Sponsored content: Supported by Hunters Auto Electrical Engineering
It was a chance conversation with a customer that led Simon Hunter, Managing Director of Eastleigh, Hampshire-based Hunters Auto Electrical Engineering, to developing a USB charging solution specifically for buses: BUSB.
The customer had mentioned the absence of an affordable off-the-shelf solution for providing USB charging sockets for bus passengers.
Hunters had previously worked on a similar product for the coach market, developing its existing charging product for the marine sector to be adapted for coach seats. The product had been fitted by several coach operators.
But faced with the particular problem of bus seat design, no existing product seemed suitable; the shape and size of bus seats saw nothing come to market. Which set Simon thinking.
Great feedback
Now, nine months later, Hunters has installed or supplied over 3,500 of its BUSB bus charging units for customers including Bluestar, Trent Barton, Salisbury Red and Morebus. Simon believes that there are now around 260 buses on the road fitted with these charge points, which allow customers to top up any device that uses a USB charging lead, including mobile phones, tablets and audio devices.
Feedback has been exceptional, says Simon; from customers and also users. He recalls a recent visit to a bus garage, when a fitter approached him and said: “I’ve got a couple of teenage daughters who catch the bus to school. They never talk to me normally, least of all about buses. But I got home the other day and it was: ‘Dad, dad, we caught one of your buses with the USBs and it was brilliant!’”
Simon explains: “People don’t realise that most schools won’t let the kids charge their phones at school. So the kids love it that they can charge up on the way to school and then top up on the way back.
“We found that out when we did one vehicle, on a route with a PVR of 10. All the kids were looking out for this one bus, and ignoring all the others. We’ve since fitted the rest of the vehicles on that route.”
Charging into town
One of the first customers to fit BUSB was Hampshire-based Bluestar, a long-term customer of Hunters. When it looked at adding to its customers’ on-vehicle experience, the team turned straight to Hunters.
Marketing Manager Nikki Honer says: “People are using their mobile phones and tablets constantly throughout the day – and often find themselves low on battery with nowhere to re-charge them.
“There is significant demand for more charging points – and with BUSB, our buses offer the perfect opportunity for passengers to get a power boost while travelling.”
The company initially trialled BUSB on one bus on Bluestar 1, operating between Southampton and Winchester, under the branding ‘Charge into Town’.
The trial proved so popular that Go South Coast has since placed an order for 55 vehicles to be fitted, which has now almost been completed.
“Getting to know our customers and what they think of our services is important,” adds Nikki. “I think the charging points will prove very popular – just like access to Wi-Fi on our buses has.”
Another happy customer is Derbyshire-based Trent Barton, which fitted BUSB to new vehicles on its Rainbow One route in July 2014. “We’re really pleased with the reception from our customers in response to the USB power points,” says Marketing & Communications Director Alex Hornby.
“We have since introduced them on two of our refreshment projects, on refurbished Scania buses on our Villager and Zoom brands.
“Given that they are an attractive and visible feature in themselves, it is something that many customers notice and appreciate, sometimes more than free Wi-Fi – especially given that many mobile phones feature pre-paid service packages. USB power points also only incur an initial investment, whereas Wi-Fi is an ongoing cost for operators.
“We really feel that offering USB power points is becoming an essential part of our overall service offer, and the BUSB solution is one that appears to be working really positively for us and going down very well with our customers.”
Cost-effective solution
Hunters Auto Electrical can offer operators a number of different options when it comes to supplying and fitting a BUSB solution. From a simple kit-form supply option, through to a full supply and fitting offer, Hunters can also work with operators to train their own in-house workshop staff on installing the BUSB system. Various refurbishment specialists have also taken on the product.
One BUSB LED-illuminated dual charge point sits between each pair of seats. So for a typical installation on an Enviro400, for example, around 30 charging units are fitted, which equates to around 60 charge sockets.
Simon reports that so far there have been no vandalism issues at all.
He points to two other major advantages with the BUSB system. Operating at a lower voltage (12v or 24v), he believes it is a better alternative to 230-volt sockets on buses.
“We have heard from operators who have 230-volt AC systems installed,” he says, “and they have been experiencing issues with maintenance when something gets broken or fails.
“Most garages do not have qualified personnel to work on mains electricity, which means the bus has to stay off-road until a contractor can deal with it.
“A further issue with these sockets, apart from costing many times more than a BUSB system, is the annual requirement for testing and compliance.
“Simply put, the BUSB works off the vehicle electrics, is safe for passengers to use, and is simple maintenance for garage engineers with no special skills or training required.”
So, it’s a simple-to-fit product that offers a real benefit to your customers at a significantly lower price than 230-volt sockets. Simon believes that operators will see real benefits after fitting BUSB charging sockets.
“It’s about attracting more customers onto the buses,” he says. “It’s like Wi-Fi, which has been great – but now people with 3G or 4G-enabled devices don’t necessarily need Wi-Fi, but do want somewhere to charge up their phones or tablets. I think operators are starting to see that USB charging may become more beneficial than Wi-Fi in attracting customers onto the buses.”
Currently the BUSB is an aftermarket product, but will be available as a factory-fit in late spring. The product comes with a three-year warranty.
If you are interested in BUSB charging for your vehicles, contact Hunters Auto Electrical Engineering on 0844 5618862, or email simon@haee.co.uk
