McGill’s, Scotland’s largest independent bus company has introduced a Operations Control Centre to its Inchinnan depot.
The new Control Centre operates seven days a week, and is manned 18 hours a day.
It provides real-time performance monitoring of every vehicle across the company’s entire network; allowing the Control team to provide up-to-the-minute advice and support to depot teams and drivers.
McGill’s employs 1,000 staff, operating 400 buses across 110 routes. It has depots in Greenock, Barrhead, Blantyre, Inchinnan and Johnstone.
The three-person department provides a vital link between the depot team, drivers, customers and customer services.
Working alongside the company’s traffic teams across its five depots and on-street route managers, the team will support drivers and customers with traffic updates, and examine real-time information – tracking where every bus is at any given time.
Head of Operations and Commercial Colin Napier says:
“The introduction of our Control Centre clearly illustrates our commitment to keeping our customers moving across our network and to keeping them informed about any challenges we are facing due to roadworks, congestions and other factors.
“McGill’s invested £1m in Ticketer ticket machines and back office systems in 2016, which has given us visibility about the fleet that was previously unavailable.”
McGill’s also invested in its customer services facility in 2016, with an extension of its opening hours and recruitment of additional staff.
Thanks to the new Ticketer machines and Control Centre, McGill’s can now access real-time information to provide customers with accurate and reliable information of the position of their bus and its likely arrival time.
