Rise Digital Media has reported success among coach operators for its NextStop mobility platform in home-to-school applications.
NextStop provides “a complete digital solution” for student registrations, electronic ticketing, vehicle tracking, safeguarding and the overall management of such services, the supplier says.
Rise Digital Media worked with members of the coach sector during the development of NextStop, which includes apps for the driver, the operator’s staff, passengers and parents. More than 60 operators have signed up for the platform thus far. Over 350,000 passenger accounts are hosted on NextStop and thousands of daily vehicle movements are supported.
In addition, NextStop provides the operator with the tools needed to create, manage and oversee the running of home-to-school services. That includes increased visibility of passenger loadings by stop, punctuality, online ticket sales and driver performance.
Rollout of NextStop “has been carefully planned over the last 12 months,” says Rise Digital Media Operations Director Chris Nice. He adds that feedback from operators, schools, parents and passenger groups was considered during that process.
“The platform has been further developed to keep pace with changing operational landscapes, travel patterns and passenger behaviours, many of which have arrived as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Go Goodwins uses Next Stop for its Manchester United FC supporters’ club travel, in addition to home-to-school routes. Sales Executive Matthew Turner says it has been well accepted by the supporters’ club. Members have found the app “great… as it allows them to view service information and purchase and download travel tickets in an instant.”
Elite Services also uses the platform, Home to School Transport Manager Katie Smith adds: “We are now leading our field with the state-of-the-art technology that NextStop is providing, and our customers are enjoying the greater control they have over their child’s transport, too. We are now able to spend our time growing our routes and customer base instead of number crunching and manually collating data to run financial reports.”
Next Stop offers Bus Open Data Service integration along with push notifications, parent alerts and QR ticketing including bulk purchasing for schools, local authorities and businesses. Rise Digital Media will be offering demonstrations of Next Stop at Euro Bus Expo.
Euro Bus Expo will be held between 1-3 November at the NEC Birmingham. Register for free tickets here. Rise Digital Media will be on stand T32.
