling Hurdles: Kitsap Transit ACCESS historically faced significant challenges with implementing automated trip scheduling due to the region’s complex geography. As a result, staff would manually build and finalize schedules and spend anywhere from 5-10 hours daily informing riders of any adjusted trip times, diverting resources from more strategic tasks.
Implementing Cutting-Edge Scheduling Solutions: In April 2025, ACCESS implemented new scheduling tools from TripSpark and SharpStack. These tools enabled the negotiation of on-demand bookings in real-time, which has allowed reservationists to optimize trip placements instantly and significantly reduce the need for end-of-day callbacks.
What is Real-Time Trip Negotiation?
Real-time trip negotiation in on-demand service involves a transit agency and a rider adjusting trip times within a one-hour window (before or after the desired departure time) to accommodate scheduling needs, particularly when real-time service or efficient dispatching is involved. This negotiation window, mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for all paratransit trips, allows agencies to group trips and maintain service efficiency, while still providing comparable service to riders, as long as the deviation doesn’t make the trip inconvenient or late for a critical appointment.
Achieving Remarkable Efficiency Gains: Automation of real-time trip booking has led to a 75% drop in callbacks, which is estimated to save staff over 1,500 hours of manual work annually. Customers now receive immediate trip confirmations, staff were able to transition smoothly through targeted training, and the agency gained operational flexibility to focus on higher-value work.
“Working with TripSpark and SharpStack has been a very good experience. Our geography creates an extreme challenge for automated scheduling, and we are now at the point that with automation, we are duplicating our performance statistics that we had with all manual work. They were very interested in giving us solutions for the problems we were having.”
– Karl Farnsworth, ACCESS Information Systems Coordinator
Meet Kitsap Transit: Kitsap Transit provides public transit in Kitsap County, including shared-ride paratransit for seniors and people with disabilities. The agency actively adopts new technologies to improve operations and customer satisfaction.
With SharpStack’s latest on-demand scheduling platform that improves overall system accuracy, even the most geographically unique transit agencies can leverage scheduling automation to fit the most complex rider demands with operational compliance. Kitsap Transit ACCESS has significantly benefited from these innovative tools and capabilities, enhancing both efficiency and customer satisfaction.