INNOVATION CHALLENGE WINNERS

routeone operator subscribers and a panel of industry Judges have determined which products, launched in the 12 months to November 2023, are award-worthy.

Watch the finals to discover how your business can benefit. See which innovators took home awards below, or the full list of entries here.

Operators' Choice Award Winner
RO23 innovations challenge logo_gold

LOW BRIDGE DETECTION SYSTEM BY PARKSAFE

Designed and manufactured in the UK, our Low Bridge Detection System (LBDS) can detect up to 3,750 low bridges within the UK. Data published by Network Rail shows that between 1 April, 2020 – 31 March, 2021, there were 1,624 bridge strikes reported across the network. By detecting upcoming low bridges, our intelligent LBDS uses GPS vehicle location data and geofencing to warn the driver via LED-enhanced alerts and an audible warning system that automatically activates. LBDS requires zero driver input – the height and width of the vehicle is input at installation! It can also be used as a standalone product, integrated into the vehicle’s cigarette lighter – simply plug in, and drive.

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Judges' Choice Gold Award Winner
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KURA ESSENTIAL BY KURA

Kura believes in improving safeguarding on student transport, and that school and operator budgets shouldn’t be a barrier. So, we launched Kura Essential – the free home-to-school software tech. Kura Essential software empowers schools, operators, and drivers with the ability to track which students are on board each route, manage vehicle capacity, and track school vehicles. It will also enable students to confirm their boarding and disembarking points by tapping on and off the vehicle, vital in the rare occurrence of an accident. 

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Judges' Choice Silver Award Winners
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RINA BY ZEELO

RINA (Routing Intelligent Navigation Algorithm) by Zeelo is an in-house piece of software optimising daily commutes with data. It combines demographics, transport networks, travel times, and live data to boost ridership, reduce costs, and address operational issues. RINA utilises historical data to minimise lateness and reported problems, enhancing efficiency. On the ridership side, it considers demographics, transport options, usage patterns, and untapped demand to increase vehicle use. Ongoing optimisations lead to 43% average cost reduction for clients.

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RO23 innovations challenge logo_silver

GREENROAD DRIVE™ APP BY GREENROAD

The GreenRoad Drive™ app for tablets is digitizing fleet safety. This software-only solution utilizes tablets or mobile phones already installed on the busses to speed up implementation time dramatically while slashing vehicle deployment costs when compared with installed solutions which are widely used by many operators. Drive™ app’s real-time coaching and AI-based driver behaviour management capabilities significantly reduce fleet accidents by 50%, fuel consumption by 3-7% as well as vehicle maintenance and operating costs, while extending battery range for electric busses. The solution is already deployed across bus fleets around the globe.

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RO23 innovations challenge logo_silver

LIVING ROOF COVERED WALKWAY BY TRUEFORM

Our sustainable covered walkway in Carmarthen with self-irrigating green living roof helps reduce CO2 emissions, purify air and provide ideal habitat for our endangered insects and wildlife. This roof garden substrate is a great, lightweight growing media for green roofs, accompanied by a root-resistant waterproof drainage system, finished with wildflower to encourage native pollinating insects. Trueform sees this as essential to counter the challenges posed by rapidly increasing urbanisation, public health and air pollution.

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Judges' Choice Bronze Award Winners
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INFORMALL TRANSPORT – PASSENGER INFORMATION SOLUTION BY NAVAHO TECHNOLOGIES LTD

Navaho digital passenger information systems, powered by InformALL software, offer in-depot, on-road and on-bus information solutions. They also offer live passenger information updates, vehicle status info, depot and maintenance displays, and automated display messaging. Connecting directly with existing bus-management systems, Navaho transport solutions communicate to share and collate information from sources such as CCTV feeds, passenger-counting devices, news services, location, advertising messages and more.

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RO23 innovations challenge logo_bronze

SURE INSIGHT APP BY SURE24

Get instant access via your phone to vehicle CCTV footage with our cutting-edge software and recently launched app, SURE Insight. Bus operators can locate vehicles, see buses on routes, and monitor stop timings and bus downtime. Data can be searched by geofencing an area to show maximum speed, harsh braking and pinpoint situations, or bus movements in that area — all from a mobile. With fraudulent claims on the increase, 99% of buses in the UK already have CCTV, typically on hard drives — now you can instantly view anytime, anywhere on your phone.

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Hall of Fame

2022 Winners:

 
Wheely-Safe is the world leading in-motion wheel loss detection system, incorporating brake and hub temperature monitoring with an intelligent TPMS. The fully patented technology is already protecting a number of major bus and coach fleets, including full fleet fit outs at Trentbarton and Translink. The system offers a final control measure to protect against the risks of wheel loss, brake and hub overheating, tyre underinflation and high tyre temperatures. In-motion alerts allow the driver to bring the vehicle safely to a halt should an issue be detected. The latest generation kit is telematics-ready, increasing opportunities for connectivity and reporting to the office.
 
Wheely-Safe is the world leading in-motion wheel loss detection system, incorporating brake and hub temperature monitoring with an intelligent TPMS.

Drivetech knows it can be challenging rolling out learning to your drivers which is why we’ve created Driver’s Mate. Based on Nudge theory, these short, engaging animations (we’re producing over 200!) tell immersive stories from the perspective of the driver, making them enjoyable to watch, relatable and easy to absorb. They are all about safety at the wheel and best on-road practice to checking the vehicle and looking out for customers too.

The bite size animations are mobile, tablet and desktop accessible meaning they can be watched at a time and location convenient to you and your drivers with minimal time away from the day job. Each animation focuses on one subject area ensuring the learning outcomes are targeted, clear and effective. For bus and coach operators they can also be easily shown in crew mess rooms and the like.

 
The latest release of the Journeo Portal combines data, remote access/live monitoring and insight from critical on-vehicle systems – including positioning, telematics, CCTV, passenger counting, driver behaviour and WiFi – and fleet/service management tools (duty and vehicle applications) in one Connected Transport Platform. The platform presents actionable information across dashboards, management applications and APIs.

The future roadmap includes increased integration with vehicle sensors and sub-systems, and a fully featured content management system for RTPI solutions.

 
EOS Training is proud to launch the new TM Guide App. This industry-first product will provide Transport Managers with the very latest compliance on the go, replacing the requirement for material-based publications and setting a new benchmark for both sustainability and convenience.

With regular updates and live bulletins, the TM Guide App includes 30 relevant modules, end-of-modular enhanced subject retention checks, a comprehensive search facility and certification for Continued Professional Development. Accessible on all devices, including mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktop PC’s.

Endorsed and supported by leading industry bodies, the TM Guide App is the one-stop shop for total compliance.

 
Evolve blends GPS, scheduling and ticketing data to deliver AI-powered runtimes that drastically improve journey speeds and service dependability. Evolve’s Service Level module analyses movement patterns and boarding and alighting data across your network, offering the insights needed to balance supply with demand.

  • Save time by removing the need for painstaking data manipulation – let the accuracy of Evolve’s runtimes do the work.
  • Grow your network by reducing wait times and increasing passenger satisfaction through a dependable, reliable, and fast service.
  • Access an always-on overview of the network’s movement to uncover origin-destination insights, and plan a network around actual travel behaviour.


 
Ask yourself: why isn’t there a website highlighting all of Britain’s most scenic bus routes?

Well that’s what Scenic Buses is – a beautifully designed website showcasing the many great bus routes Britain has to offer – complete with timetables, route maps, tickets and information on places to visit and things to do along the way.

Scenic Buses is the home of Britain’s scenic bus services – visit scenicbuses.uk or follow us on social media to find your next adventure!

 
Ask yourself: why isn’t there a website highlighting all of Britain’s most scenic bus routes?

Thanks to the Battery Cortex Project, a research conducted by Stratio with Caetano Bus and the University of Halmstad, the Stratio Platform now offers an even more advanced set of metrics for electric buses.

Scenic Buses is the home of Britain’s scenic bus services – visit scenicbuses.uk or follow us on social media to find your next adventure!

 
Ticketer’s latest initiative, the Smart Gateway, is the cornerstone of our drive towards the “Connected Bus”.

Our Smart Gateway enables the Ticketer ETM to deliver fully integrated and richer solution and data, for example by displaying occupancy data onto destination blinds. By connecting disparate systems into one single communications platform not only reduces the complexity and cost of on-bus integrations, it also eliminates hardware duplication (fewer SIM cards) and centralises hardware management for operators. This allows integration of multiple data sources for improved critical insights, which subsequently increases passenger satisfaction.

Future-proof your on-bus operations today with the Ticketer Smart Gateway.

 
The Connected Workshop from Freeway sees data from mobile devices and onboard vehicle sensors transmitted live to a central hub that holds all fleet maintenance data. Data is pooled from apps used by drivers for their first-use safety checks and onboard systems such as Stratio and Wheely-Safe.

Smart software processes the data to provide a complete oversight of the status of each vehicle, with critical defects and compliance issues highlighted on colour-coded screens.

The system allows workshop managers to quickly prioritise work, minimise disruption and, together with predictive maintenance modelling, reduce downtime and cut fleet maintenance costs.

 
Timetable verification made simple.

• Save Time Drag and drop any TransXChange data straight into your browser to view maps, timetables and reports. Export timetables in PDF or Excel format at the touch of a button.

• Improve Data Quality Validate timetables against the DfT’s PTI profile (or your own set of “house rules”) before publishing your data to the Bus Open Data Service.

• Explore Open Data View other operators’ timetables, from data sources including BODS and Traveline, without complex import procedures

TransXChange Studio is an affordable cloud-native subscription service. No software installation required. No setup fees.

2019 Winners:

 
Freeway’s fleet-in-your-pocket innovation provides control of fleet management with an app that provides a real-time insight to essential fleet information and tasks. The app is designed for management and staff with responsibility for planning and assigning work or authorising purchases relating to fleet maintenance and compliance. A single smart-phone interface provides access to everything from Earned Recognition KPIs and Staff Overview to Defect Recording, Time-Sheet entry, Parts Purchasing, Authorising, Receipting and Issuing. The app puts all aspects of cost-control and compliance into an immediate and accessible mobile device application to improve management and efficiency, reducing bottlenecks to speed workflows.

 
We would like to introduce our latest innovation: Kazoot. This is the first multi-operator passenger app that enables operators to work together to collectively compete against other forms of transport. How? By demonstrating that bus travel can be accessible, visible and convenient whilst retaining access to the ticket sales data they would expect through their own app. This also puts smaller operators on the same footing as their bigger counterparts. Kazoot gives operators an additional channel to promote their services and interact with their passengers, all managed centrally from the Ticketer systems they use on a daily basis.

 
The new “E400HX” from Alliance Transport Technologies (ATT) is a Service Exchange Hybrid battery pack. The pack features new cells, improved battery management with live cell balancing, and enhanced construction. The battery management system monitors the state of every cell in the pack, ensuring safe operation. The active cell balancing software means energy is taken from higher performing cells and spreads the voltage across weaker cells in the pack to improve pack efficiency and longevity. A bespoke interface tool can also help predict future degradation. The pack is also available in standard and modular format.

 
UrbanThings has taken the traditional concept of onboard ticket validators and flipped it around. Our product Ticketless™, uses our innovative Hex Tag technology which allows a passenger’s smartphone to become the ticket validator instead. As the passenger boards the bus, they scan a unique QR code that’s been placed at the vehicle entrance to validate their mobile-ticket purchase. This fresh approach saves operators money on costly on-board hardware and cash sales. Our technology provides real-time occupancy data and fleet telemetry which can then be used to optimise services and improve efficiencies.

 
BrakeMate® is an elevated service platform for servicing heavy vehicle brake disc assemblies; it eliminates the majority of manual lifting during disc brake maintenance, leading to a saving in both time money. It enables a single user to complete the process, allowing other jobs to be completed more efficiently, meaning further time savings. The brake disc assembly on commercial vehicles, weigh up to 70kg, much higher than the 25kg limit by HSE. Lifting such weights often lead to injuries which are not only painful to the employee but also financially painful to employers through lost time and compensation claims.

 
All Buckled Up is the wireless seat belt alert system developed specifically for passenger transport and distinctively can be utilised on removable seating without any fuss. Instantly alerting drivers of any unfastening of seat belts with both audible and visual warnings, this system is configured bespoke to your vehicle layout. The easy to read display helps quickly identify the status of each seat alongside total number of buckled seat belts for driver awareness. Exclusive to Phoenix Seating, All Buckled Up is perfect for any passenger vehicle looking to increase safety and promote seat belt wearing on all passenger transport journeys.

 
SchoolBusTracker is a mobile application that connects parents with their child school transport system, enabling them to locate their child and school bus at any given moment during their school bus route. A complete and real-time connection between the bus, the school and the guardians/parents to have the location of the buses and kids up-to-date. Allows operators to manage more effectively by planning routes and times to save operational costs and fuel expense. Avoids the need for installing expensive GPS systems which by nature are not portable.

 
INSO Printed Flooring gives you the power to transform your passengers’ experience and offers new and powerful communication possibilities. This product allows you to print any design, image or message directly into your vehicle’s floor to any size and shape, making it the ideal branding, communication and advertising solution for bus and coach. A fully compliant 2mm slip resistant flooring which is easy to maintain and will never wear out, INSO Printed Flooring can be used for brand awareness, safety messages, welcome messages, way finding and much more. INSO – inspiring solutions for bus and coach.

 
INIT supports public transport companies in implementing e-mobility successfully. With eMOBILE, INIT offers a comprehensive solution that integrates all operational processes for the deployment of electric buses. The system supports strategic decisions by simulating different scenarios and comprises planning, intelligent charging management, depot management, vehicle dispatch and range prediction – based on real-time and historical data. Therewith, it offers reliable information and all tools needed in order to run even a large fleet of electric buses. This allows you to benefit from a continuous data flow, synergy effects and an efficient workflow when implementing e-mobility in public transport.

 
This product has been specifically designed for electric vehicles. The Firetrace 4kg bi-directional automatic fire suppression system using 3M Novec 1230 extinguishant will not conduct electricity or harm electrical components. The system operates fully pneumatically without the need for any external power or batteries using proven linear detection tubing (already utilised on over 10,000 city buses.) Being able to deploy agent in areas up to 20 Metres away from the cylinder, it deploys from both diffusers and directly from the ruptured detection tubing. With a 10 year cylinder life it can be fully monitored to indicate discharge, fault or isolation.

 
Journeo™ Transit is the latest module of the Journeo™ cloud-based portal and gives fleet operating companies full insight into the technology installed within their vehicles. The single access portal can report on all installed on-board systems and connected to the Journeo™ Edge unit. The new module incorporates the already popular Remote Condition Monitoring and now includes the facility to manage CCTV downloads for all major DVR types without the need to visit the vehicle. Footage can be securely held in the evidence locker or transferred to authorised users and insurance companies.