At Blaise Transit, we’re committed to simplifying demand-responsive transport operations across all communities. We understand that transitioning to new technology, especially sophisticated on-demand and paratransit platforms, can feel daunting. The sheer volume of routing decisions, vehicle assignments, and parameter management is substantial, and all happening in real-time. No matter how simple an interface can be, it takes time to understand how automated dispatch works. That’s why we're thrilled to introduce our latest innovation: Ask Otto, your AI-powered transit planning & dispatching assistant.
We’ve spoken with hundreds of transit agencies and operators across the industry—those using software platforms and those still managing services manually. Regardless of their current solutions, the number one challenge agencies face revolves around routing and scheduling decisions. Many dispatchers struggle to understand why their software made specific routing choices, particularly when they have spent years, even decades, handling such decisions manually.
Ask Otto is designed specifically to make navigating our on-demand transit and paratransit platform effortless. Transit dispatchers, managers, and operations teams no longer need to spend countless hours analyzing complex routing and scheduling decisions or troubleshooting rejected trips manually. Instead, you can directly interact with Ask Otto, asking natural, conversational questions like "Why was yesterday's rejection rate high?" or "Why was this trip assigned to this vehicle?" Ask Otto instantly provides clear, actionable insights, with an opportunity for making adjustments and corrections.
But it doesn't stop there. Ask Otto goes beyond simple queries and offers proactive suggestions. If your system’s performance metrics were off (e.g. your average trip length spiked), Ask Otto can propose specific adjustments to service parameters, vehicle availability, or scheduling rules. You can then easily simulate these adjustments within the platform to immediately see potential improvements, empowering your team to make informed decisions confidently.
Imagine swiftly understanding why certain trips were assigned to specific vehicles, or why scheduling choices were made, without sifting through pages of routes and trips. Ask Otto also taps into agency-specific databases, effortlessly answering detailed queries related to riders, drivers, trips, and anything else captured within your agency.
Forgot how to do something we taught you in the training? No worries, Ask Otto has you covered. You can ask it how to perform any operations within Blaise and be provided with clear, accurate instructions to follow.
This innovation isn't just about convenience; it's about efficiency and improving outcomes for the riders who rely on these services. Ask Otto reduces the barrier to adopting new technologies and streamlines decision-making, significantly cutting down the manual effort and complexity that transit operations teams face daily.
Proudly, Blaise Transit is the first in the industry to build and announce any sort of AI-enabled agent. We believe Ask Otto represents the future of transit operations—intelligent, intuitive, and user-friendly. This is just the start though - Ask Otto will continue to evolve over the coming months, as we also announce other groundbreaking AI features that we’ve been working on at Blaise.
Let us be clear though: we are committed to always being a phone call, email, or text message away from providing real-time support to you and your team, 24/7. Our goal is to get you answers quicker, but we’ll never let AI compromise on our industry-leading customer support.
Ready to simplify your transit planning? Just Ask Otto - or reach out to our incredible sales team here. 😉
Blaise is delighted to welcome its newest board member, Josh Colle. Josh is a leader in the public transit field with over 20 years of experience in the transport and municipal sectors, with extensive strategy, customer, and operations experience.
Blaise Transit, a leader in the development of innovative software solutions for public transit, is excited to announce the appointment of Olivia Li as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
We know most transit agencies are constantly striving to enhance their rider’s experience. However, amidst the excitement of offering new technology to passengers the crucial aspect of communication often gets overlooked. On-demand transit represents a paradigm shift in traditional transit models, with its tech-driven approach requiring active participation from riders. Yet, many riders may be unfamiliar with this concept, especially if it's the first time it's being introduced in their community. The introduction of new technology adds another layer of complexity, necessitating effective change management.
