How data science is driving digital transformation at MV Transportation

Q. We see trends that focus on worker productivity having big impacts in the coming years. The pervasive use of AI and machine learning in business — coupled with collaborative systems — is paying off. What are the key trends you see happening in the industry over the next 3 to 5 years?

A. I agree. In our industry we will focus on: as-a-service, safety and security. My customer is the transit agency. The challenge it faces is that ridership is generally decreasing and there is a disruption in the marketplace from the Lyfts and Ubers. We are searching for creative solutions to integrate all those modes of transportation into a mobility-as-a-service offering. Everybody’s doing some kind of pilot, looking for a collaborative, broker model that gets more passengers on more shared rides.

Just like everything else, the goal is to better use data to make the best use of resources. In this case, how do we best utilize existing capacity and integrate the different fleets. I think analytics technology will ensure that mobility as a service happens in the next 3 to 5 years.

The second area is safety, which is one of the largest cost factors for the company. Just like the average driver, our bus operators have a safety record that determines what rates our insurance company charges. Today, we have cameras in 80 percent of our vehicles. The cameras are triggered when certain events occur, such as hard braking, rapid acceleration or sudden turning. We use AI to help us evaluate these actions. Drivers are scored every day on their performance, and people who reach a certain risk factor can be taken off the road and sent for retraining or even be fired. After 18 months, MV’s insurance rates have dropped by more than $20 million.

And security should be top of mind for any business. We don’t want our customers’ information compromised; we don’t want to end up on the front page somewhere; and we don’t want the business risk that comes from not paying enough attention to all forms of security. We’ve done extensive analysis on ways to prevent hacking, ransomware threats and other security risks. DXC brought us the most valuable information on these areas and showed up with meaningful expertise and advice. DXC’s security experts provided forensic analysis and shaped our thinking on how to ward off and prevent security issues. We’ve learned a lot about how to reduce risk and increase cyber resilience, which has now shaped our efforts for all future projects. DXC has some great options for multi-layered defenses that proactively detect unknown threats and protect critical enterprise information.