Optibus has announced it has passed the landmark figure of one million optimisations performed using its platform.
The public transport technology company is celebrating the milestone alongside launching a new “timetable optimisation in scheduling” feature.
Optibus’s system for planning, scheduling, rostering, operations, and passenger information has carried out one million optimisations for more than 2,250 clients.
These data processes have been performed across fields such as timetabling, and vehicle and driver scheduling.
“In the context of public transportation, these algorithms analyse massive datasets to identify the best allocation of resources, such as vehicles, drivers, and EV chargers, in order to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance service quality for passengers while maintaining compliance,” says Optibus.
The business claims the results of the optimisations have included making more than £500,000 worth of savings for one operator. Elsewhere, a 4% increase in operational efficiency and a reduction in PVR or almost 10% have been witnessed, it says.
The software provider says the optimisations have revealed trends across the industry. Last year, driver scheduling accounted for 53% of the data processing, while vehicle scheduling was the second most common optimisation type.
Noting seasonal fluctuations, Optibus says: “In 2024, both crew scheduling and vehicle scheduling optimisations peaked mid-year (May – July) before declining by about 33% at the end of the year (November – December). A spring-summer peak (March – July) and end-of-year dip (November – December) in optimisation activity is noticeable for the past five years.”
The latest feature addition from the company is aimed at finetuning timetables at the scheduling stage to optimise the entire network rather than just individual routes.
Timetable optimisation in scheduling results in reductions in PVR and expenditure; cost-effective, efficient schedules for tenders; and network-wide efficiency through start-time optimisation, says Optibus.
